Our Beautiful Universe

The news is often, and understandably, full of horrors, tragedies, wars, and crimes. But, every now and then, you get something like this article in The Sun. Our universe is beautiful. A star's death fills the heavens with a lovely gaseous shape, and then the human mind, aided by the Hubble's technology, can give that shape a designation. There are wonders out there. Wonders beyond imagining. Wonders worth imagining. I cannot understand, and will never accept, the notion that we are bound to this Earth or should be. Our little planet, so lovely, so full of life, is a haven, to be sure. It shelters us against the harshest agonies of space. And yet, we must leave it. We must continue the journey. We must set sail. We have, with our telescope, seen the far horizon. Now we should work toward getting there. What good is human life if it doesn't dream and then pursue those dreams? Not for minerals, not for energy resources, not for technology, but because it is there and we can. No other reason should be necessary. This is what we do. This is what humanity does. Atmosphere and the Earth shouldn't be boundaries to this, but stepping stones, preparing us for taking on the stars.