"Sky Dance" ©  2011  ~ watercolor by Carol E. Fairbanks

"How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious starry firmament for a roof!  In such places standing alone on the mountaintop, it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make - leaves and moss, like the marmots and birds, or tent or piled stone - we all dwell in a house of one room - the world with the firmament for its roof - and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track."
                  ~ from  John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir  (1938)

                                   Looking Upward

We need to look up more...to the celestial heavens that tell us who we really are....to the infinite spaces that reflect back our origin as spiritual beings.  We have a responsibility, not only to care for our planet Earth, but are also entrusted with the care of the far reaches of space. Who really knows how many different forms of life are affected by the way we pollute and challenge our planet?  We are part of the Milky Way, and there are countless galaxies  that orbit through that mass of celestial bodies.  Even if there are no other beings that we presently know about, shouldn't we still think in a responsible way about those other stars and planets that are hurling through space?

Just contemplating the incredible vastness of space, and considering what we're told about its never ending nature, our perspective of our relationship to ourselves and to one another is likely to change.  And I am moving way beyond a "love of country" and even a "global oneness" when I say that.  Perhaps, at this time, when we are so focused on problems in our communities and our countries, we would benefit from expanding our vision of ourselves to that of one planet, among millions and millions of heavenly bodies that are "sailing through those celestial spaces."  

When I saw, at the I-Max theater, those ethereal 3-D photos taken from the Hubble telescope, the feelings I felt in viewing such color and magnificent beauty were beyond words.  Astronauts, that have been in outer space and viewed this "starry firmament" from another perspective, have also expressed words that almost convey a spiritual experience. Kathy Sullivan, the first U.S. woman to walk in space, said, "It was one of the great delights and memories for me.... I felt like I was seeing, woven together, the power and scale of the entire world."

There is something in us...a truth deep within our consciousness...that is awakened when we are witnesses to such beauty.  Author Carl Sagan declared that "we are made of star stuff", and we experience that "star" essence when we are witness to those scenes from outer space.   So we need to "dance", not only for the earth, but for the sky also. That brings a better balance to our thinking when we are challenged with finding solutions to care for our planet, and it broadens our vision to be better stewards of the cosmos, as well.  This wisdom has been known for quite some time.  Plato summed it up, back in 342 BCE when he wrote in The Republic, "Astronomy compels the soul to look upward and leads us from one world to another."  Perhaps we need that transcendent thinking through "looking upward" toward the heavens even more today!