John Buttrick writes from his home at Mind’s Crossing, a Vermont folk rocker in Concord. You can contact him at: johndbuttrick@gmail.com
I have been angry and horrified by the strange behavior in Congress, especially in the House of Commons. Many proposed actions are blocked by a minority of representatives and run counter to effective politics sympathetic to the welfare of all humanity. For example, arrogance, nastiness, and support for the ultra-wealthy have motivated several members of Congress to block votes on military funding for Ukraine and to move toward new policies on U.S. border controls.
Watching a total solar eclipse with my family was an allegory exposing a world with no effective movement or concern for human life. During his three minutes of total solar eclipse, we experienced a cold, colorless, quiet land of dim shadows. A small moon could hide the huge sun that supports life on Earth. The galaxy and the universe showed no sympathy. Earth didn’t have the right to vote.
For three short minutes, we were Earthlings cut off from the only source of light and energy that sustains life. Only a thin halo of light around the moon prevented complete darkness. The moon disrupted the reliable 24-hour day/night cycle for 180 seconds. It disrupted the life of animals, which, depending on their nature, hunt or hide in both light and darkness. It disrupted plant life, which thrives during the day and rests at night. It was also a mystical experience for us humans. As the eclipse subsided, we watched as eight hawks emerged from the horizon, gliding overhead, circling to capture thermals, and then slowly soaring toward the sun in the west.
This eclipse gave us an allegory to explain the current political life of Congress. It is easy to see that the Republican Freedom Caucus is a cover for democratic action in Congress. New York Times reporter Katie Edmondson said Trump and the Freedom Caucus “have always been subversive in nature…” …Not building a consensus…but stopping things from happening. Many people in the Freedom Caucus are unwilling to vote for anything signed into law by a Democratic president. ”
“The Lord Jesus Himself could not run (the House Republican Conference),” Rep. Troy Neals, R-Texas, said on CNN last week.
Apparently, the actions of the Republican Freedom Caucus may be exposed by the allegorical event of a small moon blocking the sun’s light. Like that arrogant moon, the Picayune Freedom Caucus lives in a time when it can thwart the energies and ideals of democracies that seek to expand their countries. But there is more to this fable than just his one small moon covering the majestic sun.
Even when it was completely eclipsed, dim sunlight still leaked around the moon. Also, the gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear forces of the universe inevitably caused the Earth, Moon, and Sun to move, ending the three-minute total solar eclipse. Eight mysterious hawks appeared overhead, foretelling the arrival of sunny days. So the Freedom Caucus has seen its day, and the forces of empathy, life, and freedom will once again influence democracy and soon become the order of the nation.
From beginning to end, this eclipse tells an allegory that reveals that humans can survive even when the forces that sustain humanity’s peaceful and just life are completely eclipsed. The power of human survival cannot be extinguished as long as it continues to move. Ben Franklin had an important insight. Upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens who asked him what kind of government his delegates had established. His answer was, “A republic, if we can keep it.”
Eight hawks flying towards the emerging sun complete the fable. Leave things like Donald Trump and the Freedom Caucus behind. If you keep moving. Please follow that hawk. New and effective ways of relating to each other and governing nations will be discovered and will accompany us into the future. Creation has spoken.
