My Beloved is asking me to do is to look up into the sky and see that rocket on the moon…
On 25 May in 1961, John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States of America called a special joint meeting of Congress and in that meeting, he announced that within a decade the United States of America would land a rocket on the Moon…
At that time, there were about one thousand computers in the world and each one required a room to house it and a team to run it. Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella had not yet been invented. And the miniskirt had not yet been invented.
In other words, the technology at that time was so inferior to the technology that we are used to seeing that this sort of vision must surely have seemed impossible, improbable and ridiculous.
And yet – even so – that one man had the courage to see a rocket on the moon…
And I have been thinking about that today. You see, remembering that story about that lunar landing, which indeed occurred on 21 July 1969 (within that decade), I am called to remember the act of faith.
What is faith? Put simply faith is the act of believing in something as truth even when everything else might point against it.
And how does that look in this lifetime? Well, it looks like, trusting in God’s plan to turn all things to the Good even when terrible things happen in life. When a loved one dies or is sick or incapacitated, when a dear one is dealing with addiction, when a family member experiences a relationship breakdown… When these terrible things happen, faith means that we can continue to believe in the Goodness of God – despite everything…
And that means something. That means that we have the courage to hold fast to a vision as improbable as a man walking on the moon within a decade. And that means that we do so while the world jeers and judges and considers us mad.
And I have been thinking about that today, because it occurs to me that that there are simply so many things for me to understand that I cannot fathom or appreciate how blessed my whole life is. And despite all of this I look at the bad and fail to see the good. Despite all of this I look at the heartbreak and the pain and the tears and I think to myself, that was a difficult time. And yet, in all of that all my Beloved is doing is asking me to have a little patience and a little faith. All He is asking me to do is to look up into the sky and see that rocket on the moon. And once I see it there – with the eyes of my soul – He is asking me to keep my eyes fixed firmly to it. Because then – and only then – will I be able to see the wonders of this life as a reflection of the wonders of the next one… Only then…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.