Articles
Writing in Moon Dust
A second famous astronaut has died in recent days. First, John Glenn died six weeks ago. Then last Monday, Gene Cernan left the planet on his final journey. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth; Cernan was the last man on the moon. Reflecting on his moonwalk Gene Cernan said:
“Once I finally stepped on the moon, no matter what was to come of the next three days – or the rest of my life – nobody could take those steps from me. People ask how long will they be there, and I say forever … like my daughter’s initials that I scribbled in the sand.”
Cernan is referring to the fact that imprints on the moon’s surface do not erode due to a lack of weather – no wind, rain or other force to disturb the moon dust. But why did he feel so strongly about his footprints or his daughter’s initials being on the moon’s surface forever? Or why do people want their names on buildings and monuments or in record books, or at the very least, on their tombstones?
Because we all have a deep yearning for permanence. Everything about our world is transitory, including our own lives. We want to be remembered, to know that we were significant. But when the funeral is over, a few may remember us for a while but the world moves on.
But God offers us something more permanent than footprints on the moon: “Help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life” (Ph 4:3). Only twelve men walked on the moon, but anyone who wants their name eternally entered in God’s Book of Life is welcome and able.
