Turn The Page

The Earth turns about its axis, pirouetting through its orbit about the Sun, which swings its partners in their reel about the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which itself waltzes among its brethren in the local group, part of the march of galactic clusters that mark the expansion of the universe. The whole elaborate dance in choreographed by the forces of nature, by physics seen and unseen, in a whirl of motion so complex, it defies comprehension.

That we tie our short and relatively insignificant lives to the patterns and rhythms we see around us, from the rising and setting of the Sun, to the monthly sweep of the Moon through the sky, and the procession of our world in its orbit, is only natural. Through millions of years of evolution, as our distant ancestors worked their way up from simpler organisms, the change of seasons, tides, and environment drove their continued transformation into the species we are today. That we hearken back and carry around those predilections, that the changing Earth is both without and within, is a truly remarkable thing.

Greater Humanity

If it can be said that there is an overriding issue that drives the confluence of current events, from elections, to massacres, to revolutions, to the news we see on television or read on the Internet every day, it is that individuals or small groups feel the need to enforce their point of view on the rest of us. Terrorists wish to punish us for our perceived transgression of their beliefs. Politicians seek the glory of their party, by viciously attacking the other party while papering over their own faults. A lone gunman decides, for whatever reason, to alter political discourse by attempting to murder a Congresswoman and her staff. Hate mongers spew their bigotry on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Wall Street brokers push stocks to their limit, based on projection, rumor, and guesswork. The people of a nation tire of a corrupt government, and through off the yolk of their oppressors.

All these events, all these happenings, are united through that single thread: they are brought about because one group sets itself against another. The broader scope of humanity is never brought into play.