At the End of a Troubled Year There Came a Message of Hope
“Earthrise,” NASA Photo by William Anders, 1968
“Those three men have carried into space all the resources of art, science, and industry. With that, one can do anything; and you will see that, some day, they will come out all right.” – Jules Verne
Imago Dei, the statement in Genesis that man is indeed created in the image of his Creator, is played out most clearly in the creative impulses and great accomplishments that humankind has risen too. In the Nineteenth Century, Jules Verne envisioned man ‘beating his swords’ not into ploughshares, but into a journey to another world. The Twentieth Century saw just that happen with the terrible weapons of destruction forged into the accomplishment of an actual journey to the moon. Orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve in 1968, the astronauts read the following:
William Anders
“We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to 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.”
James 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 heaven 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.”
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.” [1.]
1968 had been a difficult year, in retrospect those times where not so different from the times we live in now. The flight of Apollo Eight focused our attention Heavenward at a time we needed it. One telegram the astronauts received said it all; “You saved 1968!”
Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and Jim Lovell. — NASA Photo
Christmas Eve, 1968. — NASA Photo
First to the Moon
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