editorial Welcome to this week’s editorial, You can’t help but no2ce the enormity of our night sky. On a clear night with the Milky Way in full display the Universe above is simply breathtaking. Over the years of looking skyward you become familiar with the planets and the constella2ons. They become the friends that you look for when you venture out at night and the friends that you o8en miss when you find yourself on the opposite side of the planet. Vol 16 September 15th 2017 28 April December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 27th 2018
I remember one night, on a far off Keralan beach, being delighted to see the top of the Southern Cross and its two Pointers peeking over the horizon. This single constella2on that sits high in the Southern hemisphere sky draws an emo2onal 2e to those who know it. While it points to the South Celes2al Pole it also resonates in the hearts and minds of Australians and New Zealanders as they proudly display it on their flags. I marvel at the nightsky. I am in awe of the fact that we live on a small blue planet speeding at around 1000 miles per hour through space. I am amazed at the incredible diversity of life on this Earth and the infinitesimally insignificant relevance that we have in the scheme of all things Universal. The probability of Earth exis2ng as it does is nearly incalculable but we do exist. Not only do we exist but we do so with a strange belief that the Earth was created purely for us to use as we wish. The water, the land, the plants, animals and fish. All there for us to enjoy. And enjoy it we have. So much so that we have managed to turn it into a cesspit with open gaping wounds, of foul waters and lands, of ex2nc2ons and muta2ons and best of all ongoing plunder that knows no bounds in the face realised calamity. I sat one night high in the Himalayas, at the feet of its giants with the stars so close you felt you could pluck them from the sky. At dawn, as the sun revealed the vast plains of India that lay 4000 metres below all you could see was the endless layer of thick brown haze that shrouds the con2nent with a toxic atmosphere that burns your lungs as you descend into it. But descend you do from your silent mountain retreat into a world filled with humanity. And what an incredible diversity we have. So many cultures, so many customs, such an amazing assemblage of languages and so many gods. On this liEle blue planet there is a god for everyone who wants one. For those who look up at the Universe some2mes the no2on of a God crea2ng it all is o8en the easiest explana2on without lending yourself to an inevitable headache. As you stand at the feet of Kanchenjunga and look out over South East Asia, China and India you can’t see any borders. Nor can you see them from 33,000 feet as you fly over. It isn’t un2l you are on the ground that you see the divisions we have created for ourselves. Christmas is one of those opportuni2es for humanity to recount a God story, handed down genera2on a8er genera2on. For those who don’t follow that par2cular God then Alternate Christmas is the 2me of year to indulge in another ’god’ with decora2ons, carols, shared meals and gi8 giving that apparently brings joy to everyone. The Santa God. If you were out there in space and looking down you would see most of the planet buzzing around spending an es2mated ten trillion dollars during the season of HoHo. Of interest a survey for Netherlands-based bank ING found 15% of Europeans were unhappy with what gi8s they received last year, while 10% couldn’t even remember their gi8s. The nice thing about Christmas is that generally our wars over whose God is beEer, whose genes are beEer, who wants more land (or more sea) stop for a week or so while we extend season gree2ngs and take holidays before geKng back to the serious business of being the Big Blue garbage 2p we have become. Amazingly, in just a few centauries, humans have transformed our once incredible masterpiece of a planet into something quite sad. With our popula2on at 7.9 billion it might be 2me to have a rethink. I for one am looking forward to 2022. Maybe, just maybe, it might bring about a collec2ve thought that, irrespec2ve of our many Gods, our many borders, our many tribes and languages, our poli2cians, our governments, and our collec2ve unstoppable desire to consume, we need to call a halt to the way we treat this Big Blue and ALL the life forms that, with us, call it HOME. Un2l next –lei beagle weekly : Vol 239 December 24th 2021
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