"Then I will tell you
a great secret,
Captain. Perhaps the greatest of all time. The
molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up
this station and the
nebula outside, that
burn inside the
stars themselves. We are
starstuff, we are
the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. As we have both
learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of
perspective."
-- Delenn to Sheridan in Babylon 5:A Distant Star
The glass of water I'm sipping has been, at various times:
In the future, molecules from this glass might be split to send a starship on its path, or used to bathe someone's wounds. And it's just water!
The molecules that make up our bodies have a history just as grand. We're the stuff that dreams, and everything else, is made of. We are parts of reality given thought and form. We are dust, and will return to dust, but the moments when we can talk and act and think have a heart-stopping beauty to them.
This line of thought is, for me, inseperable from my faith, but I hope it's something that can be appreciated by everyone.