Yuri's Night: Will God attend?

(Helix "Eye of God" Nebula)

Yuri’s Night seems to be expanding faster than the universe itself.  This international celebration of cosmic proportions honors Yuri Gagarin’s “where no man had gone before” 1961 flight, as well as space exploration in general.

Last year marked the 50^th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight, and this year’s celebrations are maintaining that full-throttle ambiance.  Wired.com reports that Yuri’s Night “already has 170 parties registered in 42 countries.”  Some of these include the following:  South Pole Station (Hey Polies! Come celebrate…); Ballarat Observatory, Australia (Update on Jupiter); Toronto, Ontario (SpaceCamp is an unconference);

The Veggie Table, Beijing (Let’s talk about manned space, Moon, Mars, etc.); and Mali Losinj, PGZ, Croatia (rock koncert).

Others include:  Camaguey, Cuba (Introduction to Radio Amateur Satellites); Itea, Fokida, Greece (Everyone is welcome to drink a vodka under the starry night sky); Shahin Shahr, Esfahan, Iran (One sky, one earth); Daegu, South Korea (Rave!!! Everyone is invited!); Amsterdam, Netherlands (A new born child is trying to make its first steps reaching out to the unknown); Moscow, Russia (A pseudo-scientific lecture about kosmism in work of Russian futurists); Hanksville, Utah, USA (At the Mars Desert Research Station); and Internet Pralaya Sessions (In collaboration with NASO, the Nepal Astronomical Society).

Amidst these inspiring events, it could be earth-shattering to also include the following possibilities:  Interfaith and Interspiritual gatherings at temples, mosques, churches, synagogues, mountains, valleys, fields, deserts, etc. in order to communally ponder whether Yuri did or did not “see” God during (before or after, for that matter) his historic flight.  Plus, it could be earth-mattering to include a meditative invitation for God (as is understood by Earthlings) to attend each and all such events.

Resources

http://yurisnight.net/partylist/

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/04/celebrate-yuris-night/

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin

Copyright April 12, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved