That’s the premise of Apple TV’s original series, For All Mankind. The show posits that one departure from our actual history, and it occurs in the first few minutes of the very first episode ... it changes everything. What happens, next, is stunning. First, they continue the Apollo rocket program well beyond what we actually did. In time, there are many changes: to the astronaut program, new faces, new leaders, new roles for women and people of color. Even different Presidents occupy the White House than in our reality.
But some things don’t change: like the need for spacecraft to dock with each other out in the void. It is a long, difficult, and highly structured process, even in our real timeline. It actually takes days to accomplish. At the end, it’s a matter of moving mere inches for excruciatingly slow periods of time.
We can observe this, now, when Astronauts attempt to dock with the International Space Station. It’s a long, complicated process, made even longer by the fact that at multiple points fresh permissions must be obtained before proceeding.
I think most of us believe getting to God works much the same way: full speed toward God; stop and wait; get more permissions; slow our approach; stop again; get even more permissions. And then, right when we think we have finally made it, jumped through all the hoops, we're told to wait ... Again.
We see ourselves as the rocket, expending all the energy to connect with God; and we see God as the International Space Station, floating majestically out in space, expending no energy at all, just awaiting our approach. But we have a fundamental misunderstanding about the ISS: we think it can't maneuver. On the contrary, it can maneuver; it just doesn't maneuver any more than is necessary. Any fuel it uses must be replaced (i.e., brought up from the Earth). Plus, at an expense of over $10,000 per pound of propellant, a single 180 degree maneuver costs more than $1,000,000 to execute. At that price, it's no surprise the maneuvering is usually left to the approaching craft.
God has no such limitations.
Nor does God expect us to "do all the work." The scriptures are clear on this, no matter whether you read the Old Testament or the New. James writes, "Draw near to God and God will draw near to you." Don't get the wrong idea, though; it's not a quid pro quo. Look at the father in the parable about the prodigal son: as soon as he sees his son "still a long way from home", he runs to his son, meeting him well down the road (Luke 15).
That is the spirit of the message in this week’s scriptures, especially Psalm 95 and the Gospel of John. God wants us. We are welcome. God is not waiting for us to execute a painstaking series of maneuvers in order to approach him. He is searching for us, looking down the road, ready to run to us at first sighting. God does this for all mankind, for all womankind, for all humankind.
Start your approach ... God will take care of the docking.
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PHOTO CREDIT for plaque first astronauts left on the moon (The plaque says: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."): https://nasa.gov/
Different versions of this reflection have appeared in 2014 and 2017.
For more about docking with the International Space Station, link to:
http://www.howitworksdaily.com/docking-with-the-iss/
"Docking With The ISS"
How It Works Magazine
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday in Lent (March 15, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=26
Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42
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You are welcome at DaySpring’s Friday morning Lectionary Breakfast. We gather at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place (the former Egg and I restaurant) for an hour of great fellowship. We eat, we read and discuss scripture, and we laugh; truly an hour like no other.
Join us,
Steve
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