Sailing on San Francisco Bay
The great savant Carl Sagan once remarked that it is the height of self-conceit for man
to believe that he and the earth he lives in is the center of the universe.
Indeed, in the vastness and grandeur of the universe,
with its exploding stars and expanding galaxies,
the earth is but ‘a pale blue dot’ (Sagan’s own description).
Man will always be wondering about his origins and the meaning of his being here. Every generation has tried and has come up with its own answer to such questions.
In today’s highly scientific and technology-driven world,
it would indeed be the height of folly for a man to reveal and proclaim
that cause and origin of everything we see (including what we do not see but is)
is a person who loves us and relates to us very much like a father would to his children.
I find that incredibly amazing.
And I believe.
Everyone seeks and wants to have some wealth, some power, some fame.
Some have these more than others; a few have these than anyone of us can imagine.
Yet, there is only one treasure worth wanting and worth keeping – life itself.
Life that we have received unmerited and unconditionally
from the same source as the universe we live in.
Without life, no amount of wealth, power and fame would mean anything.
With life, we have everything we need and everything we have is a treasure.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.