Organic Light Pan

Last night a celestial event occurred in our sky that has not happened in 372 years.  The Earth eclipsed the full moon on the winter solstice and for those fortunate enough to be in an area in North America with clear skies they saw a truly amazing and awe inspiring sight.

In Earth's Shroud

While there are some that feel that certain astronomical events have an influence on the behavior of humanity and other natural events, as a man of science I must say that such a belief is a bit incredulous as proof is hard to establish.  While at the same time, as a man of faith, belief in the dominion of the Creator over all of creation is central in my understanding of how the universe exists, how it is sustained and how it behaves.

In a sacred tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of God be upon him) said one morning after the dawn prayer that occurred after a rainy night, turned to the congregation and said “Do you know what your Lord has revealed?” The people replied, “God and His Apostle know better.” He said, “God has said, ‘In this morning some of my slaves remained as true believers and some became non-believers; whoever said that the rain was due to the Blessings and the Mercy of God had belief in Me and he disbelieves in the stars, and whoever said that it rained because of a particular star had no belief in Me but believes in that star.’ “

A passage in the Qur’an describes the motion of the sun and the moon and through implicit understanding so too the Earth and all visible objects in the heavens.  Each of these celestial bodies follow and obey what we in science refer to as physical laws which we understand and know how they dictate the motions of the heavenly bodies.  However, those of us who go beyond science and have some knowledge of the Knower understand that these laws are not merely physical, but Divine.

When I see an event like an eclipse, my heart is in awe of the power of the Incomparable for not only setting such beauty into place but sustaining it as well.  The skill to capture it and present it to others is a gift that I am aware of and grateful to posses.  I have searched the web today for photos of last night’s eclipse and while there some nice images, I did not find one that moved me in the same way as seeing it in person.  I hope what I have presented above will do that for some.  Enjoy.

Peace.

It has been just over two years since starting this web journal (a.k.a. blog).  I write about several different topics but mostly its about nature and what I have learned from it through the lens of my camera and refined through the spiritual filter of my faith and I pass on those lessons and share my photos to those who invest the time to read what I have written and look at what I have photographed.

However recently this seems to have become a frustrating endeavor for the more I write the less response I seem to receive.  Even more frustrating and confusing is that as I gather statistics on who visits and from where, it would make me believe that what I write is being seen and read by thousands of people.  However rarely do I even read a comment about what I write.

I am beginning to think that those who visit have deaf eyes and cannot ‘hear’ what I have to say or that they have mute fingers and cannot write to ‘voice’ their opinions.  On the other hand it might be that what I have to say is uninteresting, banal or just plain rubbish.  Or it could be that my photos are boring, uninspired or just plain rubbish.  But I would never know as no one ever tells me so one way or the other.

In any case I will keep writing and sharing my photos.  I write from the heart and my photos are a reflection of what I see and love in the world.  So I was just wondering what it would be like if those who visited left me some feedback so that I knew I was not screaming into a vacuum.  Because screaming into a vacuum is not an especially fulfilling feeling.

Peace.