Millions of miles away, beams of light come to grace our Earth with life.

The glorious radiant furnace in our sky burns almost 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit, almost 30 million degrees in its core. Yet, by the time its heat hits our planet, it is the perfect temperature.

If we were any closer or any further from the sun, all of this would not exist. Our  vegetation would either shrivel from the cold or we would be incinerated by the deluge of heatwaves. Still, we are unable to look directly upon its brilliance. Thus this sun, this giver and taker of life, is the closest tangible object we have to God.

This is how the simple man views it as he has no need for the use of astronomer’s telescope or scientist’s theories. This natural part of our universe was meant to be understood as is.

Why then, in 2012, do we need to try to enhance the sweet breath of sunshine? Everything in the news today, it seems, is a motif about scorching a perfect structure.

Katniss Everdeen, the main character from The Hunger Games, is known as “the girl on fire” and set a whole country into rebellion. The Miami Heat have been the most prominent team in the NBA the past couple years and are a polar topic in any sports circle. Adele is unnecessarily setting fire to the rain because a dude played her wrong (to be fair, my boys in Linkin Park are building it up just to burn it down).

In Kansas, among other parts of the globe, there was no true winter. There were a few weeks of cold and a couple days of powdery embarrassment on the ground. We received more days of 70-degree weather than we deserve, which makes this the golden age of global warming. Pretty soon, we’ll be wringing out sweat rags in January. And thanks to a random series of events, my apartment becoming a literal 140 degree oven last week.

The common thread to these fiery references to is unrest. Apparently, the best way to express emotions is to set something ablaze be it by bomb, torch or metaphorically through anger. It’s prevalent even in the tiniest of things.

Going out to eat is the easiest example. When I go to restaurants with others, there is always some dissatisfaction with the food or the waitstaff. I see something I want on a menu and without editing their product, I order it. I usually receive my meal without error, I think, because I don’t care what I get. I appreciate my food before it even gets to my table. If it comes out wrong, I acknowledge that it is a human error and enjoy what is on my plate regardless. I’d like to think that I’m richer for those experiences. Conversely, I have to watch others complain about the presence of tomatoes or a mystery order of bread sticks. This, in the smallest capacity, is unrest. And it is unnecessary because stress is unnecessary.

If you think this world is not fulfilling you, reconsider what you have in relation to others with whom you associate. From my understanding, the sun has never changed anything about what it does as it has steadily produced a benevolent glow upon our home since the beginning of our solar system. It’s not a coincidence that sun is there, some 93 million miles away, while we are here, sandwiched somewhere between Venus and Mars.

Somewhere in all this, I know I can be flawed and heated in certain areas, too. But I’m going to pretend I don’t notice the environmental and societal changes and that Earth isn’t doomed. I’m going to go with the flow and promote rest over unrest.

This summer, I’m just going to chill.

–Corey

Some planetary food for thought. Put it into perspective: do we have control over anything?