Eclipses

Midmorning last July 22, my wife took out a curious keepsake. It was a simple, yet ingenious and functional "solar eclipse viewer", fashioned out of cardboard and old-school photographic film, the kind used by professional photographers before the advent of digital cameras.

The keepsake had these written on it: 24 Oct, 12:56 PM, Eclipse '95. I wrote those words almost 14 years ago. It was a providentially clear, sunny day. It was a regular school and work day, but people turned it into an impromptu holiday. Everyone who had a clear appreciation of the rarity of the phenomenon was outdoors. I was with my daughter, Denise, who was ten years old at the time.

Then the eclipse happened. It was eerily beautiful. It wasn't total, as best as I can recall, about 75% at most, but it was a sight to behold. The keepsake proved very functional. Denise and I took turns with it. I cannot remember now exactly how the eclipse looked like, but I can never forget the wonder in my daughter's eyes.

It was now Paolo's turn to be awed, and the keepsake's resurrection from storage proved opportune. This eclipse was of lesser magnificence though, but with my son's penchant for comets, asteroids, and meteors, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences for him. He finds delight in natural wonders, as well as man-made ones such as electronic things and gadgets.

These eclipses were for my ten-year olds. They were for their respective ages when awe and wonder remain with a person for life. We adults tend to trivialise and logicise everything. We smother both curiosity and fascination with rationale. Where is the wonder in having an explanation for everything? There are some things that we should not or never know. For some things we should always be kept in suspense. Or in the dark. This way we will remember the smallest details of events when they happen, or when thin, faint rays of hope slice through the darkness in our lives. It is like the sun coming out of an eclipse. Beautiful.

The secrets to bliss,

I believe,

are illiteracy,

simplemindedness,

a narrow,

very provincial

and constricted

outlook;

Knowledge,

while it gives one

a sense of pride,

of self-worth,

of security,

is also the source

of so much unhappiness.

-B. V. Sulit