Tether

My five point harness had me locked into a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) training chair. This piece of equipment is used by astronauts to train for work in a microgravity environment. I was excited to be part of this simulation, preparing to “fix” a broken part of the external components of the International Space Station (ISS) as a team member on a mock spacewalk. In a space simulation, I quickly learn that unwieldy space suits and simulated microgravity environment exercises can make me go swishing across the polished floor. Laughing, I felt myself going backwards until at 25 feet out, my safety tether snapped taught. My momentum was changed as I started to slowly move forward again towards the black and white structure. Still smiling, my hands and feet braced to gently catch myself coming back to the station wall. The tether, made of strong woven fibers and thick metal buckles, has to be able to withstand the simulated great temperature variances found in space, resist abrasions and still maintain flexibility. It didn’t take long to discover that more than a gentle movement would send me inadvertently moving away from the mock-up station; and be grateful for the safety tethers that keep me from careening off across the floor. 

A book titled The Untethered Soul caught my attention the other day. Let me put in my aside here, I have not read the book - it could be good, my reaction is purely to the title. An untethered soul, and all I could think of was simulations of fixing a mock-up of the ISS. My response to the title was thankfulness for the tethers in my life.

Sitting for a few quiet minutes today, I thought of who and what makes up my safety tether. Some of the fibers are short and others of inestimable yardage are woven in throughout. Buckles, forged from unbreakable love of Jesus are ones that do not fail. The webbed lengths are strong in family, friends, love, retain joy in abundance and resist abrasions with compassion. These cordage systems keep us from drifting away into space. They are our life lines that pull us back, reversing the backward momentum. And we in turn serve the same purpose for others.

At least until it’s time to take your MMU for a little spin, and go drifting slowly across the floor for the fun of it. 

Sky High Love

Taking the dogs out once more before going to bed, my eyes turned to the sky and I felt my feet come to a standstill on the driveway. Over and around me, the sky stretched out; immense and painted with color, patterns and textures that more than rivaled the master painters. Because I have the habit to sing, well – anywhere; a song came out, "His Eye is on the Sparrow.” All I could do was stand, stare and sing; and of course keep an eye on the dogs who might go wandering.   

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” Psalm 103:11

 

Just thinking of the space between where my toes met the ground below and the reach of the heavens above, the immensity of the love described was breathtaking. I stretched out my arms, filled up my lungs with air, and took up only a tiny fraction of that space. 

Such love can feel too large and powerful for me to comprehend; beautifully overwhelming to the touch and sight. I think this is why the thought of the sparrow is the one that first came to me.

“And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  Luke 12:6b-7

The tiny bird that many would deem to be insignificant is not forgotten by the Creator. The knower of the large and small, is in the magnificence of the heavens and in the infinite subtlety of a tiny creature of flight. As I continue to view the sky, my heart was full to overflowing. 

Countdown

   In just a few hours, the Discovery STS-133 will launch from its pad at Kennedy, and start its mission in space. What an amazing experience that must be, to feel the great engines lift you aloft and then the pressure gradually build until you are released into an environment of micro-gravity. The clock is already counting down; the anticipation must be building in Mission Control even now.

   I would love to be there, in that room, watching it all happen. Feeling the energy in the room, ebbing and flowing as processes are followed. People start gathering, sitting in the stands with binoculars and cameras at the ready watching the clock count down. They will feel the compression and shock of the air as the gases mix and combust. The sound will vibrate the inner ear as the eye watches the orbiter being carried away from the gravitational pull of the earth.
   How amazing it is that such a thing received so much of its early constructive knowledge in warfare. Early parents of rocketry found themselves gaining experience during the World Wars, as the instruments rained down terrible experiences on the population below. That beautiful orbiter, the External Tank, and Solid Rocket Boosters, they are an instrument of peace and exploration. We have just started understanding space, it’s mysteries and complexities, and something of terror gave birth to something of beauty.

Why is the Sky Blue

   My moment of helping with the Christmas decoration taking down took the form of helping remove the lights from the trees. I’m not sure if the memory was triggered of the sound of the lights and the cord moving against the feathery evergreen branches or something else, but I remembered a moment years ago. I was sitting in a dark room with many others, high school students and camp counselors. Bunk beds lined the walls and the metal structure sounded the rain plainly.

   I was at the Space Academy camp in Huntsville, Alabama. A tornado warning had been sounded and we had all been moved into the dorms of one of the groups. Those metal walls didn’t much to shield us from the sound of the rain and many were starting to get nervous. You could just feel the tension in the room. Quietly, our counselor called us together and asked us if we knew why the sky was blue.
   What? That question caught me, the me that is not so fond of tornadoes, completely by surprise. I wasn’t the only one. Soon we were in a conversation about light spectrums and how light bends and is created as color in our eyes. Being the rather overzealous, passionately curious, intellectual personality types, we just couldn’t resist that conversation. For the counselor, it was rather a brilliant move to distract what could have been a bunch of hysterical teenagers.
   I’m not quite sure what jogged that memory last night, but it did and now I am thinking again about why the sky is blue.

A Lesson from STS 133

I had planned and dreamed for months of watching, feeling, and hearing a shuttle launch. The Discovery was scheduled to launch November 1, 2010 as mission STS 133. Well, Robert Burns was right as he told the mouse that fore planning can run amuck.
    “But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
     In proving foresight may be vain;
     The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
     Gang aft agley,
     An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
     For promis'd joy!”
    Well, it was not “grief an’pain” but disappointment as the Discovery launch was pushed back one day after another until now it is rescheduled for November 30. But, even though the best laid plans did not go as planned, I did get to see this assembly of parts together on the launch pad. It continues to amaze me that the many thousands of parts assembled to create enough thrust to safely launch this bird into the atmosphere.
   So, the Discovery didn’t launch as planned, and here is the lesson – keep trying and persevere. Persevere when things do not go as planned; persevere when there are technical difficulties and weather delays. Persevere when others do not understand the dream. Persevere through and keep working, because though the plans can “agley,” without a plan and perseverance there is no discovery.

Nursery Tales

You never quite know what kids are going to say in the nursery at church. This latest time in the church nursery was no exception. I found one of the little ones lining up pint sized chairs.

  “Are you making a train?”
  “No, I’m making a shuttle.”
  “Wow! That’s cool! Are you going to fly to space?”
  “Yes, I’m going to the moon. I want to see God.”
  “And God is on the moon?”
  “Yes, God lives in the moon.”
  “Oh, where else does God live?”
  “In my heart. But, I can’t stick my whole face in my heart to see God, so I’m going to the moon.”
Well, I can hardly argue with his logic, so we had a pretend shuttle ride to the moon. So we could see God.
Yes, the munchkins were cute in their pretend and play. But, their reasoning is not so different than what you or I might use. We try to contain God, not in the moon, but in our little boxes of familiarity and understanding. Then, we travel and traverse to God forgetting that he is already here, already with us. Thank heavens that we don’t have to go to the moon!