Sixty to Sixty

A few years ago I became interested in night photography, specifically capturing shots of the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. I was initially interested only because I thought the images were visually compelling. I found myself eagerly reading books and watching videos on astrophysics as I tried to learn more about the images I was trying to capture. It is so fascinating that when you look at the center of our Milky way you are literally looking back in time at a light that was generated more than 26,000 years ago.

Today marks 60 days until I turn 60 years old! Actually a rather insignificant number, I tell myself. As I sit here today about to start the ... cough, cough, choke ... seventh decade on this planet I have no idea how long this journey will go. Many would tell me, “Chris, death isn’t the end, you will live on in heaven” … perhaps somewhere else.

I say, “who really knows" and "what does that really mean anyway?”

Our solar system is about 90 million miles in diameter and our sun is one of more than 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Our galaxy is so large it would take as much as 200,000 years for a photon of light to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. That’s enormous!  Consider that the Milky Way is only one of perhaps 100 Billion Galaxies in just our observable universe.

What do we really know about our world and how can anyone be so certain about what lies beyond what we can see today?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not an atheist. I am also not a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, nor am I comfortable with any other label that you might put on someone to define their spirituality.

When I do think about life and death in the context of this immense universe it is so clear to me that we know such a small fraction of the truth. Any truth.

I recently heard the phrase “Post Truth Era” referring to what’s going on in U.S. politics. I am not sure that is anything new. For centuries there seems to have been several variations of the truth, particularly when it comes to politics or religion Countless thousands, millions, have died fighting over stories that have been passed down across generations as the “Truth.”

I have always valued critical thinking and I believe it is, at times, one of our most underutilized skills as a human race. I have rarely been the person who just accepts things blindly. I want to know why even when there isn’t an answer.  Particularly, when there isn't an answer.

Like any skill that is overused, at times, I tend to use critical thinking more like a club rather than a tool and as a result, I know I have left a few scares along the way. I remember one conversation at work a few years ago when a team member said to me, “Chris, just once, can you say, good job and leave off the but…?” Those words have never left me. Thank you Bryarly.

So while one of my favorite words will probably always be “why,” because there is just so much more that is unknown than is known, I am trying hard to replace all my “buts” with “ands.”
And, that is hard!


“People who believe they are ignorant of nothing have neither looked for nor stumbled upon the boundary of what is known and unknown in the universe.” Neil deGrasse Tyson