Let the eclipse inspire lasting change and togetherness

Do you believe that our life together, on this planet, can be better for us all? If you regularly read this column, I believe that you do. And therein lies our collective hope for our future. My heart dances at this thought.

Wherever we live in this place we call home, it really was impossible to miss the mystical, magical event that took place last week – the Eclipse! It is, for many of us, the only one we will have the privilege of experiencing in our lifetime.

I was blessed to share this experience with my husband and two of my best friends in the mountains of Vermont, which is one of my spiritual homes. Totality. Light. Darkness. The return of the Light. It was beyond my wildest imagination. But it was not only the eclipse itself, but the charged atmosphere that it created.

People dancing, sharing stories, getting acquainted as strangers became friends, children and adults blowing bubbles and an overwhelming sense of peaceful, jubilant community. Don't we long for that – especially during turbulent times when the media is filled with divisiveness?

Our life together, in community, can be better when we celebrate and take care of each other. It occurs to me that, every now and then, an event presents itself that forces us to return to basics – in this case &ndsh; the Golden Rule.

This belief is found in all traditions in some form and serves humanity well! No religion should give us the idea that we are free to be judgmental of others and yet, sadly, that is the license many are given.

The Golden Rule calls us into relationship with each other and our God. It is the foundation for making decisions for the highest good of all and not for a select few. The common good takes precedence over all else. For if we are not in right relationship with each other, what makes us think that we can be in right relationship with our Source?

Perhaps this recent mystical display of science and Divinity will allow us to reclaim the Golden Rule and live our lives back into it. Perhaps this momentary sense of a unified community will allow us to re-learn that faith is meant to heal and help, not harm and hurt. Perhaps we will move into a renewed sense of faithfulness to Spirit and to each other, serving both.

Let us insist that this experience was not simply an event but a starting point of great light returning after darkness and brightening the lives of all of us. And let us rejoice that we have the opportunity to be a part of it, shining forth the Light of goodness to all.

The Reverend Dr. Deborah Darlington is an Interfaith Minister and Chaplain who serves and supports the highest good of all. She can be reached at GraceMatters@TheSpaceForGrace.com.