Earth Pride

Gleaned from Shiloh,

"T'would be fascinating to see what the future would be like in eight, nine hundred years--if the Earth last(s/ed) that long, to see the answers to my many questions unveiled."

and yet ...

we are not looking to earth, as much as yearning for the stars ..

sad ...

We are daily stroked by messages of man's yearning for discovery on planets and stars so distant that even thought stumbles in passage. Nothing new! With the passing of decades and centuries only the terms have changed and the gathering of alleged 'facts'. New perhaps is the courage (or exposure) of scientists now willing to say, "we are looking for life out there." They are not afraid. I am!

We imagine that we can detect and recognize life should it be found -- out there. Yet we cannot recognize life in our neighbor, or our children, or, heaven forbid, a stranger! Is that flicker of light in Grandma's eye a sign of life, or it that only a concern of the nurse there in the home? Look into the telescope and dream. When did you look into the eyes of a homeless, sexless mass of rags and search for life there? What of your own signs of life? Are you best reflected in a make-up mirror, or TV screen or monitor's glare? Would you recognize life if you saw it? Will these great scientists?

What if this life
-- out there -- does not resemble our hoped for dream? Will we destroy it like we do those of earthly claim with only slight differences? Will we attempt to mold it into our own arrogant image of which we know so little? Will we welcome these strangers into our homes and hearts -- as we do surly now? Ha! If we now rape our children and youth -- what of them -- any 'others'? Do we feed off of life -- are the scientists hungry?

What will we give them -- out there? Perhaps there is in this world a source of peace and charity and -- humanity. Can we export it -- can we even recognize it here, or are we decades away in squabble over what we would even like to be? Those with the power and possible ability to send a message to the stars are of a common bond -- what would they give except what they know? Greed. Terrorism. Character subversion. Technology supremacy.

Fortunately, I won't last long enough to see a destructive blast to man's star based destruction. I hope I live long enough to see an earthy man approach me without fear and say, "hi there -- I am a stranger."

papa
(aka Ken Muller and faucon)