Pale Blue Dot

The last picture taken by Voyager 1 as it passed Neptune.

"From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

-Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Get Off Your High Horse

I was pretty frustrated tonight. Why? Because the outside water had been left on, causing my garden hose to rupture and gush water all afternoon. Normally this wouldn't have phased me, but I was tired of spending money on useless things and annoyed that I had to water my garden using a watering can.

As I was filling the watering can with a (much shorter) hose, my downstairs neighbor came outside. Now let me describe this man before I go any farther: he's an older guy, probably in his 50s; he has his hair pulled back in a ponytail; he lives alone with his cats; and I'm pretty sure he isn't LDS (at least, he isn't active). He's a little bit different than your typical 50 year old man in Springville, but I'll be damned if he doesn't exhibit the true definition of Christlike love. This man came outside in his slippers to tell me that he had noticed the gaping hole in the hose and was planning on fixing it for me tomorrow. I tried to wave him off and tell him that I'd just buy a new hose, but he was very persistent.

In addition to fixing my garden hose, my neighbor pays for the TV and internet without any thought of compensation from the rest of us. He saves his used coffee grounds for me to put in my garden. He's been taking pictures of the Provo temple and plans to give a copy to me and my other neighbors (because he knows how important of a building it is). He bought new water faucets so I could water my garden. The list goes on and on and on...without any expectation of being repaid.

As I was watering my garden, I was thinking about this man and what it means to love those around us. I thought of the self-proclaimed righteous who have crossed my path and how little they truly know of love. I thought of people talking about "the Homosexuals" with disgust and contempt; I thought of people complaining about how much they "hate Utah" and how weird the culture is; I thought of people mocking the religiously-active; I thought of all the judgmental looks I've received for not serving a mission or going through the temple. I thought of all those who have made me feel guilty for my blessings and for living in a country where I have three meals a day and clean water from the tap. All these things were done or said by people I thought I respected; instead I pity them because they have missed the point of every major religion on the face of the planet, be it Mormonism or Islam or Judaism or Catholicism: love.

Stop hating. Seriously, stop. Why do you care how someone else lives their life? The vast majority of people aren't out there looking to tear you down, so why are you doing the exact opposite? Stop forcing your lifestyle on other people, stop casting judgmental looks, and stop thinking you're better than everyone else, because guess what? We're all sons and daughters of God and He loves us all equally. And as important as it is to go to church and pay your tithing, I think we'll be judged more on how we treat our neighbors. So stop hating the gays, stop hating the Mormons, stop hating white people, stop hating Hispanics, stop hating Obama (this is a big one), and start loving instead! You can disagree with someone and still be respectful and loving of their views. I know I'm not perfect, and I'm sure I have a long ways to go. But I am so fed up with all the hatred I see on a daily basis and couldn't hold it in any longer. So thank you for reading my rant.

P.S. I love you.