Since time immemorial, humans have dreamed of going to the stars. Now, with the space age, one might think that that might become a literal reality. We are not ready.

For one thing, we who have trashed our own planet of origin do not have any right going out in search of expansion, or relocation, or whatever, only to trash another world (and another, and another, and so on). I have always harboured a belief, or perhaps not so much a belief as a hope, that there is some law of nature that prevents any race that cannot respect its own planet from going out and wreaking havoc in the universe.

For another thing, and as something that has been on my mind a lot lately, humanity has insufficient respect for its own kind to deserve leaving home at all. Humans seem to have a penchant, a talent even, for turning ploughshares into swords. There is always another way, and another reason, to commit atrocities. It has been suggested, sometimes sardonically, sometimes satirically, that the human race has so many cultures, ideologies, religions and languages as it does as a conspiracy, an experiment in conflict, as a study, and as entertainment, as whoever or whatever engineered it watches the atrocities that are committed. My belief is that it is a test of worth. It is only when we of Earth learn to live with each other that we will have earned a place in any cosmic community. If there is intelligent, civilized life elsewhere, then they will have their own cultures and their own paradigms, and we of Earth must be ready to meet them with respect rather than loathing simply because of cultural differences. They will most certainly be more enlightened than we are, both scientifically and spiritually, and we must be ready to learn from them. Even so, perhaps we of Earth can teach as well as learn, as there is always something to teach as well as something to learn.

First, however, we must learn to live in peace among ourselves, and to live in harmony with life.

--DL