Before my wife and I were married we spent some time together on a series of dates. One of my most favorite and memorable dates during that time involved a trip on a historic sloop on the Savannah river. I grew up on a great lake around boats however my family wasn’t really a sailing one so I had no idea what to expect.
The captain of the sloop let us know that this boat was a historic landmark and in keeping with tradition we the sailors would all work together and raise the sail manually. Everyone grabbed ropes where they could and we pulled. Now we had to pull together to get this very heavy sail raised. The sail we raised together was the main sail. Without this mainsail our journey would’ve been short.
Working together helping each other out raising that sail really resonated with me.
“We rise by lifting others.”
Robert Ingersoll
In the book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human future in Space, Car Sagan speaks to the collective human experience on earth and our need and responsibility to each other.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
We have to help respect and if we want to move forward love each other. Our ancestors found ways to work together and get the hypothetical mainsail lifted now we have to keep it up and down wind. We can do tis but we must do this together.
The Corrigan Encore 