The Humility Of The Sun

Dawn After An Evening The Length Of A Lifetime

For eons it was a cloud of almost nothing,

of the meekest elements in the universe,

yet it can burn bright and bend space

Millions of years of putting in the reps

packing on the mass

building muscles of gravity

One day, there was enough

a long night of nothing then dawn

Fiat Lux

The sun is massive. Its blinding light is from nuclear fusion, screaming electromagnetic fury 24/7, exhaling massive energy. If it were hollow, its volume could fit a million Earths.

The sun's energy powers so much of life on Earth. The sun's mass flexes muscles of gravity and bends the fabric of space-time. A second of its power could fuel us for an eon.

It's also an object of humility in the cosmos.

It has a hundred billion cousins in our galaxy, which joins thousands of galaxies in thousands of clusters, like a scattered celestial nested doll.

The Sun is an overnight success, earned after a night which lasted billions of years.

It began as a few atoms of the smallest element in the universe, hydrogen, in the cold dark. A long boring build.

For a long time it was a very thin cloud of almost nothing, of the meekest element in the universe.

Hydrogen shares almost none of the virtues of other elements. It has none of the glitter of gold, the sexy utility of silver, the grit of iron. It's not a noble gas, and yet only hydrogen can make the sun burn bright and bend space.

A working class hero makes good and delivers light and life for billions of years - and there are billions of success stories.

Millions of years of putting in the reps, packing on the mass, building muscles of gravity. One day, there was just enough. It could lift and flex like never before. Nuclear fusion achieved.

All those atoms accumulated, during a long night of nothing, and then the first dawn was born.

When we breathe and create we carry inside the humility of the Sun. Inside our aspirations, our future, and us. Tucked within all our labors are the luxuries of light and life. We can burn bright, build reality, if we last through the night.

One atom at a time our success grows overnight - after an evening that is the length of a lifetime.

And then one day, Fiat Lux.