Got an email today that included the following information for those who are interested:

“The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Due to the way Jupiter’s gravity tugs on Mars
and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be
certain that Mars has not come this close to
Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be
as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th
when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles
and will be (next to the moon) the brightest
object in the night sky. It will attain a magni-
tude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds
wide.

At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will
look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of
August Mars will rise in the East at 10 p.m. and
reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

But by the end of August when the two planets
are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach
its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m.

That’s pretty convenient when it comes to seeing
something that no human has seen in recorded history.

So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August
to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter
throughout the month.”

There is a spectacular photo at cnn.com under the “Space Chronicles” story.

Nifty!

I have a good friend, someone with whom I have shared hundreds of memories and hundreds of hours, whom I have never met, whom I love dearly, who is in the hospital fighting a life-threatening liver condition.

I have another friend, someone with whom I have shared hundreds of memories and hundreds of hours, whom I met once, whom I infinitely adore, who is dealing with some pretty serious health issues.

Today, I found out that someone I have admired for years and years, part of a group of industry gals that gets together maybe once a year to celebrate the fact that we’re…well, getting together…has been diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Last week they did all they could do for her surgically. The rest is up to God and to chemotherapy.

For them, I offer up my prayer to the Lord of my life, that they will be healed in the manner that gives the most glory to God and will inspire and ignite the best in the rest of us. A lot of people I know are pagans, and they will pray to the powers in their lives for the healing that is needed here, too. Still others will “keep a good thought,” because that is what they have to offer.

Beyond the boundaries of our faiths, what matters now is that friends are made whole. It is a prevailing human trait to want to right what is wrong, to do what we can, to rally together. In the midst of this, whether we know it or not, we also experience one of the most lucid self-realizations a being can have — that we are, as mortals, pretty flippin’ impotent.

Whatever your belief, whether it’s Christianity or Elivisism, please send the message out that Karen, Erik and Nella could use some good, old-fashioned healing.

And love each other, for what you are and are not.