Perspective

Carl Sagan once stated, " Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves." When earth is viewed from deep space, it does appear as an insignificant speck in space (see photo), but is it really? According to Sagan and others, our planet is not special.

Recent findings would dispute Sagan's comment concerning the lonely speck called earth. [1] We now know that so many factors have to be perfect in order for life to even exist. For example, the earth has to have a certain type of star for life. The earth must be the proper distance from the sun for life. The earth must have a certain type of moon. The earth must be in the proper position in the solar system, and in its galaxy. The earth must have a certain type of galaxy. All of these parameters and more must exist in order for life to exist. Scientist continue to discover more and more planets, only confirming just how special our lonely speck is. Thus far, out of the hundreds of planets discovered, not one comes close to the specialness of this planet.[2]

This planet is either the product of an accident or design. The perspective one takes makes a big difference in the type of life one has here on earth. Solomon, once toiled with the question of what meaning exists here on this planet. From Solomon's perspective, life without God is meaningless (Ecc. 12:8). But, for the Christian, life is seen through a totally different len's.

Ravi Zacharias has this to say about perspective, "Under the sun means an existence outside of God where there is no input from outside - a closed system. What else can the secular media do but dabble in weirder concoctions of the senses when their philosophy is bred under the sun? What else can secular education do when its intellect is sold out to a closed system?

But for the Christian, God has spoken. Our theory of pleasure is not born from under the sun but from Him who the psalmist says has 'set (His) glory above the heavens (Psalm 8:1).' and who sent us His Son, whose life has been the benchmark of all that is good."[3] Perspective makes all the difference, even for a lonely speck in the vastness of space.

[1] Article about the special properties of earth.
[2] Two great books that point out the specialness of planet earth: Rare Earth and The Privileged Planet

[3] Zacharias, Ravi, Cries of the Heart, p. 131