The end of eternity and the beginning of infinity
“The day will come when the humankind will inhabit the Milky Way. People will see new worlds and unknown civilizations, driven by such familiar passions and emotions.” Isaac Asimov
Why do we find such attraction in the night sky?
What mystery does it keep? Why a bunch of twinkling dots, jauntily scattered by someone’s hand through the sky is such an inspiring secret?
What tempts us in the light of the far away stars? By what enchantment are we lured? What is the promise they have for us in store?
Maybe it’s so important for us to know what is hidden there, in the myriads of galaxies, because it helps us to understand who we are, where we came from and where we are heading? Or maybe it’s just an eternal human curiosity, that drives us on this incredible search?
You raise your eyes up and you know, there would be those little lights. Those jingle bells, that Little Prince was talking about on the cold nights in a desert. And you feel better. The desperate one finds hope, the happy one finds a reimagined meaning of her happiness, and the disappointed one becomes a timid romantic for a tiny moment.
They also inspire thoughts. Not the philistine thoughts of man, who has forgotten about his proud name and cares only about a new TV series on NBC. Stars inspire us to think about the most important things in life, to seek for the answers to the questions, that are so hard to find and to pursuit unachievable dreams, forgetting about their unattainability and being happy just by being a part of a great path.
And somewhere, among the quadrillions of those lights, there is life evolving — a great miracle, the most obvious sign of the eternal urge of the spirit to find the physical shelter. Life, so unprotected, that it can be blown away by the gust of wind or by the stream of the stormy lava. And so almighty, that it may adopt to any, even the most severe conditions. So you want to shout at the top of your voice, to shout as much as you can: “Heeey! We are here! We exist!”. Maybe someone will respond.
Then you start thinking again. About the intergalactic voyages and hyperspace jumps, about far away planets and unknown civilizations, about bright comets and undiscovered stars. You dream of the time, when huge ships will take off from gigantic space centers and in the search of the answers will reach the farthest stars, exploring miracles of life in the most unexpected forms.
And already going to bed, you know one thing — once you’ll find answers to your questions. You’ll certainly find them.
And somewhere, shiny rockets are rushing through space, continuing an eternal path of the humankind forward.
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