Does It All Matter?

For those who know me, you will know that I often look to the night sky and watch for the occasional passing of the International Space Station or look to the heavens and will point out certain clusters of stars.  I will show someone how to spot the North Star - Polaris. I will even show how to find the brightest star -Sirius- during the Winter and Spring sky. If you can find the Constellation Orion, draw a line through the belt and travel left of it, you will soon see it. I haven't a telescope. I wish I had. If I did, I am sure many of my evenings would be spent gazing the stars that fill our night sky. 

As I get older I find myself pondering all that is happening in 'our backyard' - so to speak. Be it the Middle East Conflict; the North-South Korean Conflict; other headlines from around the world that seem to take center stage on the evening news.  Then there is that which is closer to home. South of the border with the 'Obama-Care' debate and their unfathomable trillions of dollars in spending debt. To that on my own soil -something that hits close to home. Such as the Idle No More demonstrations to the political debates that happen in Ottawa. Each of these have an impact that affects everyone in one way or another. The affects are felt more for some, less for others. Nonetheless the ripple effects are felt.

July 19, 2013 the spacecraft Cassini which orbits the planet Saturn was in an unique position to take a photograph of our home -Earth.  This picture was the second ever to be taken from this vantage point. The photo shows a portion of the planet and its famous rings. The Earth was captured through the rings shown with the tiny white arrow. I stood outside that day around 1600hrs looking to the heavens. Standing in awe really knowing that the spacecraft would be taking snap shots of  'US'.

Here is another photo. It is the very first photo of our planet taken in 1990 from the Voyager 1 space craft more than 4 BILLION miles away at the edge of our Solar System. Again through the rings, of Saturn.

If you look closely on the right side of the image mid way down you can see a small dot, dubbed the 'Pale Blue Dot.' That is us.

Every human conflict; every war between Nations all for the title 'momentary masters.' The unending hate, and destruction, that has caused the loss of life and culture in exchange for political power and riches. The destruction and stripping of our natural resources to feed humanity's thirst for technology. Of all the things we could ever want to satisfy our need and wants. We still lack! If you think about it for a bit and are really honest you will somehow begin to see that.

Take a good look at these images. For me,  I come to the realization that mankind seems to be so insignificant when looking at our home - the Pale Blue Dot. Our human existence seems so frail, when looking at 'US"  against a black drop of empty space that literally goes on for an eternity.

The late Carl Sagan says it the best in his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space , "There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

Let us take the time to give thanks for the freedom that most of us on this Pale Blue Dot enjoy. Not just on one occasion every year but on a daily basis. If only all of us could catch the vision of what Mr. Sagan wrote. It will never happen but we can always hope.

Meegwetch

&

Baamapii