By Paul Moore

Today, August 21, 2017, a solar eclipse will cross the United States and only the continental United States. The last time that occurred was in 1776, just prior to our nation gaining its independence. The last complete solar eclipse in the United States took place in 1918 – 99 years ago. So, as you can see, it is a big deal. This eclipse will be the most studied, talked about, recorded and viewed eclipse of all times. It has also been billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event. However, that is not exactly true… Another total solar eclipse will cross the United States on April 8, 2024, seven years from now. That eclipse will begin in Mexico and pass over the U.S. from the southwest to the northeast. The path of that eclipse will cross the path of this August 21, 2017 eclipse at Carbondale, Illinois.

FEMA is said to be on high alert, as today’s eclipse will cross three major hot spots in the U.S. Hopefully, nothing will come of this event, but scientists are aware that activity in our solar system can cause unusual occurrences on earth. This eclipse will cross two major fault lines, the Cascadia Subduction in the northwest and the New Madrid in the southern and mid-western United States. It will also cross over Yellow Stone National Park, where there is a progressively active super volcano.

The first major U.S. city to see today’s eclipse will be Salem, Oregon, at 9:05 am PDT (Pacific Daylight Time).  It will then move east reaching Clarksville, Tennessee (our home) at 11:56 am with a partial phase lasting until totality at 1:25 pm CDT. The last major city to witness the eclipse will be Charleston, South Carolina at 2:46 pm EDT.

So, does the Great America Eclipse of 2017 have any special meaning or message? Many Americans will see it as nothing more than a unique event, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. However, many Christians believe it could be a message, literally, from heaven.

We are living in times of great turmoil. America is more divided today than it has been since the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. Our country continues to go deeper and deeper in debt, reaching a National Deficit of almost 20 trillion dollars in August, 2017. Violence is on the rise both nationally and abroad. It seems as though things are getting worse, rather than better.

Is it possible that God is trying to get our attention? Could He be calling America to turn back to Him? Over the past fifty or so years, the United States has passed laws contrary to the teachings of the Bible. In many ways, we have rejected the hand of God. This seems to be our pattern – until something goes wrong – and then, everyone wants to pray. They say, after September 11, 2001, that churches in America were filled for about four months. And then, the majority of our country went back to their old way of life. Could this solar eclipse of 2017 be God’s way of saying, “Turn back to me?”

America has become the greatest nation on earth, but I venture to say, it was not without God’s help. Has He now lifted His hand off this great nation? Has He left us on our own? It’s something worth thinking about…

Let me close with a verse from the Bible.

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”