Today billy struck me a serious mental blow with this phrase: "I saw the moon tonight, his light held supremacy over the sky, as if he was the only being in existence. He gazed upon the world blankly, for there was no one to watch him shine. Tonight I was his witness, whether he realized it or not. The dreamer was not alone." It struck me that we are like the moon, always reaching for something greater than we are. Simple hunter-gatherers discovering fire, Columbus sailing to the Americas, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. In these attempts, we are to be rewarded for our success. But in our triumph do we loose our sense of innocence? When so much is at our finger tips, we forget where we come from and how far we have traveled for the things we take for granted. With city lights holding captive the night sky, we forget all about the simple things nature tells us are marvels. One of my favorite things to do is to take a weekend and go camping in a place remote from all that is civilization. Somewhere that I can hear everything, and nothing, where I can see for miles without the steel of city and town. At night, watching the stars arc overhead, I remember, and get lost in what it's like to be alive. I am rejuvenated with a childlike view of things, something that should not be discounted. Children are unhindered by beliefs and bias. They see clearly what grown men cannot. They feel deeply what does not shake us.
Why can we not see unclouded, and live carefree like children? We get bogged down in our day-to-day and forget to look up at the sky, or to see the beauty as we walk to and from. Keep this in mind, as you do your daily tasks, and maybe we can feel a sense of what Billy felt. Though we may be like the moon, reaching for the sun, let us not get burned by the very thing keeping us alive.
