The Shuttle

I missed it! Working at my computer in the office with my back to the window, I didn’t even think to look outside to see the shuttle on its last flight. Suddenly FaceBook was alive with photos taken by friends. I enjoyed seeing it from their perspectives—flying past the dome of the U.S. Capital, flying past the home of a friend in Fredericksburg, from the Iwo Jima Memorial, from Centreville UMC, and so many more.

I remember the first landing of the shuttle. It was on April 14, 1981. I was at a Winchester District clergy meeting. The TV was turned on so that we could watch this historic event. I was just as thrilled as I was in 1962 watching the first orbit of the earth by John Glenn. I mourned with the rest of our nation in 1986 when Challenger exploded on takeoff, and then again in 2003 as Columbia disintegrated over Texas.

Even though I missed seeing the shuttle’s last flight, my imagination is still captured. It’s a reminder to me that the universe is much larger than just the little piece of it I see each day. The views of the earth from space show the beauty of this part of God’s creation. The images from the Hubble telescope expand my horizons. The view of time seen in a composite view from the WMAP leaves me in awe at the wonder of all that God has set in motion, and all I can do is offer my praise.

Psalm 8:3-4

When I look up at your skies,

at what your fingers made—

the moon and the stars

that you set firmly in place—

what are human beings

that you think about them;

what are human beings

that you pay attention to them? [CEB]