I’m writing this on Valentine’s Day, and thirty years ago today Voyager I was completing its mission in the solar system.  It would continue on into deep space periodically reporting back to earth as long as it was functional.  It is still transmitting, but expected to fail by 2026.  NASA scientists decided that they were going to turn off the satellite’s camera to save power, but decided to take one last picture back towards earth.  The result is the image below.  At first nothing seemed remarkable, but then someone noticed a pale blue dot about half-way down the vertical ray and realized that it was a picture of earth.  Since that time, a number of people have been inspired by and reflected on the image.

One of the first was the astronomer Carl Sagan; you might remember him from his many appearances on the Johnny Carson Show.  Sagan pointed out that the pale blue dot was to all of who ever lived.  It housed every hero and every coward, every young couple in love, every mother and every father, every sinner and every saint, every king and every peasant.  He stressed how that mote of dust suspended on a sunbeam represented the commonality of us all.  I can just see Johnny saying, “You say there are billions and billions,” which was his standard response to anything Sagan said.

Others made points about how it showed the insignificance of earth and us relative to the vastness of the universe.  Many noted that it puts the conflicts and controversies of earth into perspective.  Often the perspective was brought down to a personal level.  I found one to be especially poignant.  This woman said that looking at the picture helped make her problems seem smaller and helped her realize that they didn’t matter so much in the big picture.  She said that what mattered was to be kind, grateful and to enjoy yourself.

The picture has a similar effect on me.  It humbles me to see in relation to the universe how small I and my difficulties are.  With more thought, however, it gives rise to faith, for you see you and I are not small to God.  He is able to search us out on the pale blue dot to bestow his unconditional love.

Jim