For a few hours on the night of October 13, the little municipality of Lake Country gained national exposure. At 9:32 p.m., a twin-jet Cessna Citation took off from Kelowna International Airport, headed for Calgary, with four people on board. One of them was Jim Prentice, former federal cabinet minister, former premier of the province of Alberta. Eight minutes after taking off, the plane crashed. The evidence suggests that it went straight down. All four were killed instantly. The news media went wild. The next day, the Calgary Herald devoted the first eight pages of its main news section to Jim Prentice. Investigation of the cause of the crash would probably take a year, the federal Transportation Safety Board said. Although the Cessna Citation has one of the best safety records among private planes, this one carried no black box, no flight data recorder.
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to Mars we go… Coincidentally, the same week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that America expected to send humans to Mars within 20 years, by the mid-2030s. A Mars mission would be incomparably more risky than Jim Prentice's flight out of Kelowna. Just getting to Mars would take six to eight months, depending on how far apart the two planets were in their relative orbits. The astronauts would face fierce cosmic radiation, changes in physiology from the absence of gravity, and terminal boredom. They would also be utterly isolated. By the time they reached Mars, communication with earth would have a 22-minute delay. That famous line, "Houston, we have a problem," would not apply. By the time Houston responded, the problem would have solved itself -- not necessarily in the astronauts' favour. Even the concept sounds risky. From what I read, the space capsule containing the astronauts would be slowed enough to fall into orbit around the red planet by crashing into the atmosphere. Which is, you may recall, what destroyed the Columbia shuttle on February 1, 2003.
Risk-takers Sanity would say, "Don't do it! It's too risky." But then, sanity would also say to the first people who ventured to lift off the earth in a flimsy kite constructed of cloth and sticks and wires, "Don't do it! It's too risky." And no doubt a lot of cave dwellers told the first primitive inventor who crafted a wheel out of a section of log, "Don't do it!"
The fact is, we humans have always pushed our limits. We’ve had to. For all practical purposes, we are extraordinarily incompetent. We can't run as fast as dogs. We’re not as strong as horses. We can't swim like fish. We can't fly like birds. So what do we do? We invent technologies that enable us to transcend our limitations. Bicycles, cars, and trains, so that we can go faster, farther, on land. Flippers and breathing apparatus so that we can venture into watery worlds. We use the laws of physics to shape wings that provide lift in the air. To transcend the inefficiency of hand-to-hand combat, we invented arrows, guns, drones, and nuclear bombs. We do this, because we have always done this. One of the earliest legends in the Bible claims that humans tried to build a tower that would reach up into the heavens, so that humans could rise above their mortal limitations and become like the gods.
Transcending our limitations Philosopher Ken Wilber argues that the urge to transcend is fundamental to human existence. He goes further -- it is universal. Everything, Wilber says, is both itself, and part of something bigger. A quark is part of an electron is part of an atom is part of a molecule is part of a compound or alloy. A planet is part of a solar system is part of a galaxy. A human body is an individual, but that individual wants to be part of a family, and yearns to feel part of a community, a political movement, a nation… Perhaps the unique quality of humans is that we consciously want to be part of something bigger. Greater. Newer. So it does no good to argue against a Mars mission. Or medical experiments. Or smashing protons into each other in the world's largest machine, the Hadron Large Collider in Switzerland. All of these are part of our drive to extend ourselves beyond ourselves. To be and to become more than we currently are. To transcend our own limitations. So we will keep making vehicles that can go faster, farther, higher, and deeper. We will take risks doing it. Not because we need to. But because we can. ******************************************************** Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca ********************************************************
YOUR TURN
Very few letters about last week’s column, on the tragedy caused by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.
Tom Watson commiserated: “Haiti, Syria, Nigeria, the UN refugee camps, and on and on...we simply have no idea what it must be like to live in the conditions some folks have as their daily lot.”
Ted Wilson suggested I had blamed fate unfairly for the Haitian disaster. I should blame, not fate, but poverty. Ted wrote, “Haiti’s problem is not that the fates target it unfairly.  It’s a poor nation with, as you point out, a history of bad governance and to many social problems.  It’s vulnerable more than it is victimised. “Contrast the impact in Haiti with what happened in the Australian state of Queensland. It has been hit with 2 massive cyclones in the past 10 years.  Larry came ashore near Innisfail March 20 2006 as a Category 4 with gusts in the 240 km/hr range. Cyclone Yasi came ashore about 110 km farther south on Februry 3 2011 as a Category 5 
with gusts estimated round 290 km/hr. It and Katrina are the two largest cyclonic storms observed since we have had satellite imagery. Total loss of life for both Larry and Yasi, two. Yes two, two people! “Why such a difference?  Geography plays a part. But the biggest differences are social. Wealth distribution in Australia is much more equitable. The poorest have more, including sufficient means to be able to evacuate when told to do so. Building Codes require that structures be storm proof. When Aussies are told to evacuate they do it! If they don’t, enforcement agencies are authorised remove them.”
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com.    If you want to comment on something, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button.    To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank email (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.    Unfortunately, the archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net have disappeared. The site was hijacked, and I haven’t been able to get it back I’m hoping to have a new website up fairly soon.    I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca
PROMOTION STUFF…  Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.com Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>  Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com  Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net
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