These started as solely abstraction. The idea here was vastness; of space, matter and time. Then it became about smallness; ours, our efforts, every living or changeable thing. We, ourselves, our progeny, the bristlecone pine, the algae, the white rhino, the cockroach, the supercomputer, will be- will exist - for a time. Current trends indicate that our progeny will witness the cosmos longer than the rhino’s. Similarly, here, in the American west, live individual bristlecone pine trees that once shared the air and sun with Hammurabi, then Jesus, then Muhammad, then Martin Luther, but may not survive the air and sun they now share with Chevron, Monsanto, Wal-Mart, and seven billion of us. While we humans, as a species, are ruthless and resourceful, our eventual fate will be no different. Our constructions and considerations may outlive even our civilization and species, but against the vastness of eternity, they are still small and they too will not possibly grasp the enormity of forever. This moment is yours though; you were given or stole it. Breathe the air of now, foul or sweet, it is the air of your moment. Breathe it along with the kids, and the bristlecones, and the algae, and the rhinos, cockroaches and supercomputers, in this tiny splinter of forever.
These started as solely abstraction. The idea here was vastness; of space, matter and time. Then it became about smallness; ours, our efforts, every living or changeable thing. We, ourselves, our progeny, the bristlecone pine, the algae, the white rhino, the cockroach, the supercomputer, will be- will exist - for a time. Current trends indicate that our progeny will witness the cosmos longer than the rhino’s. Similarly, here, in the American west, live individual bristlecone pine trees that once shared the air and sun with Hammurabi, then Jesus, then Muhammad, then Martin Luther, but may not survive the air and sun they now share with Chevron, Monsanto, Wal-Mart, and seven billion of us. While we humans, as a species, are ruthless and resourceful, our eventual fate will be no different. Our constructions and considerations may outlive even our civilization and species, but against the vastness of eternity, they are still small and they too will not possibly grasp the enormity of forever. This moment is yours though; you were given or stole it. Breathe the air of now, foul or sweet, it is the air of your moment. Breathe it along with the kids, and the bristlecones, and the algae, and the rhinos, cockroaches and supercomputers, in this tiny splinter of forever.