STANDING IN A BEAM OF LIGHT, I close my eyes and think of the Sun. I think of the immense distance between us.
Space.
I think of myself, small and fragile, and I think of the Sun's might;
The ball of light, embossed upon the sky like a fiery fingerprint, pushing through the clouds.
The beating heart of our solar system, the silent creator of balance.
I feel her warmth, and I breathe.
I think of the Sun's gentle touch on our planet and I remember;
our planet, caressed in a shimmering sparkle of heat and light,
is but a mere moat of dust suspended in a sunbeam that stirs our seas, gives life to our forests, and brings energy to all.
I then think of the cold beyond our stratosphere and the vacuum of space.
The barren mass of particles and radiation, of plasma, hydrogen, helium, magnetic fields, cosmic rays and darkness, that surround us.
And I try to imagine the cold, the emptiness, the vastness, and the infinite that expands between our planet, our Sun, and beyond.
My mind lingers right there, her radiant ferocity in sight:
An ancient ball of gas, bubbling, in constant motion and violent activity.
The Sun is a monster.
A colossal, burning-hot monster, that feeds on Herself for her very own existence.
She is fueled by that, which She is made of: Her own mass.
Billions of tons of nuclear hydrogen energy exploding and collapsing upon itself.
I see into Her core, smoldering in a blinding light at 15 million° Celsius.
And I stare as solar flares erupt over Her surface, bursting out into space in a dazzling, savage spectacle of fire, lava and light.
I see that She is to be loved and feared, for, within the Cosmos, She is no one's bright Star but ours.
And as my mind traverses the depths of space, returning from that awesome sight; as I come back to our small and fragile planet, encased in nothing but a thin layer of Ozone that shields us from Her divine radiance, I find peace in the Sun's imperfect and changeable nature.
And I awaken humbled, reminded once more that there are greater forces at work than those of mankind.
THE END
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