Heroes Not Zombies

When I looked up at the sky one morning recently it looked like this. The sun was just rising and the sky was virtually cloudless but it was pink because of all the trails from the planes which had recently flown over.

Look at them all! I can’t remember ever seeing so many at the one time. Here’s what happens with me all the time – first something catches my attention, then typically there are two qualities which come quickly to the fore – curiosity and a love of beauty. I look up and see this sky and at one and the same time, or so it seems to me, I’m filled with a sense of wonder and awe which provokes me to take a photo.

I’m looking at this and finding it gorgeous. A delight.

I’m looking at this and I’m wondering about how these cloud like trails are created by the planes. How ephemeral they are. How they track across the sky, then, dissipate. Yes, that’s the word. You can see it happen before your very eyes. They are dissipating…..thinning out, spreading out, becoming invisible.

I’m looking at this and I’m wondering where the planes have come from and where they are going to. Look at the spread of directions, of origins, of destinations. Where is everyone going? Well, first of all, there is no “everyone”. Each of the people in each of these planes is coming from somewhere different. Yes, sure, all the people in one plane left from the same airport, but none of them will have started their journeys there. All of the people in one plane will land at the same airport, but none of them will end their journeys there.

This is what we do, we humans. We move.

We’ve always done that. Individually and in groups. Thousands of years ago our ancestors moved out of Africa and started those journeys which took human beings to every part of the Earth. At various times in our history there have been mass migrations caused by violence and/or poverty. We’re in the midst of one of those at the moment and I don’t think we’re handling it very well.

We move individually too. We move because we are curious. We want to see other parts of the world, to taste other foods, to see other sights, to meet other people. We move out of a sense of adventure, or opportunity. We move to make a living, or to live a different kind of life.

It’s just a fact of human life. We move.

See! It’s written in the sky!