threads and nails and dark matter

Consider the humble thread. It seems like barely a thing at all. It might come from a plant growing right up out of the dirt or from a grass waving in tidal waters. It might even be liquid protein secreted from the head of a worm.  But weave enough thread together and you have fabric. Cut and – with more thread – stitch your fabric together and you have clothing that can protect you from all kinds of weather. All from a lowly thread.

Or consider the nail, a small metal spike that holds your entire space together. I recently had some reconstruction done on my floor and was walking for weeks on plywood and nails that had been assembled 67 years ago. Still perfectly functional and foundational to keeping me protected from the elements.

If you want to think big, consider dark matter. It is now thought to be the glue that holds the whole universe together (thanks to the observations of astronomer Vera Rubin). And, yet, we hardly know what it is at all. It is invisible; it doesn’t absorb, reflect or emit light. But it’s there. And that’s just a start. There’s much more beyond that we do not understand, like dark energy.

From the simple to the sublime, from the ordinary to the mysterious, it is so easy to bypass things that are often the most important, the most significant. Whether it is threads or nails or dark matter, or it is your thoughts and words and beliefs and actions, pay attention to the humble and lowly and to the magnificent and mysterious. Even if we don’t see it or don’t understand it, it all matters. It is all connected. Put another way, of course, it means you matter, and we are all connected. Of course!

(Speaking of magnificent, have you seen Venus and Jupiter in the sky these past few weeks? They are so bright just after sunset and, I think, so beautiful. Venus averages 24 million miles distant from Earth, while Jupiter averages 444 million. I am awestruck to think they are so far away and yet so right there.)

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6/15/2026