July 1969.

Three men blast off in a rocket ship with a plan to be the first humans to set foot on the grey powder surface of the moon.

An impossible mission.

We recently watched the 2019 documentary “Apollo 11” which features beautiful colour footage and photos of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. They tell the story in chronological order with original audio, restored images and unseen footage from the archives that make it feel less like a relic of the past and more like the amazing undertaking it really was.

What struck me is how they accomplished their goals without the technology available to us now. At first glance, even some of their equipment looks a school science project: contraptions made of thin metal rods, hobbled together with sheets of foil gift wrap reinforced with industrial aluminum tape.

How did they do it?

How in the world did they send three men to the moon in 1969, before the advanced computers and robotics we have today?

I realize I am ignorant of much of rocket science and the years of planning and preparing for a momentous mission like sending humans to the moon, but one thing I know for sure – imagination must have played a significant role in moving the mission forward.

If you cannot imagine doing something, you will not succeed in accomplishing that goal.

Who thought, “hey, I know, let’s send people to the moon!”? Who imagined what it would take to make it happen? Who had the passion for math to calculate the exact trajectory and invent the maneuvers it would take to make the mission a success? Who saw Neil and Buzz and Michael and said, “these are the guys!”?

I was reading about Ancient Sumeria, a civilization from long ago that literally invented the wheel. No one has bothered to reinvent such a design because we don’t need to. We still use the fundamental shape today in almost every area of life.

There is something about the human imagination and ability to create and build and discover and explore that hints at something so much more.

Could it be that the great accomplishments of humankind point to the Creator of all things? Could it be that God allowed people to do great things out of the depths of His grace, as a glimpse of the great things He is already doing and will do in the future in our lives and with our world? If we, with all our human limitations, can do things like send three guys in a handmade rocket ship to walk on the moon and put rocks in their pockets to bring home for show and tell, wouldn’t it be possible that God, who has no limitations, could create and orchestrate and communicate and participate with His creation?

Humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). We have His capacity for relationship and understanding and creativity. And even the great things we accomplish are nothing compared to what God has already done and what is He is in the process of doing.

Consider this from 2 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV) –

However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him —
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Lord, give us eyes to see Your work everywhere and help us to wait with baited breath for the things that are still to come!

The January 2019 Lunar Eclipse as seen from my perspective.