“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (Is 40: 26).

Human beings have always been fascinated by the tremendous space that they can only glimpse into. They have traced the grandeur and majesty of God in outer space. The enchantment with the starry skies has always fascinated us in the olden days.

Now that we have the technology to see the universe better, the feeling has not always remained the same!

The famous Canadian actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the Star Trek television series, believed his historic space voyage would bring about the "ultimate catharsis." Instead, according to this Star Trek star, the journey left him overcome with grief, an "overwhelming melancholy," and a fresh respect for Earth's beauty.

Reflecting on his space flight, William Shatner says, "It seemed like a funeral." Nearly a year after the incident, the actor says, "Everything I had expected to see was wrong."

An excerpt from his book "Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder," published by Atria Books concedes, "My voyage to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral."

"I adore the universe's enigma. I adore all the queries that have been raised over millennia of research and theories. However, as I turned around and peered up into space, there was nothing mysterious or magnificent to see. Shatner claimed, "Death was all I saw.

In October 2021, a video of the actor leaning up against the window of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket capsule was live-streamed back to Earth as the four-person crew approached the Kármán Line and proceeded on.

But Shatner recounts "a cold, terrible, black nothingness... profound, enveloping, all-encompassing" when he thinks back to the scene almost a year later. Still, William Shatner's contact with space was his "most profound experience," according to a video.

"Everything I had believed was incorrect. Everything I had anticipated seeing was inaccurate, he wrote. "I had believed that travelling to space would be the pinnacle catharsis of the connection I had been seeking between all living things — that travelling there would be the next lovely step to knowing the harmony of the universe," he confesses.

The Canadian actor, who won fame for his portrayal of Captain James Kirk on the USS Enterprise in Star Trek, sobbed profusely as he touched down, describing the moment as "the most meaningful feeling I can imagine." At the time, he expressed, "I hope I never get over this." "I'm bursting with emotion at what just occurred. It's just extraordinary.

However, Shatner stated in the excerpt that he realised the beauty was actually closer to home, with all of us, a year after returning to Earth. My attachment to our tiny planet became even stronger after I left that behind.

"It was one of the most intensely painful experiences I have ever experienced. I felt an overpowering sense of grief when I considered how the harsh coldness of space contrasted with the comforting warmth of Earth below.

The extinction of animal species, flora, and fauna, as well as other natural phenomena that took 5 billion years to evolve, means that we are always faced with the possibility of further destroying the planet at our hands. It made me feel anxious.

"It was intended to be a celebration on my voyage to space, but it felt more like a wake."

He continued: "Everybody else was shaking bottles of champagne, and there was quite a sense of accomplishment," in a recent interview with the Washington Post. And I certainly didn't feel that way. I wasn't having a party. I don't know why, but I was shaking my fist at the heavens.

He went to space in Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket in October 2021. It was both a sobering and depressing experience. Shatner sobbed as he tried to describe the experience following his Blue Origin voyage in October 2021.

As a result of his trip, he had the "strongest sensations of loss I have ever encountered," he added. He also realised that "The beauty is down here, not out there"

“Two things have filled me with awe and wonder: the starry skies above me and the moral law within me,” proclaimed the great philosopher of enlightenment, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Even before the arrival of the great technological leap, including the James Webb Telescope, he had been able to link outer space with inner space.

In a way we are privileged! We know much more about the origin of the universe 17.8 billion years ago. We can visualise the formation of the galaxies and the origin of life and the possible end of the universe. We can precisely calculate the motion of the stars and predict with near-perfect accuracy the birth and death of the stars.

But we have also managed to place the whole of life, and the precious planet earth, at risk. Our technology has grown so much that we are able put an end to ourselves! Unfortunately, our moral law, as Kant said about 300 years ago, has not kept pace. Our spiritual and religious instincts have not matched our technological and scientific progress.

When we progress morally and spiritually, we will be able to explore the skies and cherish the beauty and fragility of life on earth! Then we can be truly enchanted by our own lives and that of this tiny little planet and the great and good God who has created them! Then we will not allow ourselves to be ruled by the forces of death and destruction, that threaten us. Challenged by Shatner, we will cry, but put our trust in God and commit ourselves to saving the earth by protecting and promoting life.

Then saving the earth becomes our moral and spiritual responsibility, as Pope Francis urges us in his Laudato Si’!

Kuruvilla Pandikattu SJ
Oct 17, 2022
[email protected]

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