July 20, 2020 (Monday)
Michael was born on what has become, “Moon Day,” the day a human being first walked on the moon in 1969.
It was a very special day all around the world, as people gathered in front of their TV sets to watch the event and hear the astronauts up there talk about it.
The mission was part of the Apollo Space Program. President John F. Kennedy, years before, had called upon Americans to believe that it could happen. Sadly, an assassin’s bullet kept him from seeing it for himself. Apollo 11 fulfilled that dream, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. What an amazing and historic event it was!
Last year I had the privilege of conducting a funeral service for one of several thousand people who helped bring about that awesome event. It definitely was a team effort.
The United States would go on to complete six crewed missions to the moon that landed a total of 12 astronauts from 1969 to 1972 in a series of Apollo missions numbering up to Apollo 17. The only mission that failed to reach the moon’s surface was Apollo 13, which suffered a critical power and oxygen failure mid-flight, and was forced to make a heroic emergency reentry, using the landing module as a lifeboat. That was an unbelievable accomplishment in itself and was immortalized in the movie, Apollo 13.
Oh, Lord, My God,
When I, in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds thy hand hath made,
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed,
Then sings my soul,
My Savior, God, to Thee,
How Great Thou Art!