Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Rocky reminders from space



Last week, two space rocks came whizzing by our world.

The smaller of the two actually busted through the atmosphere and landed in Russia, causing a lot of windows to break from the sonic boom. Some people were injured, but many more were simply stunned by the sight of the fireball in the sky.

Fortunately, the larger rock, a full-blown asteroid, didn't get any closer than 17,000 miles from Earth. As we all heard, however, that is relatively close in space terms. If the asteroid would have crashed into the planet, there would have been regional devastation and many fatalities. So we definitely dodged a bullet.

We are told by astronomers that these fly-bys were not related. It was purely coincidence that the events happened within 24 hours of each other. Scientifically speaking, I am sure the experts are correct. However, it still seems odd to me that these episodes were totally random and without any meaning.

While we scurry around on the planet, thinking we're the masters of our own destiny, obsessing about silly things that we place life-and-death importance on, there are millions of objects moving around the solar system that could take us out in the time it takes Marco Rubio to sip water from a bottle while on camera.

It seems to me that the gods are often trying to warn us not to get too distracted or imprisoned by our selfish and shallow desires.

Why would they do this?

Well, maybe it's for the same reason a parent guides a child away from the edge of a busy street. Maybe the gods want us to develop our potential, to live long enough to fulfill our promise, and to avoid the dangers of losing focus. The cosmic reminders could be a tug on the back of our shirts telling us to be careful not to mindlessly roam too far from the sidewalk and to pay attention to what lies ahead.

It's my hope that these space rocks will help human beings understand that we have a planet to protect. It's a job that can't be done by one political party or a single country. It's a job that requires an awareness of our surroundings and a global education system that will provide us solutions to our biggest threats.

If we're going to deflect asteroids and cure cancer and feed the hungry, we must evolve intellectually and spiritually. We must gain a greater perspective.

If we continue on the path we're on, where some studies suggest that we are actually becoming dumber as a species, then the next space rock, virus or other calamity to hit Earth might be the one that ends our existence.

It is essential to our survival and growth that we move forward individually and collectively without losing focus or doing further damage to ourselves or other living things. The fiery space rocks are not just a here-today-forgotten-tomorrow story for the evening news or something to watch on YouTube when bored at work.

They are reminders that we are all in this together.


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