View From the Moon

From upon the moon I could see there were no problems – only people thinking they had problems.

Millions of people, millions of troubles, some large, some small, all temporary – only most of the people thought their troubles were permanent. Others thought their illusory problems were real.

From upon the moon I could see fighting and wars and insignificant “significance” – only it seems no different to the clouds moving and the weather shifting; cycles of change, like a time-lapse of events unfolding. Calm, then storms, then calm again – so why the storms I wondered?

Watching Earth from the moon is like watching a giant movie with one giant cast – only the actors and actresses don’t know they are playing roles. Some follow scripts; some invent them – others watch movies within movies, an overlaying play of multiple stories weaving in and out. The episodes unfold silently – without sound, without words, it’s a struggle to follow what the “problems” are. It seems a mass of strange actions.

From upon the moon, the Earth moves continuously and every day may as well be a lifetime – a constant flow of arrivals and departures; yet oddly nothing seems to leave. It’s almost like a giant recycling washing machine.

Possessions move from A to B, “stuff” is constantly shifting without ultimately going anywhere. One day it’s here, one day it’s there; yet another day it turns to dust.

Change happens, transformation occurs, like the tree that becomes furniture, paper or books. Then more movement – the paper becomes a story, the story becomes a movie, the movie becomes a DVD, with posters and spin-off merchandise and maybe the cycle starts again with a sequel. Shifting patterns and patterns shifting, constant new and old; old and new.

If Earth could see the view from the moon, what a difference it would make.

From upon the moon, weather and nature and life on Earth take your breath away. The only break in the vision of paradise is the temporary manmade disruptions, rising and falling, like high ocean waves before a calming stillness returns.

From upon the moon, I can’t help wondering: Do they know? Does man really know that it is he that causes all the troubles on Earth? Causes the storms between the calms.

The view from the moon makes it obvious.

Perhaps the nearest one can get to seeing it from Earth, is looking up at the sky and watching the clouds drift. The silent change that happens naturally. The movie watching the movie – the dream within a dream.

Maybe one day the view of Earth, from Earth, will be just like the view from the moon.

Maybe.