'Zooming Out' on Earthly Unity

As he reflected on his mission to walk on the moon fifty-five years ago, astronaut Edgar Mitchell reflected on the shift in perspective that comes from seeing the Earth from space. (Warning: he uses saltier language than typically appears in these pages, but I think his point is well taken.)

“You develop an instant global consciousness, he said, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.’”

While today’s conflict resolution experts rarely recommend dragging anyone to outer

space, Mitchell’s comments resonate with advice I’ve heard from international specialists through my work with Common Ground USA’s Pennsylvania Resilience Network. When bogged down in conflict—when everything seems to circle around immovable talking points, demands, and counter-demands—it can be transformative to zoom out and take a much wider view. To shift the conversation from the immediate to the long-term: what would we each like this situation to look like in ten or twenty years? To name our deepest values, and to discover that those values are likely shared. To consider what this problem might look like from 250,000 miles away.

On April 4, 2026, NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft’s main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon. (Photo: NASA)

This month, astronauts returned to the moon, traveling farther than human beings have ever ventured before. The four travelers of the Artemis II mission orbited the moon, observing its mysterious far side as they passed out of radio contact with all of humanity. When they emerged from the silence, astronaut Christina Koch spoke of the future ahead; of the many astronauts she hopes will follow; landing on the Moon; exploring its surface; establishing a scientific base. But, she added, in the end, “we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.”

This, too, resonates with the best wisdom on conflict resolution. When we find ourselves rehearsing the same tired arguments, we can alternatively decide to zoom in, to choose the human in one another. To see one another’s humanity, beyond our positions or the labels we wear. To find unexpected connections: our families, our neighborhoods, what makes us laugh. To remind ourselves that each one of us, even those whose perspectives we most despise, is made in the image of God.

God is, after all, the one who can zoom out to survey the whole created universe, planets and moons unimaginable, sparkling in space. And God zooms in to know each one of us better than we know ourselves, as close as every heartbeat. In this Eastertide season, we remember that God also chooses Earth, chooses us, and has chosen us from the dawn of time. In Eastertide we know that Jesus’ choice for us could not be stopped even by the inhumanity and shame of the cross. Because Christ chooses us, we are called to choose one another.

When Artemis II pilot Victor Glover reflected his hopes for Earth during the mission, he said, “I would love it if we could all agree, for that time, let’s just be humans. I’m challenging all of us to think more about unity.”

With our fragile planet, our essential interconnection, and God’s choice for us in mind, let’s do exactly that.

Your sister in Christ,

Liddy.