Hope from Space
C. D. Plum
Parkersburg, West Virginia
This does not mean that I endorse the wasteful, seemingly profitless space program of the U.S.A. But it is going to lie hard to forget Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, the astronauts, and Apollo 8, and the spacecraft. Hour after hour I sat thrilled at what I saw over T.V. Hour after hour I listened to CBS announcers, and doctors, and what have you, bragging about Apollo 8, the flawless flight, the great crew, future flights and etc.
I heard the doctors talk about a billion of years here, and there, and possible four or five billions of lost years, but I did not hear God or Jesus mentioned one time. It looked like a field day for atheism. I was pretty low in spirit.
But the crew of Apollo 8 had been thinking too. They had described the moon as a lonely, unappetizing place, with no home appeal, but looked like whitish gray sand full of foot tracks that had been well beaten. In contrast to the moon, the earth was full of blessings, and we had been encouraged to appreciate these blessings.
Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders did not know if they would ever escape the pull of lunar orbit, or that they would ever see earth and loved ones again, and with these thoughts on their mind, just before they entered the black side of the moon on the ninth orbit, they announced they had a message they wanted to send to earth before they again entered the side of no communication.
What was the message they wanted to send to the people of earth? They read in clear tones Genesis 1: 1-10. Read it, God s account of creation. They believed it. They wanted the people of earth to believe it too. There were no atheists in Apollo 8. When I heard this I broke with uncontrollable, unspeakable joy. Yes, I cried and I am not ashamed of those tears. God was getting, at last, some glory that was rightly His. And it came clear and distinct from about 239,000 miles away, "Great is our God."
TRUTH MAGAZINE XIV: 14, p. 2
February 12, 1970
