‘At some point in the future, new stars will cease being born. … Solar systems will become planets orbiting dead stars.’*

‘To act on behalf of the future requires a deep sense of responsibility and selflessness.’**

We live in an impermanent universe, our own sun having some five billion years left.  Buddhism names this impermanence annica, teaching that attachment brings suffering (dukkha).

I found myself wondering about the nature of existence, and just how is this far richer when we belong to another and others and our world (eco) rather than believing these things belong to us (ego)?

To know who we are within the life of another, including the life of our planet, is a precious thing – I can say this even as an introvert.  When we live with humility, gratitude, and faithfulness, we’re opening ourselves up to this possibility of belonging within others.

This complexity of relationships are made possible by the human skill of helping, through which most things happen in our world; and though helping can often go wrong, yet out of even this some of the most beautiful and magical expressions of human life occur.

(*From Alan Lightman’s The Accidental Universe.)

(**From Joseph Jaworski’s Source.)