Scientists have learned much in the past century about our planet. They have been able to determine its approximate age and gleaned much of its history. Millions of life forms have evolved and later been lost to extinction. Our Earth has undergone 5 mass extinctions precipitated by freezing, flooding, volcanic activity, chemical changes in the atmosphere, and the most recent one, by an asteroid from outer space colliding into it.
Life; however, is unstoppable. A very small percentage of life forms managed to survive the extinctions and begin again. The first extinction took place 440 million years ago. The most recent extinction was just 60 million years ago. Humans have inhabited the planet for a mere half million years. In just the past 50 years, we have altered the planet so drastically as to set us directly on the path for a 6th extinction.
Our planet, according to scientists, is about 4 ½ BILLION years old. This is hard for most of us to wrap our heads around. Even the 4 ½ MILLION years since the first mass extinction is difficult to comprehend. When I contemplate my own life, a teeny, tiny spec in relationship with the whole of life, I realize more than ever my insignificance – all of our insignificance. Itty bitty microbial life, microscopic sized insects, snowflakes, grains of sand, also appear as nothing compared to the scheme of life. And yet, we are all a piece of the entire tapestry. We are nothing, but we are everything. We are not vital, but we are one of billions, maybe trillions of life forms that make up the whole. It is the great diversity that makes up the community. It is from community, not individuality, that great accomplishments are realized. Our lives themselves are of little importance. It is how we choose to live each moment that truly matters.
