It's summer, so we're probably spending more time outside.  Some of that time may be spent looking up into the night sky.   I know I do - and did.  It's why Pete and I named our son Orion.  Early on, I'd lie on my back in the grass looking up and trying to grasp the enormity of it.  Looking  with my friends, having "what if" sorts of conversations.  Now, advances in science have provided much more information than we had then.  We even have photographs of  places we once could only imagine.  But that information only makes the questions bigger.  I'm one of the humans who likes the questions. They're the stuff that gets me up in the mornings and keeps me going when the going is difficult.

Some people are so consumed with the questions that they use their great intellects to help us find better ways to ask them.  These are the inventors, the researchers, the explorers.  They are thirsty for answers and eager to share them.

Some people don't like looking up.  It makes them uncomfortable or even afraid. Not everyone wants the night sky to remind them of the big questions.  They might quietly make up answers for themselves or decide to believe answers that others made up.  They want nothing to do with the searching and do their best to ignore it.  They contribute in other ways and live their lives looking through their fingers.   They might build shells about their made-up answers.  The shells are question-proof and stuffed with distractions.  They avoid people who question.  They run fast to avoid asking.  Sometimes they can't run fast enough.

Then, there are people who refuse to look.  They are so terrified of the questions that they try to silence them, sometimes with lies and unkindness.  The questions threaten their comfort zone.  They are willing to hurt or even kill other humans to quiet the questions.  Sometimes this is a few humans and sometimes it's many.
This group includes the passive ones who allow this silencing.
Don't underestimate how dangerous they are.

Really, the question we ask when we look up at the night sky is, "Who am I?"

It's a big question.

Finally, some humans look at the night sky with peaceful longing.  They are sure that whatever the answer might turn out to be, it will lead them home.
Those are the ones who dance.
Posted by lisa at 8:10 AM Bevula said...

*sigh* Love love love.

Also, love that painting.

1:41 PM J.W.B. said...

Late late at night I'll go lay on this big round float we have in the pool and look at the stars and do thinking like that.

Where have we been. Where are we going. Why things change. Life elsewhere.

What I like most is the quiet.

If I had to pick a favorite thing about summer, it'd be those moments, floating late at night.
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