So people are all excited around here, because tomorrow is the date of a total eclipse of the sun. It’s supposed to happen around noon, and is said to be a pretty rare phenomenon, because the eclipse will be seen from one side of the United States to the other. I remember watching a significant solar eclipse back when, making a little hole in some cardboard to be able to view it appropriately. Now they are selling or giving away special glasses. I haven’t decided about my own participation yet, but the image of an eclipse got me to thinking.There are ways in which the eclipse is useful as a parallel to the experience of divorce. Just as one can see the gradual darkening of the sun from one edge to the other, so in divorce, one experiences darkness encroaching upon the brightness that was marital love, until darkness is all that is left and there seems to be no light shining at all. For most divorcing folks, the darkest days of divorce come through the court battles and the lonely times in the aftermath. During that time, one wonders whether the sun will ever shine again. But then, gradually, there come rays of hope, the darkness begins to fade and one moves into a new chapter of life as the sun starts shining again and life resumes with fresh brightness on the other side.This may seem a rather lame comparison, but if you are the one who is in the darkest `moments, it can be some encouragement to know there is hope of the sun shining again and life moving forward into something new and fresh. The awareness that the time of pain, loss and loneliness is only temporary makes the experience more manageable, more endurable, and a little less threatening.When one experiences even the tiniest ray of hope in the midst of those dark days, it becomes a symbol of more to come, or the promise that brighter days are on their way. That is a big deal, when one is in the midst of despair, and has a hard time believing that things will ever get better.Which brings me to you, my reader. Perhaps you are the one in the eclipse of divorce, and need to be encouraged to remember that, just as the sunshine will return tomorrow, life’s sun will come again to your life when these darks days pass. If, on the other hand, you are a person whose life is not caught up in divorce, I encourage you to realize that YOU could be one of the rays of hope for someone struggling in the dark days of divorce. A kind word. A simple greeting card. An encouraging phone call. An invitation to dinner or night out at the movies. Maybe even a simple hug accompanied by the promise of prayer. Those first rays of light don’t have to be anything spectacular. Just enough to foretell better days ahead.
All around us are people whose lives are stuck in one kind of an eclipse or another. It is a great thing to get to be the one who brings a bit of sunlight into a despairing heart. Look for your opportunity this week, the week of eclipse!
