Footprints in the Lunar Sand

Amid the noise of the news over the last several weeks, you may have missed the report of the death of Captain Eugene Cernan.  He was the last human to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission.  He was 82.

I mention it because he was one of my early childhood heroes.  I have to admit as a child I didn’t know his name, but I had tremendous admiration for astronauts in general.  Therefore, he was one of my unnamed heroes.  Over the years, though, I have found that the stories of the Apollo missions to still be captivating, heroic, and inspiring. 

Almost a year ago when I was doing some research for my doctorate, I came across an interview Cernan did for the documentary In the Shadow of the Moon in which he talked about how his life was fundamentally changed by his trip to the surface of the moon.  Describing the experience, he said, “What I was seeing and, more important, what I was feeling at that moment in time, science and technology had no answers for.  Literally no answers.  Because there I was and there you are; there you are, the earth: dynamic, overwhelming, and I felt that the world was just…there’s too much purpose, too much logic; it was just too beautiful to happen by accident. “

Cernan’s epiphany changed his life.  Perhaps that’s why he bemoaned the fact that he was “still” the last man to walk on the moon.  He hoped someone would “lift that dubious distinction [of being the last human on the moon] from my shoulders and take us back to where we belong.”

Perhaps he felt that if more people could see the earth from a heavenly view, it might just open our hearts to God and keep us from seeing one another as “other” or “enemy.”    Perhaps he wanted us to have another opportunity to see the beauty of our planet and the wonder that is creation.  He certainly hoped we would go back and I would certainly love to see that, too.

The journey to the moon took the Apollo missions three days of travel.  In three days, Christ changed the world.  For Eugene Cernan, three days to the moon opened him up to the transformative power of God.  Perhaps our own hearts can open to God a little quicker.  Yet, as Cernan might say, “just so it happens.”

Godspeed, Gene, and thank you.