The Moon Is A Dead World
Inside the Hayden Planetarium, at the Rose Center for Earth & Space, we walked the circular cosmic pathway lined with information about 13 billion years of cosmic evolution.
At the foot of the path, kids were eagerly jumping on to a digital floor scale that reveals what your weight would be on the moon. A large bronze model of the moon stood above a panel that read, “The Moon Is A Dead World”. There was something evocative and striking about the statement. Sad too.
Imagine the moon. What comes to mind?
An earthly perspective? The moon is a bright object in our night sky. A source of mystery. We feared it, revered it. From the beginning of language, man created countless tales of its legend and lore. Our calendars are set by its phases. We romanticize it in poems and love songs.
A heavenly perspective? The moon is a dark and desolate place in the universe. It is part of our solar system. Lifeless, there is no atmosphere to support living organisms. There is no magnetic field. No fossils, just rocks & dust.
And yet this barren place holds great importance for us here on Earth. The moon was essential to the development of life on this planet, with its powerful effect on water. Tides created by the moon brought sea creatures to shore. Left behind by the primordial ooze, stranded in tidal pools, on rocks and beaches, marine life adapted. Evolving, it grew legs, lungs, and wings.
Life made the transition from sea to shore, species formed and intelligent life emerged. Though unable to support life on its own surface, the moon has shaped our world. We are here writing this, and you are reading it…partly, and with thanks to, the moon.
Sometimes we have to examine our perspectives and perceptions. Are we looking too closely at things? Do we need to step back to get a glimpse of the bigger picture? Or, is a close observation necessary?
What in our practice, in our life, can we go back to with new eyes? Is it something mysterious, or perhaps something simple – or seemingly irrelevant, that has shaped us? What will foster our growth?
There is great power in finding one’s self stranded on a strange shore. It is where we find our legs. And where our wings are born.
Lawrence & Toni
1 comment September 1st, 2008