Our Blue Marble

From the Osho Zen Tarot, the Ten of Rainbows (Pentacles); from the A'HA Oracle, Snowflake:

Suddenly, from behind the rim of the Moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth . . . home. ~Edgar Mitchell, Apollo Astronaut

It is insightful and humbling to see our little blue marble from space. It is impossible to see neighborhood fences and county lines. Even further out, when seen as a tiny speck, we fail to see boundaries between nations. As poet Archibald MacLeish described, "To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves a riders on the earth together." But the Snowflake card - a symbol of uniqueness - brings to mind those who demand their individualism and separation. Yet can't we still enjoy unity while celebrating our diversity? Unity doesn't mean we become a herd of sheep; our strength comes from unified diversity, not division. Our common bond is that we are all riding this fragile, blue marble together, like it or not.