Newsweek recently had an issue devoted to 1968, calling it “The Year That Made Us Who We Are.” Whether you agree with that assessment or not, there is little doubt that 1968 was a tumultuous year for our country—the assassinations of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, the riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, the growing concerns over the Vietnam War. It was a year of cultural and political upheaval … a year that seemed to underscore just how divided we actually were.
Toward the end of 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a final, dress-rehearsal flight for the lunar landing. Three astronauts—Jim Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman—would fly to the moon, orbit around the dark side, and return again to earth.
Lovell recalls that, as they were circling the moon, “Suddenly on the lunar horizon, coming up, was Earth.” They were the first humans ever to view our planet from that perspective, and what immediately struck him was the remarkable contrast between the lifeless moon and our vibrant world. “The moon is nothing but shades of gray and darkness. But the earth—you could see the deep blues of the seas, the whites of the clouds, the salmon pink and brown of the land masses.”
On Christmas Eve, 1968, the three astronauts broadcast a message from space to an audience estimated at more than a billion people. After much discussion of what to say, they finally decided to divide up the first ten verses of the Book of Genesis and read them aloud: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth….”
Those well-known words struck a chord with all those who were still struggling to make sense of the long, deeply painful, and disorienting year of 1968. Lovell says that when Apollo 8 returned safely to earth, the crew was inundated with messages from around the world saying, “Thank you for saving 1968!”
Even now, almost forty years later, Lovell sums up the feelings of a lot of us, when he says, “When you see Earth from the moon, you realize how fragile it is and how limited the resources are. We are all astronauts on this spaceship Earth—about six or seven billion of us—and we have to work and live together.”
The night Christ was born, the angels sang of “peace on earth and good will among all those whom God favors.” We have yet to achieve that, to be sure. But if we ever do, I believe that it will come about only through paying attention to what we hold in common and embracing what connects us rather than what divides.
Toward the end of 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a final, dress-rehearsal flight for the lunar landing. Three astronauts—Jim Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman—would fly to the moon, orbit around the dark side, and return again to earth.
Lovell recalls that, as they were circling the moon, “Suddenly on the lunar horizon, coming up, was Earth.” They were the first humans ever to view our planet from that perspective, and what immediately struck him was the remarkable contrast between the lifeless moon and our vibrant world. “The moon is nothing but shades of gray and darkness. But the earth—you could see the deep blues of the seas, the whites of the clouds, the salmon pink and brown of the land masses.”
On Christmas Eve, 1968, the three astronauts broadcast a message from space to an audience estimated at more than a billion people. After much discussion of what to say, they finally decided to divide up the first ten verses of the Book of Genesis and read them aloud: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth….”
Those well-known words struck a chord with all those who were still struggling to make sense of the long, deeply painful, and disorienting year of 1968. Lovell says that when Apollo 8 returned safely to earth, the crew was inundated with messages from around the world saying, “Thank you for saving 1968!”
Even now, almost forty years later, Lovell sums up the feelings of a lot of us, when he says, “When you see Earth from the moon, you realize how fragile it is and how limited the resources are. We are all astronauts on this spaceship Earth—about six or seven billion of us—and we have to work and live together.”
The night Christ was born, the angels sang of “peace on earth and good will among all those whom God favors.” We have yet to achieve that, to be sure. But if we ever do, I believe that it will come about only through paying attention to what we hold in common and embracing what connects us rather than what divides.
posted by Dr. Robert Crilley at
12:18 PM
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