The James Webb Telescope just released its first images of space. The images are incredible–spanning billions of galaxies and trillions of planets. The vastness of the images border on infinite. It’s tough to comprehend and to grasp intellectually. All you can really do is feel it. Feel the awe.
Some had a weird reaction to this image: “Oh wow I’m so small and inconsequential, just some random collection of stardust deposited in the form of a meaty robot. What’s the point of living? Life is meaningless. There is no purpose.”
I had the opposite reaction: “Oh wow this is beautiful and I’m blessed to see it. It feels like I’m put here to do great things, build great relationships, change my small neck of the world and see the shifts reverberate outward like a stone dropping in a lake.”
Amidst all those trillions of solar objects, we alone sit on a planet hosting life intelligent enough to view it. How lucky can you be? Yeah, yeah, maybe there are some aliens out there. I like sci-fi as much as the next guy, but I’m not talking about possibilities and potentials. I’m talking about what we know: we’re the ones looking at this.
Besides, you are anything but insignificant. Are you insignificant in the eyes of your children? Your friends? Your husband or wife? Your girlfriend or boyfriend? Your parents? Your business associates? Your dog?
The entire premise of this thing we call life rests on the fact that things are significant. Everything we do matters. If nothing matters, then what the hell are you doing here? Why are you getting up in the morning? Why are you reading this?
I’m here to say, you matter!”
Mark Sisson
King Edward Street Chapel 