Looking up into the night sky, I am amazed as I think of the manmade marvel of an International Space Station orbiting the planet. Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, like many of my generation, I have watched as men reached out into space and walked by the grace of God on the beautiful celestial body we call our Moon. Our space program was rightly ordered then, God WAS a part of the program.

The Apollo 8 mission stands out in my mind as Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders did a live broadcast from their December 24, 1968, lunar orbit. God was included then, as we read their final words on that broadcast:

William Anders:

“For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you”.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”

Jim Lovell:

“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”

Frank Borman:

“And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.”

Borman then added, “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.” (provided by Dr. David R Williams, Author/Curator, NASA)

And then, on the Apollo 11 mission July of 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk the moons surface. It was Buzz who upon arrival of the Eagle spacecraft on the surface of the moon, asked Houston Space Center for a moment of silence while he celebrated the Sacrament of Communion. He took out the communion elements and read “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) and then he partook of the Sacrament.

Buzz Aldrin in recent years recounted landing on the moon:

We had so much to be proud of then and we seem to be losing that heavenly bearing in recent years. I am glad I grew up knowing that acknowledging God in a very public forum like the Space Program was a good thing! We certainly need more of it. As NASA reaches out further and further into deep space with spacecraft that bring the outer reaches of our solar system into our living rooms and the eye of the Hubble Telescope captures unbelievable images of our universe, it needs to remember its roots and once again acknowledge the Creator whose goodness has blessed the minds and hearts of gifted scientists to allow us to see out and touch the face of God!

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