Seeing the “diamond ring” is the holy grail of amateur astronomers: that moment in a total solar eclipse when the edge of the sun’s corona bursts forth with a sparkling burst of light at one point while the rest of the rim is illuminated like a ring. I had no chance of seeing that where I was, located many miles away from the path of totality. All I saw was a solar “croissant.” But I did consider the experience holy.
At the beginning of the recent Theology, Formation & Evangelism ministry cohort on Spiritual Practices, the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell began a presentation on daily prayer in a curious way.