I have a boyhood fascination with
outer space. I am not sure if every boy did that, but it sure has stayed with
me. I like the idea of exploring and finding out new things. In this case, I
learned that 40% of the attempts to have a Mars mission have failed. A reporter
asked one of the leaders of the Curiosity mission what would happen if this mission
failed. McCuistion said,
"We will pick
ourselves up and dust ourselves off. Human spirit gets driven by these kinds of
challenges and these are the kinds of challenges that force us, drive us to
explore. To explore our surroundings, to understand what is out there, and
obviously look at 'Are we alone?'"
Fortunately, the mission of
Curiosity did not fail. In the late summer of 2012, the Mars rover named
"Curiosity" landed on the surface of the planet. It took just seven
minutes for the rover to enter the atmosphere and touch down successfully.
You can have a panoramic
view of Mars from Curiosity. It looks like a piece of desert, reminding me
of parts of the American West.
However, whom I am thinking about today
are the NASA staff. They had to wait a long time. True, many people throughout
the world tuned in and took notice of this amazing feat. However, many likely
did not think of the engineers who spent roughly 8½ months simply waiting.
They had no choice. They could do
nothing. They waited for Curiosity to travel the millions of miles between this
planet and Mars. In that time, they had much to do, such as monitoring progress
and planning for a landing. However, the primary task of every NASA engineer involved
in the project was simply this: to wait and hope that they would not lose every
dollar spent building it or the dreams of epic Martian discoveries hinging on
it. 8½ months is a long time to wait for a culture that has grown accustomed to
immediate gratification.
You could argue that waiting is a
lost art in our culture.
Expectant moms know what it is like
to wait. I can also imagine that if someone figures out a way to speed up the
process, many would welcome it.
We are all part of an impatient,
"now" culture. Our culture cannot fathom living in the days when
sending a letter from the East Coast to the West Coast took several months, and
the Pony Express, which guaranteed delivery from St. Louis to Sacramento in 10
days or less.
We want the laptop that boots the
fastest. AVG is a program I have that every once in while asks me if I noticed
that it helped me boot a second or so faster.
Even hospitals are now posting the
turnaround times in their emergency rooms on highway billboards.
We are a people who increasingly
expect -- and demand -- a world without waiting, which can make being a
follower of Jesus Christ incredibly frustrating.
Bishop Coyner at our Life Together
conference (2016) referred to the message on the grave marker for the wife of
Billy Graham, Ruth Graham: “Construction is complete … Thanks for your patience.”
The longer you are a part of God's
family, the more you begin to realize that God is not bound to our obsession
with efficiency or competition with others to improve turnaround. Our Father
who art in heaven, whose name we hallow, and to whom we belong and by whom we
are beloved through Jesus Christ his Son, seems to have no trouble with things
taking time.
This is especially true in the way
God chooses to deal with sinful, broken people.
Read the little parable of Jesus in
Luke 13:6-9 of the patience of God and the image of the gardener. The time in
which we live is a time of mercy from God and repentance and bearing fruit for
us.
We want the moment when “rover has
landed” rather than the 8 ½ months of waiting.
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