To the Moon

"you shall surely help him lift them up"

Deuteronomy 22:4

Did you see the space shuttle Endeavour on the news last week?  It made its final journey, traveling through the streets of Los Angeles.  Since the US will not be sending it (or its fellow space shuttles) into space any more, they've been donated to museums.  So the California Science Center is the new home for the Endeavour.  It was fascinating to see pictures of it in places that seem so incongruous.

photo credit: USA Today

photo credit:  nytimes.com

photo credit:  news.discovery.com

I've always loved the idea of space travel.  I was very young when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon ~ too young to remember, really.  But I love learning about different aspects, different events, and different people in the space program.

So it follows that one of my favorite movies is Apollo 13.  I think I've mentioned that before.  I haven't watched it in a few months, but I was reminded the other day about a very interesting aspect of that movie.  And the reason I like this particular detail is because it's something unusual, that happens all the time. 

Don't worry; that will make perfect sense in a little bit...

One of the astronauts that was supposed to go up in Apollo 13 was a man named Ken Mattingly.   But a few days before the launch, they discovered that one of the astronauts on the backup crew had the measles, which meant everyone that had been in contact with him, was in danger of getting the measles.  And Ken Mattingly had never had the measles before, so he was susceptible.  They couldn't risk his getting sick in space, so he was grounded, and his backup went in his place. 

But when the spacecraft was damaged in an explosion, some of the brightest minds in the country worked together to bring it safely back to earth ~ and that included Ken Mattingly.  He never did get the measles, so he was available to help solve the problem. 

Now, this is unusual because I don't think it was very common that an astronaut was pulled from a flight only days before. 

But what happened all the time is that those who were "left behind" were invaluable to the astronauts. 

There has to be hundreds ~ maybe thousands ~ of people who make space travel possible.  Not just the people at Mission Control, but those who designed and built the equipment, and those who train the astronauts themselves. 

In Ken Mattingly's case, he was disappointed to be one of the ones on the ground, not one of the ones in space.  For how many people was that the case?  How many people got involved in the space program because they didn't succeed in their quest to be an astronaut?

Sometimes there's no glory at all in being the one "on the ground".  But it doesn't make the job any less important.  God has something specific for each of us to do, and we can't all be the pilot.  Neil Armstrong once said that though he was the most visible person involved in walking on the moon, he felt that he was only "the tip of the arrow".  He knew he never could have achieved his amazing feat alone. 

If God has you on the ground, when you'd rather be flying high, know that you're exactly where He wants you.  Do your part to lift others, and you'll be doing something amazing.

~ "If anyone desires to be first,

     he shall be last of all and servant of all" ~

Mark 9:35