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PASTOR’S PEN . . .
by
Pastor Dave Templin
Here’s a question for you that
I discovered in one of my resources: What was Buzz Aldrin’s first food and drink
after he and Neil Armstrong touched down on the moon? Does anyone know the
answer? The correct answer is, communion bread and wine. Here are Aldrin’s own
words:
“On the day of the moon
landing, we awoke at 5:30 a.m., Houston time. Neil and I separated from Mike
Collins in the command module. Our powered descent was right on schedule. With
only seconds worth of fuel left, we touched down at 3:30 p.m. Now was the
moment for Communion. So I unstowed the elements in their flight packets. I
put them and the Scripture reading on the little table in front of the abort
guidance system computer. Then I called back to Houston. ‘Houston, this is
Eagle. This is LM Pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of
silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever
he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the past few hours and to
give thanks in his own individual way.’
For me, this meant taking
Communion. In the blackout I opened the little plastic packages which contained
bread and wine. I poured wine into the chalice my parish had given me. In the
one sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the
cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the
moon, and the first food eaten there, were consecrated elements. Just before I
partook of the elements I read the words which I had chosen to indicate our
trust that as man probes into space, we are in fact acting in Christ. I sensed
especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and with the Church
everywhere. I read: ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in
me and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.’”
I wonder what a
difference it might make in our living if we were to remember that Christ is in
everything we do. It’s certainly one thing to think about when we are engaged
in the big things – like space exploration, striving for world peace, or helping
to rebuild the storm-ravaged gulf coast. But it’s something we might easily
forget in the day-to-day stuff of responding to a neighbor’s need, acting with
integrity at work or in a club, or sharing a bit of news about another person
with a third party. How Christ-like are these actions and conversations? Are
they also a sacramental and life-giving act?
Following the
resurrection of Jesus, the believers begin to discover what it means for him to
be present with them and to be part of a community of followers sent into the
world with good news, of the eternal kind.
May the risen Christ
continue to lead you as you are his servant – discovering anew each day what it
is to act in Christ in all that you do.
—— Pastor
Dave |
