A wide spot in my imagination.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Right-Sized in the Universe?

Copernicus and others taught us that we're not the center of the universe.  Our home is just one of many homes swirling in the inky, spangled cosmos.  We're not even the center of our galaxy.  That's a milky collection of gassy chunks, where our sun is just one neighbor in the Local Fluff.  And we're not even the center of our solar system.  The sun is.  That's why it's called a solar system, not an earth system.

But at least we can still be the center of the earth, right?  With chest-thumping hymns of national exceptionalism or mind-numbing thoughts of personal egotism, we can put ourselves where we belong: on the pedestal of me-first-ism.

Then this comes along...

  • Sunday I was reminded that there are more members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Congo than there are in North America.   Interesting since the CC(DOC) claims to be the first denomination born in the United States.
  • And I heard on NPR this morning that car-making icon General Motors sells more cars in China than it does in the United States.

So, where do we fit?  Does all that make you feel small? Or right-sized?  I wonder...

I'd like to hear from you.