February 15, 1564 marked the birth of Galileo Galilei, the Italian astronomer credited with the invention of the astronomical telescope and with many discoveries about the way the universe works.  His curiosity and passion for learning brought new understanding about Science to our world.  What I find more interesting is the way his philosophical writing opens our minds and our eyes and teaches us about human nature.  One quote by Galileo that seems relevant for me is this one:

“The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the Universe to do.”

This weekend we celebrated the 30th birthday of my son, David.  We are not the kind of people who make a big fuss about birthdays.  There are no expensive restaurants and no lavish gifts involved.  The birthday boy gets to choose his favorite meal, and the family gathers to share it with him and celebrate another year in his presence.  When David was a little boy, this meant that our usual family dinner with the five children would be one of his choice and that we would linger just a bit longer over some cake and ice cream.  Our children are grown now.  This is the part of life with the Easy Button, right?

David chose a family favorite — Breakfast for Dinner — as his celebration this year.  Unlike most years, though, we actually had Breakfast for Breakfast as we tried to choose a time that would allow as many local brothers and sisters as possible to attend.

When it comes to birthdays, I guess my kids are the planets and I am the Sun.  I get to sit at the center of the celebration, assure that it is planned and executed in an orderly fashion, and see to it that none of the planets collide in any destructive way.  If I am the Sun and the kids are the planets, I guess that makes my grandchildren the moons.  You can see how this grows to astronomical proportions!

This year, our Breakfast for Breakfast included 19 members of my solar system.  It was wonderful to watch my planets orbit harmoniously and enjoy each other’s company!  Even the moons — seven of them age 7 or younger — managed not to become UFOs and caused no alarm.

I’m sure you can imagine that the Sun has many responsibilities at a time like this!  It took a couple of hours to prepare food for so many people.  There were tables to be set up and readied.  There was baby-proofing to be done.  It is hard work, sometimes, when you’re the Sun.

What was it that Galileo said?

“The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the Universe to do.”

There is no question that it can be a huge responsibility when the planets all revolve around your work and depend on you for an orderly and pleasant outcome.  What I’ve learned from Galileo is not to forget to ripen the grapes.  I think of the Sun doing all that constant work at making sure the planets stay in their orbits and the solar system runs smoothly.  Maybe ripening grapes is the part that makes life interesting.  Cooking French Toast for 20 is an accomplishment, but cooking French Toast for 20 and having the time to look at a picture that your grandchild just drew is what makes the day worthwhile.

It is easy, when we are responsible for seeing that there is bread and butter to sustain life, to forget to savor the icing on the cake that makes each day special and unique.  Look up at the Sun today and think of the way you just assume that it will rise each morning and steadily do its work in the sky.  Maybe it takes some grapes now and then for us to remember to appreciate the Sun.