This image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. From Voyager's great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a picture element even in the narrow-angle camera. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size.
Our chalice reminds us that the fire within ourselves is the same fire that illuminates the Universe. It is our reminder that all is connected even though the space of the void is vast, and our experience here is but a blip in the cosmic timeline.
This flame is our promise that in our smallness and our short time on this Earth, that we live intently and deeply, with love for one another, with honesty and integrity, to be guided by rational thought and critical thinking, and with a sense of shared responsibility—for as the late astronomer Carl Sagan reminded us, this pale blue dot is the only home we’ve ever known.