If you were like me last week, you kept following the news about Artemis II and its four astronauts. I was only three years old when Apollo XI landed on the moon and had only a vague memory of Apollo XVII’s return, so I eagerly watched and prayed for Artemis II’s success until they safely came back to Earth. Thank God they made it home safely.

Talk about faith. I remember the quote, “Faith is not faith until it is the only thing that you are hanging onto.” These astronauts trusted NASA, their spacecraft, scientists’ calculations, and everyone involved, knowing that rescue would be impossible if something went wrong. They relied on the best people and on faith beyond themselves. I especially appreciated Victor Glover, the mission’s pilot, sharing his faith in God.

Victor Glover, a dedicated Christian and Sunday school teacher, belongs to a US Protestant congregation called the Church of Christ. Ahead of the first manned mission to the moon, the NASA astronaut said: “We need Jesus—whether here on Earth or orbiting the Moon.” During a six-month mission to the International Space Station five years ago, he also packed his Bible along with communion cups. At that time and on the Artemis II mission, he said he would be taking part in “virtual service, virtual giving, reading my Bible, and praying.” 

Glover, who has spent nearly 30 years in the military, said his career was built on a foundation of faith. “My faith feeds my career, and you know, anytime I do something pretty risky, I pray — before I fly, every time I fly. I fly airplanes a few times a week. Definitely when you go sit on top of a rocket ship. “In the military, there’s a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. There aren’t any on top of rockets, either.”

As the Orion capsule sped toward the moon, a CBS News reporter asked him if he wished to share any Easter thoughts with those of us here on Earth. Glover responded. “I don’t have anything prepared. I’m glad you brought it up, though; I think these observances are important. You guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe. Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you. And I’m trying to tell you — trust me — you are special.”

“In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together,” he said of Earth. “I think, as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing, and that we’ve gotta get through this together.”

What a message, and thank you, Victor Glover, for your example of Christian faith to our world!

Take care,

Bill R.