Sky-High Sanctuary
Sometimes the sky is a great escape, a place where a person frazzled by the terrestrial world can send thoughts that seem to have nowhere else to go. Looking at the sky raises my eyes up, away from the fuss and bother of whatever is before me. Often, that’s just the lift I need.
The dome overhead holds the air. Our air. Life-giving air, the lack of which has so vividly left so many people this year gasping, frightened, dead. Interesting, how the two most grievous calamities of the year both involve, at their worst, an inability to breathe. In the first case, many people critically but not lethally afflicted by COVID-19 had the benefit of ventilators to see them through to the other side. In the second, George Floyd’s pleas of “I can’t breathe” have resonated worldwide through voices fueled by the air he was unable to inhale.
We need a lift, fellow humans. And at the same time, we need to continue to pay attention to these times. The virus? It doesn’t have an expiration date, and it is in charge. And what about the absolutely horrific and inarguable fact of Mr. Floyd’s death? It needs to stay in the light and generate reforms, at last, so we can stop screaming, “no, no, not again.”
And so, I look to the sky for temporary relief, for momentary balm, for comfort. It’s a long-standing habit that I offer as a worthy idea.
During our pandemic, many people rejoiced to see the sky become clearer and quieter. It seemed contented to rest, not to be stirred up daily by tens of thousands of aircraft using jet propulsion to blast through its lower levels. The blueness of the sky seemed more pure, fresher, astonishing in its vividness.
When the weather is benign, the sky can seem like a friend. Its endless variability, its birds, its moon and stars are all deeply, profoundly, part of the fabric of our natural world. Sometimes sweetly quiet, sometimes not, the sky makes the trees and tall grasses dance. And it can certainly deliver a wallop with wild weather. The sky is our ultimate rooftop, an upside down bowl resting over even the grandest of man-made buildings. It’s a place we may not really go to, but which is nonetheless always there, literally rain or shine.
Looking up to the heavens is an action owned by no man, no religion, no legislative body. It’s there for every body on this planet. Overhead is the inexhaustible promise of shining stars even when they are veiled by clouds or the daylight hours. The sky is our cosmic umbrella. It helps hold us to this earth. It’s right there, right now, for you.
