Nevermind the Aliens
A few weeks ago I visited a local high school to discuss some contemporary issues with the students. We covered a number of things based on their religious studies course, including one question about whether there was life on other planets. Now, UFOS and extra terrestrials weren’t strictly part of the syllabus, but the teacher let the conversation run and I was glad he did … 
because it got us all thinking some wild and wacky things:
if there are some aliens out there watching from afar …
what do they make of how we live on planet earth?
Is our small blue globe on the top ten cosmic tourist destinations? Or do Martian mothers have sleepless nights when their children plan a weekend to earth.
I was thinking of those conversations again today, remembering that it’s just six years ago that NASA first received the data from a probe they sent to Mars. One of the objectives was to look for signs of life … not so much expecting little green men with ray guns, but hoping for some basic elements like water. Almost as an after-thought came the fascinating photographs of earth taken from our neighbour … 35 million miles away. The probe gave us stunning images of how others might view our world.
Back down to earth and closer to home, seeing ourselves as others see us can come a quite a shock. We may have no idea that friends think of us as bossy, difficult or grumpy. We could be surprised to discover that our colleagues think we’re cheerful, kind and helpful. Either way this can be an education.
Which is why the golden rule that Jesus spoke of is still so relevant today.
Do to others as you have them do to you.
Think of others as you hope they’ll think of you.
Never mind the aliens …
if we could only see ourselves as friends and family see us …
who knows what we would learn
and what we’d change.
because it got us all thinking some wild and wacky things:
if there are some aliens out there watching from afar …
what do they make of how we live on planet earth?
Is our small blue globe on the top ten cosmic tourist destinations? Or do Martian mothers have sleepless nights when their children plan a weekend to earth.
I was thinking of those conversations again today, remembering that it’s just six years ago that NASA first received the data from a probe they sent to Mars. One of the objectives was to look for signs of life … not so much expecting little green men with ray guns, but hoping for some basic elements like water. Almost as an after-thought came the fascinating photographs of earth taken from our neighbour … 35 million miles away. The probe gave us stunning images of how others might view our world.
Back down to earth and closer to home, seeing ourselves as others see us can come a quite a shock. We may have no idea that friends think of us as bossy, difficult or grumpy. We could be surprised to discover that our colleagues think we’re cheerful, kind and helpful. Either way this can be an education.
Which is why the golden rule that Jesus spoke of is still so relevant today.
Do to others as you have them do to you.
Think of others as you hope they’ll think of you.
Never mind the aliens …
if we could only see ourselves as friends and family see us …
who knows what we would learn
and what we’d change.
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