Earth from the Moon 1969
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NRSV)
I had not realized until a couple of days ago that the moon is essentially Earth shrapnel, as one scientist describes it. At some time in the unimaginably distant past chunks of the Earth's mantle flew off into space and the Moon is the one that has remained in orbit around the Mother Ship. Cool. It is relatively lighter than the Earth because it doesn't have the iron core of our planet. At least that's what I thought I heard. If it is all in error, may the Creator forgive me.
A number of writers, including John Schwarz in the New York Times, are asking why humanity can't devote the same energy to addressing climate change as we did to the Moon Shot. The entire Apollo project cost $150 billion in today's dollars.
They're right, from my perspective. If we make such an effort to get to a desolate satellite of the Earth, why not save the beautiful home we are desecrating and rendering inhabitable? We humans are a strange and sinful lot, but apparently God loves us a lot just the same.
Here are a couple of paragraphs from Schwartz's piece, We Went to the Moon. Why Can’t We Solve Climate Change?
Could a “moon shot” for climate change cool a warming planet?
Fifty years after humans first left bootprints in the lunar dust, it’s an enticing idea. The effort and the commitment of brainpower and money, and the glorious achievement itself, shine as an international example of what people can do when they set their minds to it. The spinoff technologies ended up affecting all of our lives.
So why not do it all over again — but instead of going to another astronomical body and planting a flag, why not save our own planet? Why not face it with the kind of inspiration that John F. Kennedy projected when he stood up at Rice University in 1962 and said “We choose to go to the moon,” and to do such things:
“ … not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win …”
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