Have you ever sat outside in the late evening and looked up at the night sky, mesmerized by the marvel and splendor of the Milky Way and it’s myriad stars?
Have you ever wondered what’s out there? Is that where we came from? Is that where we will go back too when our time here is finished?

The questions that we may ask about the universe, and life for that matter, are unanswerable; as long as we are here on this physical plane anyway.
Many have tried to fathom it out, some pompously believe that they know, but in reality, none of us know the answer. Some are simply content to wonder at the beauty of it all.

Recently, while looking through some memorabilia, I discovered one page torn from a  book called, ‘Requiem of Stars’ by Tracy Hickman.
It’s the Prologue from the book and although it’s fictitious, it has some poignant points to ponder about the universe and life in general.

I hope the author does not mind if I share an excerpt with you here.

Oh, the siren of the night sky!
What is there in that bright scattering of light that calls to us?
Is there not some part of us that looks to the furnaces of space and sees our own beginnings?
What is this longing to return to that darkness from which we came?
Do we not see, as we gaze down eternity, the depths of our own soul?

Worlds get crowded. Never mind the distance to your neighbor or the height of your wall.
No measuring rod nor breadth of hand nor even the light of the stars themselves sets the limits of the soul or the constraints of the spirit.

Are you a groundling?
Do you walk the surface of your world blind to the grand scale of creation itself?
Look into the faces of all those who mill about you. Their world extends to the point of their nose.
They are lord and master over all they see. Their vision is most limited. Their backs are bent; their faces towards the dust. Their existence is the cobbled stone beneath their feet.

Ah, but look up! There, then, is majesty! There, then, is perspective!

Walk the shore of any ocean on your world. Reach down for a handful of the universe.
With great care, separate a single grain of sand from all the others. Gaze on it.
This friend, is your world. This is your precious ball of stone weaving it’s place in all creation.

Quickly now! Take that grain and drop it over your shoulder.
Turn around, friend, and find it!
Find your one, special, precious world there among the millions of grains on which you stand.

A groundling might walk to his neighbors and return to his home without thought.
Yet take him to the very next star and ask him to point out the light of his own home star……..he cannot do it.
It’s previous importance is dwarfed by the sheer grandeur of the galactic mosaic.

Do such thought depress you, groundling?
Your art, your literature, your powers and possessions; such achievements are trivial when weighed on the scale of the firmament.

The physical world is only as large as your hand’s grasp.
But the mind and spirit! There is no limit to what it can command; no boundary to hope.

Leave your one world thoughts, groundling. Let go with your limited hands and serve with your limitless mind.

Do this…….and the stars will be yours.

Dan’s Quote:- “This is our life, in this moment, this one breath.”- Sharon Salzberg.