How to feel impotent and omnipotent at the same time.

Welcome to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Take a moment to just stare into the abyss. 10,000 galaxies in this little sliver of sky with perhaps hundereds of billions of stars each. One has to wonder if maybe there is not any cosmic santa claus poking around the universe like they told us in school; no one keeping track of the sex lives of a bunch of primates on the third planet from nowhere? One can't help but feel a little small and lost.

Now open up this image in your favorite paint shop program and start with a black pen. Pick some hapless galaxy and delete it. Say something like "..and you guys are outta here!" Then pick another 100,000 billion-star galaxy. Rub that one out. Probably a bunch of perverts anyway. Keep going; you still have 9,998 left. Pick a galaxy full of beings that probably have not kept the Sabbath. "Gonzo!" Don't feel so small anymore do you?!

The more I write, the more I'm concerned that I might need therapy. I'll stop now.