I'm the sort of person who looks at the vastness of the universe and is comforted, rather than terrified, by my own smallness and relative insignificance. I've always told my boys that one of my dreams is to go up into the atmosphere in a rocket ship and look out a window at the Earth in space. I'm so drawn to astronauts' words of that experience, and this morning, when I read my friend, fellow writer and mother of a child with epilepsy, Christy Shake's post, I was inspired.

I feel at turns disgusted and terrified at the havoc wrought in the name of power, religion and territory in the Middle East. As the Hamas rockets fly and the Israeli bombs return, I deflect the insanity with a sort of bitter humor. That'll show 'em, I might mutter, when I read the leaders' threats. This show of force will surely be the end of all conflict. 

There's nothing new under the sun, is there? The Old Testament had it right, at least there.

I wonder if the Universe -- whatever force inherent in it -- looks at our beautiful blue and green globe and sees it as insignificant, just a speck in a vast continuum.

This Bitter Earth

Oliver and I stood at the back door last night and looked up into the sky. Terrific winds have been raging all across California the last couple of days, and our backyard is littered with palm fronds and tree debris. The stars, though, shone brightly, despite our urban setting, and we both exclaimed how many there were and how bright. Maybe the wind has blown out the darkness and allowed the stars to shine through! I said.

No, Mom! Oliver said. Haven't you heard? Pollution is getting less and less here in Los Angeles and the stars are coming back! I heard it in the news!

I must have looked dubious, but Oliver insisted and said, again, We're getting more aware, Mom, of the planet! It's good!

And I felt so hopeful in that moment, that we have these young, bright minds, these stars, actually, still here, hoping and confident.

I later stumbled across this video on the On Being website, and thought it was perfect to end this post. That's the voice of the Dalai Lama and, later, Dinah Washington, singing This Bitter Earth. May both Oliver's hope and the short film bring YOU hope today!