Fri, July 20, 2012
Communion on the Moon: The Religious Experience in Space
By
Rebecca J. Rosen
NASA
Before the launch this weekend of three human beings into the ether
of space around the Earth, before they boarded their Soyuz spacecraft,
and before the rockets were fired, precautions were taken. Not the
humdrum checklists and redundancies of space exploration -- assessing
the weather, the equipment, the math -- but a preparation with a more
mystical dimension: the blessing, by a Russian Orthodox priest, of the
spacecraft, as it sat on the launchpad on the Kazakh steppe.
The scene, as shown in NASA photographs such as the one above,
presents a tableau that seems incongruent, but may just be fitting.
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters and God said, 'Let there be light," Borman read.
And it was so.
See "Link to External Source Article" below to read further.
This is a thoughtful, inspiring article about space travel, and the urge of astronauts to bring their own brand of spirituality into the experience. CLICK HERE to see the rest of the article, including a voice-recording of a Biblical reading of Genesis while viewing the "Blue Marble" shot of our beloved Urantia, and an account of a communion service conducted on the moon by Buzz Aldrin.
Space travel probably does bring feelings of humility and awe to one who has that privilege, and rightly so...
Link to External Source Article
