Celestial Awakening

A shot of the total eclipse captured by Dr. Pfister’s son, Trent

Wow! I repeat, wow!

I don’t know about you, but I have been lured into a media hype frenzy before and, when all was said and done, I was personally very under-wowed.

But not this time.

I’ll be the first on the block to say, I was setting the bar pretty low for this past Monday’s total eclipse. And was I wrong!

Dr. Pfister and his wife, Terri, enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Our Northern Ohio total eclipse surpassed anything I could have imagined.

It was a celestial event, the likes of which I had never expected; and I was very glad to have taken the afternoon off to experience it.

Can I say it changed my life? Probably not. But that does not lessen the natural and awe-inspiring feeling one gets from witnessing events such as this one.

R. L. Solberg said it best, “An eclipse is a cosmic reminder that the universe is not a random collection of matter and events but is so fined tuned, that we know where every heavenly body will be 200 years from now. Neither us nor the universe are an accident but our Creator made both and he is in control.”

I hope my readers were able to share this experience with friends and family. And may it serve as a lead-in to some interesting discussions with your children, on the greatness of our planet and the universe — namely, how we as the stewards of our planet must do all in our power to keep her clean, recycle natural resources, and respect what has been given to us.

All of you who hike, bike, or dive on the weekends see many smaller (and maybe a little less awe-inspiring) natural phenomena than the total eclipse, but pretty cool phenomena nonetheless.

Nature is all around us and is there for our enjoyment and education.

I have been fortunate to visit the Baths in the British Virgin Islands, where you are amazed at the water being so clear. You can see an anchor at 50 feet and feel your soul warm as you pet a Queen Triggerfish next to you at 25 feet.

And for my regular readers out there, you know I’m addicted to sunsets. Watching a pair of manatee herding their calf along to the safety of the backwater bay as the final rays of the sun melt into the waters of Ding Darling Wildlife Sanctuary on Sanibel leaves one feeling very small and humble in the presence of Nature’s greatness.

Dr. Pfister during the April 8, 2024 total eclipse

I love my sunsets at the end of the day with Nature saying, “Good Night, we did our best, now let us rest.” And so it is a good time for reflection and renewal.

But if it’s inspiration you want, I personally do not see how a sunrise can be beat.

Whether it’s the ones I waited for on Diamond Head, Hawaii… or the ones in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia… or the ones over my neighbor’s horses… I have been inspired and awed with every last one of them!

Some astrologers have said that eclipses can stimulate self-reflection and generate an accelerated inner energy from the feelings of a new beginning, like a new moon or a sunrise does…

Wasn’t it amazing how just a little sliver of the sun produced so much light and warmth?

But the moment that last little ray of the sun was blocked… cold and darkness were immediate!

Yet, as the sun slipped out the opposite side, our warmth and light were restored.

Thus, when a celestial phenomenon occurs that is seen only every few hundred years, it has been explained by many to be Nature talking to us… telling us that we need to reflect on our lives and strive to overcome those things that metaphorically cover us and darken our lives, sometimes only briefly, but then remain in us forever.

Just as dramatic as the darkness of every night and the fleeting darkness of the total eclipse, our Creator follows the darkness with light and gives us a rebirth of energy to make each day special.

Each of us has the power and potential to be whatever we want to be. If only we all believed in ourselves…

I am inspired by my minister some weeks, by my patients other weeks, and a sprinkling of sunrises and sunsets in between. No matter the source, life gives us inspirational messages in many forms… we just need to be in a receptive mood to receive them.

And many of you will agree — most messages do not come to us with the fanfare of a total eclipse! Some are as delicate as the pollination pathway of a butterfly.

Dr. Pfister enjoying the warmth of a fire

As the weather warms, our weekend evenings are perfect for releasing an evolutionary deep-seated chromosomal desire found in all of us — building a fire…

And perhaps lighting a metaphorical fire in all of us.

Build a fire with family or friends. And as you sit back and enjoy the mesmerizing dancing flames, think about the heat being produced by the combustion of the wood you just added. Ponder the events of photosynthesis and all the chemical reactions that occurred as the tree absorbed the energy from the sun and stored it as cellulose and cellulosic carbohydrate until it could be released — released as heat energy to those around it.

But I would hope these dancing flames would serve a deeper, more stimulating power to the receptive and reflective individuals amongst us… a reminder that within these flickering flames there is a natural message from our Creator…

Namely, that each of us holds the power to determine our own destiny.

We just need to cut through the day-to-day junk that builds up in all of us and holds us back from reaching our true dynamic potential.

Inner strength and contentment go hand-in-hand with Nature.

We just need to get out from the brick-and-mortar world and let the sun shine in.

- Dr. Pfister