I love this quote. Obviously there is literal truth to it but I adore the figurative.
I’ve always had a special relationship with the constellation of Orion. One of the first I learned, it was always the easiest for me to find. Nights spent in turmoil (especially during my teenage years) would often end with me seeking him out if the season was right. Orion reminded me that there was so much more. The universe was bigger and grander than my problems.
Thinking of it now it occurs to me that even though I believed in God, I never called upon him in my times on need after the age of ten or so. Hmm.
Calvin and Hobbes explained my feelings exactly:
I don’t see the stars much anymore. Light pollution and all that. They’re there though and that’s comforting. They’re in me and you too. Every atom born in an exploding star. Every time a theist asks if I am afraid of hell I remember that little fact. I was born in the heart of a supernova, I’m not afraid of your devil’s flames.
In other news, my WordPress reader is acting bizarrely. I haven’t been seeing all of the posts from people that I follow and starting today I have pages and pages worth of posts from blogs I’ve never even seen. Anyone else? If you’re looking for a reader given Google Reader’s impending shutdown, I moved over to The Old Reader when Google broke my heart with the news.
Have a great Fathers’ Day fellow sentient stardust.
Just magnificent and I concur there is no need to fear hell if we are star dust!
I don’t have a problem with my reader though. Happy reading 😛
As always, beautiful thoughts…
Thank you. 🙂
Star gazing should be mandatory and every school on the planet should have its own planetarium.
What a wonderful impact that would have on humanity.
Wouldn’t it! Also, why, why, why, why isn’t there a satellite up there beaming back live 24/7 streaming video of the Earth? Yes, NASA does it but its not 24/7. Why, why, why, why isn’t there a streaming (heavily filtered, of course) video of our Sun? This is what kids and adults need to be seeing. We need perspective, a sense of where we are… who we are.
JZ beat me to it… what he said
He’s an insightful chap, speedy with his comments.
That’s too bad with the light pollution. I feel blessed that I see the stars clearly from my home. I love how they take my mind off from this world. It’s a shame that most people don’t even bother to take notice. : (
Thankfully, we are near a couple of nice planetariums. I really need to take advantage of them more often. I’m glad you take the time to appreciate the stars. 🙂
Good for you then! I’ve always wanted to go to planetariums. Never had, and I have no idea if there’s one close by. And I’m glad to know another who appreciate them as well. : )