December 16, 2005

The snow has been falling heavy here.  Heavier than usual.  Looking out at the world in white, I'm never ceased to be amazed that all of that snow, every millimeter, is made up from single flakes.  We see them when they flutter towards the ground, fighting to stay in the air as long as possible, with gravity eventually winning its desires to place the tiny complex crystals at rest in the graveyard of their peers.  Yet once settled, all we notice is the bright blanket that now covers our frigid surroundings.  Children will roll portions of the terrain into large orbs to crudely resemble a man.  Families will soar down the packed icy coat on anything they can sit on.  Artists will capture these memories with a long stroke of titanium white from their emotional palate.  The forgotten flakes have been blended into a simpler whole.

This is such a shame, especially when you consider the amazing fact that no two snowflakes are ever alike.

OK, maybe that's nothing new to you.  You were told this little detail in elementary school.  But now I want you to really think about it.

All the snowflakes that have ever fallen.

All the snowflakes that are currently falling.

And all the snowflakes that ever will fall.

Think about how many snowflakes it takes to make a single snowball.  How about the North Pole, the South Pole, and all the other places in the world that have snowflakes huddling together into a bright tundra?  That's a lot of snowflakes.  An estimated 10 to the 24th power per year.  And each and every one changing form as it falls, with the final design being like an imprint of the time, condition, and path it took, making it totally unique.

Now think about a parallel here.

Where there is a coliseum filled with sports fans, we see the crowd.  When there is a war, we are told the number of casualties.  And while reading about a certain asylum, we come to understand that a lot of soles have been lost.

But unless directly affected, we forget that these groups are made up of very specific lives.  Each one different from any life that has ever existed.  Or ever will.

My point is simple.  Like the sparkling crystals that create the snow, see the specific lives that create the world.  Once they're gone, this universe will never see the likes of them again.

Or you.