A Blast from the Past

     People often use the expression "A Blast from the Past"  when hearing from someone they have not seen or heard from for a long time.   
I experienced a different and very impressive "Blast from the past" when my husband John and I visited the Meteor Crater site about a half hour's drive east of Flagstaff on I-40.
This blast happened, scientists think, about 500,000 years ago.  A meteor hit the earth on this site and created a mile big crater, blowing itself into smithereens in the process.  There are pieces of it in a few museums, including in Chicago and New York's natural history museums.
Apparently, meteors have slammed into the earth regularly for millennia, but most don't get noticed because they plunge into the ocean.  Some, of course, cause spectacular destruction wherever they land on earth.  And more are coming our way.  There is actually an organization dedicated to figuring out how to protect humanity for the possible catastrophe of a meteor hit on land in the future.
     Now I confess that on my list of stuff to worry about, especially natural disasters, this particular kind has never made it anywhere near the top.  It just wasn't on my radar.  And I don't think that it will ascend to a very much higher status on my "dangers to be concerned about" list.  After we saw the short film that portrayed how scientists and others are planning to try and protect the earth (though cost was never mentioned!) I asked myself, "How much energy and time are we going to put into trying to protect ourselves from this sort of thing?  Are there not immediate, already-with-us disasters in the making we should be putting more resources and thought into averting?  Like nuclear accidents or war?  Catastrophic climate changes because of our life-style?  epidemics? monster hurricanes and floods?    You get the picture and I am sure you could mention other causes for concern.
      But all this raises yet another question:  How much of our energy, imagination, resources, and intelligence is it wise to invest in possible disasters?  That goes for us as individuals too.
How much can we realistically avoid or prevent of all the dire things that might happen?  Yes, life is fragile and uncertain.  Which makes it all the more precious and worth savoring.
   I certainly would rather focus on creating, on making the most of my life while I can, on serving others, on enjoying this gorgeous world.  I don't want to live under the dark shadow of fear. In spite of all the threats to my/our/the world's well being which lurk out there,  I choose to
believe that, as Shakespeare said, "There is a Providence that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will."  And, as Lady Julian the famous mystic famously said, "All will be well and all manner of things will be well."  Some days, that is not an easy thing to believe, but I get to choose and so I do!  One day at a time.