Space Call

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Space Call

Nov 26, 2022


This week I listened in on an ‘out of this world’ call. 


On Wednesday, our granddaughter Avery was one of several students from Five Bridges Junior High, Upper Tantallon, NS, who chatted with Josh Cassada, one of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Students sat on the floor in the school gymnasium, while those asking the questions sat on the stage. Each student asked their question and Josh replied one by one as if he was actually in the room. And he was. 


Not only was I able to listen in on the questions, I was able to watch it live streamed to my cell phone while I sat in a car in the Superstore parking lot.


I am in awe at the wonder of it all - that humans can do such miraculous things. There I was, watching, through prescription glasses, and listening with bionic hearing aids, in on a conversation between a group of students in Nova Scotia, talking with an astronaut orbiting the earth at an altitude of 408 km! AND this conversation was transmitted by a man in Italy! Imagine the number of connections that had to be made to make this work. 


While we frequently make phone calls and video chats to friends around planet Earth, there is something about calling into the mystery of space that sparks a sense of awe and wonder. 


To someone like me who grew up in an era when a long distance phone call was an event - a planned event - an event in which someone watched the clock knowing what each minute would cost - this conversation was indeed an event. 


Back here on Earth, many of us are putting up Christmas lights and dusting off well worn nativity sets. 


I am left wondering in such a time as this, when ordinary people can chat with someone circling the planet, how do we possibly instil a sense of awe and wonder in this 2000 + year old Christmas story we are about to relive? 


Yet we do.


Like the sun bursting through the clouds, symbols of the season are popping up everywhere. Hints of hope, peace, joy and love appear whether you attend a church, synagogue, mosque or worship in the great outdoors.


The Christmas coffee cup is out at Tim Hortons. Miracle on 34th Street is back. The neighbour has once again decorated their front yard with giant inflatables characters which bring a smile to passerbys. The multitude of concerts have started. Then there is the generosity of the season. 


If there was ever a time when the world needs a sense of awe and wonder, a time when the world needs a word of hope, peace, joy and love, it is now. 


Yes, there is much, much work to be done to truly create a just peace on earth. For this moment, I simply want to sit in the awe and wonder. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 26, 2022 at 3:44 PM

    Thank you - for this reminder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thoughts from Chickadee LaneNovember 28, 2022 at 9:12 AM

      You are most welcome. I am grateful that this posts serves as a reminder to more than me.

      Delete
  2. Thoughts from Chickadee LaneNovember 28, 2022 at 9:13 AM

    Please leave your name when you make a comment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 28, 2022 at 10:34 AM

      I always wondered if I’d live long enough to see Start Trek come to reality:). What fun to see it happening! Thank you for this message of awe and wonder! Beth Brehaut

      Delete
    2. Thoughts from Chickadee LaneDecember 1, 2022 at 10:56 AM

      Thank you Beth. May we never cease to be filled with wonder.

      Delete

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