The other day, I was listening to a TED radio talk. Their topic was endurance and one man spoke about the endurance of the human species. He indicated that he would be surprised if there was no other intelligent life in the universe. However, he left the possibility open and said we might be the only ones out there. Then he, roughly, said the following, “If we are the only people to have ever existed, than what happens here is cosmically important.”
I don’t intend to dissect this from the context, but it means far more to me when I do. He was referencing the survival of humanity and the hope that we won’t be the cause of our own destruction.
What grabbed my attention, however, was the phrase cosmically important.
If what is happening here on Earth has never happened anywhere else, than what we do and how we live is important for the entire cosmos. I don’t think we should all freak out about every action, but it gives me a different perspective if I think about my actions impacting a cosmos.
How would we live is we viewed our lives on a cosmic scale? That doesn’t mean we become self-inflated or overly consumed with ourselves. Instead of giving myself pass after pass for living lower than I ought, seeing my actions as cosmically important might force me to shape up and live well.
Even if our relationships, our sins, or our failings don’t seem to alter the foundations of the universe, they are all impacting eternity. My eternity. I will live for eternity and my actions determine what that eternal life will be like. It is cosmically important that we realize the value of our lives and the importance of the here and now.
It isn’t later or the future that is all important. Rather, it is the present moment that has great significance. I cannot do anything to the past or the future, all I possess is the present, the fleeting present.
This fleeting moment, though, is cosmically important. Live it well, friends.
Seeking After His Heart 