Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The world that we live in is in the right place for us to survive and thrive. We are in the “Goldilocks” zone, as scientists call it. It is a special place and a fragile place as well. We know from observation that a little farther away from our sun and we would freeze and a little closer and we would burn to a crisp. The core of the earth is hot and parts of it seem always ready to come visit us from under the mantle. 

Nothing wrong with a little heat, it allows plants to grow and keeps us comfortable over much of the surface of the earth. Too much heat and things burn and die and provide a covering of smoke and ash that makes it harder to breathe and reduces our ability to raise the food we need to stay healthy. We are also very fortunate that we learned how to use heat to prepare our food which has provided us with larger brains giving us the capacity to be more intelligent than most of the other creatures of earth, but it does not always guarantee that we will act as if we are.

The earth does not move in a circle around the Sun; it is more of an elliptical path and our center of gravity moves as we go through this journey. If our planet had a major change in the route it takes on the journey or if for some reason it should tilt further on its axis we could be in very serious trouble. The fact that sometime in the future our Sun will no longer be there to nurture us and then we are all going to expire very quickly.

In the meantime we should be aware of how much we are causing our world to heat up and keep in mind the effects that may have on our future. For those that are sure it means nothing we will be hard pressed to change any minds. This is another argument like getting the vaccine to fight covid, some think it is needed and some feel that it does no good. Many of those that have felt that the vaccine was of no value are now pushing up the grass instead of walking on the grass, but we did cut down on the surplus population, can’t be all bad. (If you are not familiar with SARCASM you best start getting used to it).

We are all the inhabitants of this blue marble and regardless of whether you think global warming, the vaccine, or limiting who can own or carry a gun and what kind of gun is a right, or should be ignored or whatever, the common factor is that everyone feels that they are entitled. This does not always prove to be true; you may take the view that no one’s rights are any more important than mine and yet no ones are any less important than yours. In situations of this nature it is time to look to the common good and go from there. If that means you choose to always wear a mask so as not to pass on or hopefully catch an illness, wear the mask. If that means you forgo the ability to own or carry a gun everywhere you go, so be it, did you need to walk around being a threat or a target? As for global warming, be aware of those things that cause problems or make current problems worse and try not to contribute to them. In other words, “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You”