I was watching the flight of Captain Kirk. Sort of funny that with all the hoopla, you can watch from takeoff to landing in less than 10 minutes. Anyway, the most interesting thing was Shatner’s comments after the flight. He was at a little loss for words, then spoke of punching through the blue blanket of the atmosphere into the blackness of space, going from the beauty of life to the blackness of death.
I had not heard anyone look at space as being symbolic of death, so perhaps his age of 90 and the impending possibility of death had something to do with it. In any case, he seemed to see his ride as a spiritual experience.
Not sure where to go with that, but definitely relates to the intersection of faith and science. Any thoughts? What life experiences have you had that affected you in a profound spiritual way?
I don’t know if it’s spiritual but it reminds me of what he’s saying. Sometimes I kayak at night a mile or even a few miles out into the Gulf of Mexico where the water is a few hundred feet deep. I’ve even been out there in the middle of thunderstorm that lit up everything as far as you can see. But most nights it’s just clear with a bright moon and stars. I begin by just floating in the water moving just enough to float on my back. Eventually I’ll take a deep breath and put on my goggles and allow myself to sink a foot below the surface and it’s so silent and you’re looking up at space and it just feels like you as floating. I’ll come back up for air and then this time sink on my back 10-20 feet down and just look at nothing and float in nothing. Sometimes I pull off my goggles and close my eyes below the surface and it’s like you’re fake and not even anything. It often makes me think of death and that I’m just like some soul under the river’s surface in carnival of souls. I kind of imagine that’s what death is like as your dying just floating in nothingness until that’s what you are.
Picard is better. 
My wife and son (who absolutely LOVES space) watched it. I was on the road at the time .We often think of space as fun and exciting because of Star Trek and Star Wars, and other space stuff. But that’s Hollywood. I find Shatner’s words to be a helpful reminder of how precious life on Earth is. Such a beautiful planet. When I was a kid, I always thought Saturn was the best planet. But now, I think that Earth is definitely the best planet in our solar system. Call me biased if you want. 
His words remind us (or at least me) to not take this Earth, or the life on it, for granted. To fight for it.
It reminds me of times where I stop and look at an insect or birds flying through the sky. And I realize just how special these mundane things are, things that we take for granted. Why, they’re not mundane at all! And I thank God.
Thanks for the opportunity to reflect, my friend.
-Joshua W.
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