Is there some little thing bugging you? Last night, I hate to admit it, but I went to bed with some little thing bugging me. Then I woke up Saturday morning, and out of the most beautiful clear blue sky, the space shuttle Columbia and its talented, trained, inspirational crew fell to the ground in pieces all over Texas.

My heart dropped to the ground too. Not only sad, but I felt like an idiot for getting all worked up over my little problems. Our little problems here on Earth. We forget too often how precious our very lives are. How precious it is to wake up with problems and a fit body and mind to give them challenge.

All this talk of war and what it is to be American or Iraqi, Korean, or a member of this religious group or that one ... Did we need to see the space shuttle blow up in our faces to remind us how petty even our global disputes are? The members aboard the shuttle were carving unmarked territory; they were representing all of us, not just Americans, not just Israelis, but citizens of the world. Each one of us can look up into the dark marble sky and see the space station or space shuttle or at least a man-made satellite up in orbit. Is this not the realization of the human spirit? Working together, in sync, with understanding and passion to create, to reach, to strive to best enjoy the inexpressibly fantastic gift of ourselves, this planet and our universe.

That Saturday, many experts in the field of exploration and veterans of space offered their words of explanation, comfort, memorial; but there was one quote that especially struck me. Forgive me, I do not recall the individual -- just the quote (I paraphrase):

"Astronauts in training will tell you The fear of dying is not as great as the fear of never getting to space."

Humankind challenged the immense pull of the Earth (a force that scientists still can't completely explain) and broke out of it. The brave and talented challenged the gravity of an object 13,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds and in their victory they gained a perspective of their planet that philosophers from Socrates to Descartes could not even imagine. They found, in breaking free from everything they knew, a heaven-like weightlessness and a peaceful expanse that the world's supply of nuclear warheads cannot rival.

I challenge the leaders of this planet to look up into the infinite blue space, into the sky from which the Columbia and Challenger fell, and hear the peace that is calling them. Calling all of us.

If we must die unnatural deaths -- let it be in the act of creation -- not destruction.

...and yes, this is a film review site.