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Good morning. At 2.56 am, on this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong put his left foot on the surface of the moon, uttering the iconic phrase: ‘this is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

It was indeed an amazing achievement, but it only happened after a tense landing procedure a few hours earlier. After problems with the original touch-down site Armstrong had to manually fly the Lunar Module to a new location. Only then could he broadcast his other famous phrase: ‘The Eagle has landed.’Ìý

Soon the world would watch in awe at pictures of Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin jumping around with ease in the lower lunar gravity. But what’s often missing from the story are the moments in between the Eagle landing and Armstrong’s giant leap.Ìý

In his book Magnificent Desolation Buzz Aldrin shares how after they’d landed he radioed NASA saying: "I would like to request a few moments of silence … and to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way."

Aldrin, as a Christian, then celebrated with communion. Later in life, Aldrin confessed that he might’ve found a more inclusive way to celebrate humanity’s arrival on the moon, but I think he already did it by asking everyone to pause from their busy-ness and give thanks as they saw fit. Taking time to rest and be thankful isn’t always easy. But if Jesus had to regularly pause and find a time to pray then perhaps it’s no bad thing that we still try to do the same.ÌýÌýÌý
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God of the universe,
We rejoice at the wonder of men walking on the moon
But forget the miracle that you walked upon the earthÌýÌý
Taking time to pray and calling us to follow your example
Which we now do with gratitudeÌýÌý
Amen