It has been forty years since our Astronauts took those first steps on the moon. I remember what a triumphant feeling we had on that day. If we could do this, we could do anything.
In my little hometown, I remember one older woman's reaction to it all. She did not believe it. She thought the whole thing was staged in some studio somewhere. "God never wanted us to go to the moon" she said. I was a believer. I knew it happened. We were Americans. We could do anything we put our minds to. She remained a skeptic.
My brother and I would climb up in the live oak trees in our front yard and dream of flying - flying into space. I recall laying on my back in the front yard at night and seeing the bright moon above and thinking someday I will go there. It was a day of high hopes.
Sometime in the mid 60's we came to Houston and went to an Astros baseball game - I remember the people who seated you had spacesuits and space bubbles on their head. I thought they were real Astronauts, just working a second job. The Astros beat the Dodgers - now I knew anything was possible! The "Toy Cannon" Jimmy Wynn hit a home run that seemed to go into space before it came down.
No one enjoyed the space adventures more than Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman, just laid to rest this week. Old Walter was speechless when he saw it all unfold.
The current recession seems to have drained most people of all hope. I remain a hopeful person. My hopes are grounded in more mature realities these days but hope is an anchor for my soul. People without hope become desperate. They begin to die, little by little until despair simply overwhelms them. Hope is not wishful thinking - it is a Christian virtue -
Faith, Hope and Love - the great trio that sing a beautiful song together! (I Corinthians 13:13)
This hope has been poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit and it does not disappoint!(Romans 5:5)
With hope the challenges of today can be met with courage and the future can be embraced with joy! Got hope? I hope so.
Just thinking, Steve
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