God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

Well, this is really cool. Wednesday evening, at 6:35, the Artemis II rocket ship launched from the Kennedy Space Center, fairly catapulting into space with an incredible thrust of power

This is a moon mission, the first in a series designed to establish some kind of permanent base on the lunar surface.

I don’t know if you watched any of the footage from the launch, but to me it was reminiscent of the late 1960’s and all the excitement surrounding some of those early explorations.

If you only read one article about this, here is an excellent piece of journalism by Jeffery Kluger in TIME, including a captivating video (Artemis II Has Launched. Here’s Everything You Need to Know About This Mission to the Moon).

I am not a science geek and I can’t stomach even a ride in a roller-coaster, but I am enthralled by these kinds of stories. So much so that if I was asked to go with them as the “first blogger in space” I would sign on in a heartbeat.

When I begin to get a grasp of what is required in terms of intelligence, problem-solving, resources, power, invention, imagination, technology, engineering, cooperation and (the big one in my mind) sheer human will to achieve this mission… it leads me to a couple of thoughts: A) what if we applied that level of effort to something like affordable and accessible healthcare? B) just about anything is possible if we put our differences aside and pull together.

Failure in Immagination

I remember when the big stumbling block here in America was described as “A Failure in Imagination.” I believe this can still be a valid criticism, especially when it comes to the monumental train-wreck that is Washington D.C.

Then I see projects like this Artemis expedition as a sign of encouragement for tomorrow. Not necessarily that we invest all our hope in our own achievements, but that we hope in the coming together of our gifts and resources and creativity with The Creator – who intends good for us, The Son who has taught us the way, and The Spirit who – as Jesus says – “will guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13).

That is a combination with even more than “8.8 million pounds of thrust.” Godspeed to all of the crew – DEREK