“The divided United States of America will unite today, sharing a cosmic event predicted by the methods and tools of science,” astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted Monday morning.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

The current heated political climate, the 24/7 news cycle and our ability to access all of it, and more, within seconds and a few taps of our fingers, means the possibility of actual face-to-face interaction is becoming less and less likely. Take a look around town or at a restaurant and notice how many people have their chins tilted down. Pull up Facebook, Twitter or any news site of your choice and read as many comments as you can bear — they won’t be kind. In a time when the Ds or the Rs on our ballots and our heritage seem to divide us more than ever, stop and take a look at the photos streaming in from across the country portraying millions of people all doing one thing — staring upward.

Millions on Monday made the voyage to cities and open spaces in the eclipse’s path to witness a historic event that had a hype almost as amazing as the event itself. Even outside of the eclipse path, people gathered to see what they could and be a part of something far greater than themselves — something that has been terrifying and captivating people since humans first started roaming the planet.

But the eclipse this time was more than just a rare event to fascinate over; it was an event that spanned the country and united a nation occupied by people deeply divided by anything and everything that could divide a population. From health care to immigration, foreign relations to climate change, it’s all been hashed and rehashed in what feels like an endless barrage. But for a few moments on Monday, everyone looked up from their phone screens, news stories and social media feeds and focused on the sky and drew a collective breath. Some sang, some danced, music played and picnics were had. There was real human interaction unhindered by controversy.

As spectacular and rare a phenomenon as it is, it shouldn’t take an eclipse to bring people’s eyes off of their phones and their minds out of divisiveness. There’s a simple lesson to be learned here if we would just take the time to look up.