I Wonder...

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Night Sky
(c) 2018 Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas



I wonder, have you spent time looking at the night sky and wondering, "Where are we?" "Who are we?" One of the geniuses of our lifetime, Carl Sagan, asked the same question. He wrote, "For as long as there been humans we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Where are we? Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people."

Sagan's words deserve our consideration. We are very tiny as compared to the great cosmos. Each day, scientists make new discoveries and bring new awareness to the fact that we are but a tiny, infinitesimal speck of the vast universe. 

 In his book, Cosmos, Sagan wrote, "The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding...In the last few millennia, we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival...Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another."  All humans are unique and precious! What an enlightening and affirming statement. 

 Ever since childhood, I have often wondered how we have existed for thousands and thousands of years on this tiny, blue planet. I have questioned teachers, mentors and the Great Unseen about the why's and how's of human existence. A lifetime of wondering and questioning, leaves me with only one sensible explanation - our human tenacity for existence is our ability to Love.

Sagan confirmed this for me when he wrote, "For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love." Yes, love...the center of all that is. Yes, Love! A word so deeply filled with meaning that it could fill a dictionary with synonyms. Love is our ability to feel the pain of another person, to offer care and comfort to those in need, to give a hug to someone who rarely feels a human touch, to know the joy and mysteries of the human heart, to realize we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.  Yes, Love!

  Love is what keeps us together, what keeps us going, what heals us, inspires us and encourages us when everything else seems to be against us. 

Love gives us courage and strength. Love heals anger and sorrow. Love brings us hope, faith, and infinite other virtues we need in this existence to move through space and time.  

 Blessings of Love and Light to all!

 Hubble view of the Cosmos:

Comments

Unknown said…
Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation. – Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, pp. 27–28
September 17, 2018 at 10:27 AM
Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas, M.Ed. said…
Thank you for sharing this. Many Blessings of Light and Love.

Forgive the tardiness of this response, computer acting up due to Windows updates, just now straightening things out.

October 8, 2018 at 7:29 PM
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