Let's Go to the Moon

Leadership

People were angry and scared. It seemed like everyone was offended by something, and the world was burning. Two of the biggest names in hope had been murdered, with MLK and JFK no longer on the scene. The Vietnam War was tearing the country apart, the Soviet Union and the US were embroiled in an arms race and the space race, campuses looked more like battlefields than classrooms, race riots smoldered in almost every city, and peace was nowhere to be found. It was Christmas Eve, 1968.

240,000 miles away with the entire planet listening, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman took turns reading Genesis 1 to the world in a live broadcast from a tiny capsule, as they orbited the Moon. They started with “In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth” and ended their message with: "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"

In Robert Kurson's book "Rocket Men", Bill Anders talks about his experience of looking down on Earth, where you couldn't see borders, countries, or even continents. He said that once you couldn't see boundaries, you started to see something different. You saw how small the planet is, how close all of us are to one another, how the only thing any of us have, in an otherwise empty universe, is each other.

"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:43-45)

Loving your neighbor is hard enough, especially when it comes to HOAs, but your enemies also? Yes, let it go, you aren't that important. When we realize that grudges, offenses, animosities, and unforgiven grief are the anchors of the devil holding us back, we can pull them up and live in abundance.

For me, I have a list of persecutors that I pray for every day. I pray for my heart to be softened towards them and that they have peace, prosperity, and an abundant life. My heart aches for some on this list, and I pray for reconciliation and to have them in my life once again. I can't be a reflection of my savior who surrendered his life on the cross so his persecutors may live and carry a grudge or hurt at the same time.

Whatever cities are burning in your life, extinguish them with grace.

Pull up the anchors and fly to the Moon, and you will see the world from a whole new perspective, one without borders.