All of the Dong areas would have been able to view the solar eclipse today (morning for them). The northern parts of the Dong areas would likely have seen a total or very close to a total eclipse, and even in the southernmost areas, an obvious partial eclipse, including a darkening of the sky, would have been visible.
In an e-mail yesterday from a reader living in the Dong areas, a Dong person was quoted as sceptically saying, "We will just see if the sky goes dark tomorrow," as if it were not a mathematical certainty. To them, though, this is not about astronomy or mathematics; the Dong worldview would not divide this occurrence into some scientific category in order to explain it, but would lump it together with their spiritual understanding of the world.
That is not to say they believe "a spirit hid the sun" or any such interpretation, but rather to say that from a Dong mindset, this is something that completely does not fit within how they understand, and no amount of talk on the national news will make it any different.
In reality, though, this is indeed a spiritual occurrence (not just scientific as our Western-trained minds might suppose), for One, holy, all-powerful Creator holds all this in his hands, and he can and does use it for his glory.
Pray the Creator of the heavens and earth would work through this strange happening, something beyond the understanding of the Dong people, to reveal to them that there is One who is beyond their understanding, One who put the sun, moon, planets, and stars into motion, and One who loves them enough to reveal himself to them even though they are sinners.
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