Look up at the sky, step back, make a difference
“A Universe so boundless, teeming with countless billions of galaxies, containing trillions of star systems … It’s beyond human understanding,” according to Carl Sagan. The late astronomer also wrote that the nighttime sky “is a profound sermon on humility.” There are an estimated 120 billion galaxies, our Milky Way being one of them, and there are an estimated 200 billion star systems in the Milky Way.
The revelation of the recent photographs created by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reminds us how improbable it is that we are here alone in our universe. With more stars than there are grains of sand on all of the Earth’s beaches, the nearly infinite list of probable sources of life seems endless.
As Pennsylvania author Mike Quinn, says in his book, “Chop Wood Carry Water,” “Suppose you were to take a starship cruise across the Galaxy … traveling at 186,000 miles a second (the speed of light or the equivalent of six trillion miles a year) with the Milky Way being about 120,000 light years in diameter. Your trip will cover 720,000,000,000,000,000 miles. And we’re just talking about OUR Galaxy. What about the other 119,999,999,999 billion galaxies? The world has been around for 4 billion years and humans for only 150,000.”
If you’re still with me, take a step back. Look at our universe and embrace the fact that there are infinite opportunities for us. Never doubt, it is all connected in some wonderful way. Carbon is the main element of all known life. We are made of the same materials as the stars. In fact, white dwarf stars have pure carbon atmospheres. When will we allow ourselves to finally look at the big picture and reflect on our carbon-based existence as something that is truly universal.
There are no boundaries except those that we have created or that we have allowed to be created. When you see the Hubble and Webb photographs taken from outer space, you see the earth as a tiny blue and white sphere. There are no lines. You won’t see the outline of the United States, the borders of your state, the lines depicting your county, or the surveyor marks for your property, but, at the same time, realize that all of those things that we define as ours are only borrowed during our time on this earth. We are just one of 10 million species attempting to survive and thrive on our speck in this universe.
Sagan also said while reflecting on the last photo taken by Voyager I as it exited the solar system in 1990, depicting the Earth as a mere pixel of light, “Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all the generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary master of a fraction of a dot.”
The madness of ego and hubris presents a constant challenge to intellect and reason. As we Homo sapiens insist on demonstrating our dominance over each other by forcing our personal ideas and controls on others, be it in war, elections, court rulings, or crime and gun violence of other types, we are not now and may never well be the masters of our own domains.
We need to get over ourselves.
So, when you’re having a bad day, look up into the infinite sky, and realize that this is temporary, and that we are guests. Take another step back and realize that tomorrow can be what we decide it could be.
Look deeply into yourself and ask what your God really wants you to do. Ask if the boundaries being created around you are real, or if they are figments of someone’s imagination. More importantly, ask if those boundaries that are holding you back are keeping you from achieving your goals, allowing you to be complacent, allowing this time to slip by without you making the difference that you are capable of making. Then move forward and make that difference.
Nick Jacobs of Windber is a health-care consultant and author of two books.