Being a child in the ’60s and ’70s, I grew up with the enthusiasm and messaging that only NASA could pull off. ANYTHING was possible and so much of our ‘childhood’ revolved around the era of Apollo when mankind left his bootprint on the white dusty surface of the moon. It doesn’t matter that a basic calculator has more memory power than the Lunar Modular, it was just the fact that in less than 70 years we went from riding the air on the windy gritty sand dunes of Kitty Hawk with a machine held together by fabric, glue, and string to soaring on a missile out of our atmosphere to land on another celestial body. Over the years there have been many influences of word and deed in my life.
- “I congratulate you on your perspicacity” From C.S Forest ‘The Fire Ship’.
- “If you go out in the rain, you will get wet almost every time…”…don’t know who said it but I dreamed it last night….
- “Travel is fatal to prejudice” Mark Twain
- “The desire to reach the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise and most possible.” Maya Angelo
- The most important two days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why” Mark Twain.
There are many many more but one that stays with me often is a Bible verse…
Ps. 121:1 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
This has been a regular part of Bible study for me, but it landed with me when it was broadcast from the surface of the moon by Col. Jim Erwin. I actually didn’t hear it live, I heard it years later listening to one of my old favorite nighttime radio shows ‘Night Sounds’ with Bill Pearce. They did an interview with Col. Erwin. Upon his return to earth, his relationship with God became a more serious part of his life. Most don’t remember or know but Col. Erwin developed serious heart problems in orbit around the moon. If he had been on earth, he would have been in ICU and treated for a heart attack. 
Being 238,000 miles from the earth will make anyone re-think where your help comes from. I have often thought of this verse, most recently for my son who has been on Parris Island for 3 months. When all is stripped away… where does our help come from? When we hit the bottom like glass shattering, where do we turn?
I have found that the well of ‘self’ is pretty damn deep but if you ever have the tragic blessing of finding the end of yourself, like following a safety line in a dark mineshaft, you will find the source, if you are willing to look.
It’s amazing to me how we so ‘easily’ trade peace of mind and purity of soul to fill ourselves up with everything opposite of walking in His presence. Remember my quote from earlier?
- “If you go out in the rain, you will get wet almost every time…”
If we keep running to ourselves then we will always find an empty cupboard with little to no help. Though penned 1000’s of years ago, these words, generated through the heart of David’s experience with suffering, give us a glimpse that the end of the tunnel does need to turn into the culdesac of self, but the road, though bumpy and full of potholes will lead to everlasting help.
I’ve often wondered, as Col. Erwin gazed out of the command module windows, which were less than a ½ inch between him and the airless blackness of space, if he felt, learned something more about himself and God when he had no options but to just sit and wait?
There is only one source. It might come ‘through’ others but that source is the creator of heaven, earth, and beyond.
For this week, remember…
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.
Peace on your journey this Week
