Starry Night- by Chad Tomasso

Like most, as I look up at the sky I see an endless universe of wonder and beauty. I gaze upon the millions of brilliant stars burning at unimaginable temperatures, the twinkling planets- millions of miles away- reflecting light from the very sun we orbit, and streaking meteorites-emblazoned with fire as they burn up in the atmosphere. Oh, how our ancestors must have marveled at the site! Of course, they would have seen things quite differently than me. They might have seen long lost relatives who had passed into the next world, or the eyes of a thousand beasts roaming the deep black pastures of the afterlife, or the twinkling of angels dancing in the firmament. The mystery of it surely had provided endless stories of the heavens and explanations of the cosmos- all wrapped in the context of whatever culture they were describing it in.

Gods were created from such stories; thousands of gods in fact. Why, who else could inhabit the great beyond and the unreachable sky but gods? Sometimes these gods fought for supremacy on a cosmic level. Some destroyed worlds while others created them. Other gods battled just to bring the sun up every morning and others to take it down at night. But after a while the stories became too complicated and far too cumbersome to remember. Though people had an explanation for things, and that was very important, the explanations seemed to change from year to year, ruler to ruler, king to king. Eventually, I suspect, it all became a bit comical and just downright confusing.

Then the people decided that one god was enough, to paraphrase centuries of theological evolution. One god could handle it all. This idea had never been tried before, but why not? People could really sink their teeth into a being that was all-powerful and who controlled everything! This made people feel strangely comforted and strangely happy. Sure the unknown was still out therel, but at least this god had it all under control.

Then the unknown started to lose territory. Its borders got smaller, its darkness a bit brighter. The holes were being filled in and people’s eyes were beginning to truly see. What was a god to do, retreat? In a sense, I feel guilty for knowing far more about the world than my great ancestors did. The wealth of knowledge I posses now is embarrassing in comparison. I also feel pity for them. They never knew how wonderful the real heavens were…how vast and beautiful, how violent and cold, and how far grander it is than the one they came to know.

I wonder about the stars and what they see when they look at us. Do they laugh when they hear us call them angels? Do they giggle when we refer to them as dead relatives, or pin pricks in Heaven’s dark blanket? No that’s silly, stars don’t think or laugh or giggle. What about aliens then? Do they look at us and immediately know we worship gods? Do they see a species that depends greatly on the judgment of an omniscient being? When they see every country poised with armies ready to defend themselves against one another, do they see a life form who truly thinks it will be protected by a celestial being? I suspect not. American evangelicals often say that god is on their country’s side. That America is doing the Lord’s work. Why does the lord need so many guns and missiles? Can’t an all powerful being protect its own righteous country? What would happen if America destroyed all its weapons, and told its enemies that God was now protecting them? That’s a silly idea too. We all know what would happen.

No. Aliens see what everyone else sees, a world behaving exactly as it should if there was no god. It sees a species constantly looking out for itself; defending its resources and its sovereignty from other would-be takers. This is what a species does when they know they can’t rely on anyone but themselves.

The stories of the cosmos will always be around, but maybe-just maybe- they’ll gradually change. Perhaps they will talk about common perspective, or our innate human desire to come together when we share a common bond; or our collective desire to know…not just stories, but the truth of things. How grand of a story that would be! In the meantime, the stars will continue to bat their bright eyes, planets will continue to roam the deep and meteorites will consistently streak over the dark horizon. And the aliens, well, they’ll probably just wait until we’ve finally grown up.