"Where Is God In The Space Age?"
The countdown reached zero at 9:47 A.M. (EST) on the 20th day of February, 1962. The scene was one of extreme satisfaction for the staff and newsmen at Cape Canaveral, as the rocket lifted the Friendship 7 space capsule from launch pad 14 and placed it in orbit 100 miles above the earth.
Aboard the capsule was Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., of the United States Marine Corp. This flight took him three times around the world and lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes. After a number of postponements, the Project Mercury team of experts had finally put a man in orbit and brought him safely back to earth.
What has all this to do with God? Many people feel that we are trespassing on God, Himself, and we are tampering with things that best be left untouched.
God and Heaven are associated with space, but only because when we talk of Him we speak of up there. Actually He is no more in outer space than He is right here on the earth or at the bottom of the deepest sea! God is a spirit! He is omnipresent and lives within our hearts. So we are not trespassing when we travel in space.
In fact, I believe that God's stand will be strengthened through the on-coming space age. And I believe that, as man-tries to disprove the Bible, he will succeed only in proving it correct!
People have told me that they believe if God had wanted us to travel in space, He would have opened a way before this.
There can only be one answer to this, and that is we were not ready, until now, to cope with the wonders of the universe.
To answer a question that is often asked: Why couldn't God just give us the knowledge and wisdom necessary in this age of space? He did not because He wanted us to have appreciation for what we receive. If we work for what we want, we will have more respect for it when we finally achieve it.
There are over a hundred known elements in the atomic chart. Many of these were discovered years ago, but uses for them are still being found. There are, of course, probably many elements yet to be found. Whether or not they will be found here on earth or on one of the countless millions of planets and stars that make up our infinite universe, we do not know.
Knowledge is only half the battle; to know that something exists is nothing to a person unless he knows how to use that something wisely. Knowledge, in these matters, without wisdom is the same as putting a loaded gun in the hands of a two-year-old, and can be even more dangerous! I believe that God wanted us to know and be able to use the elements that make up our own planet, before we go flying through the infinity of space searching for something, that when found, we can never even hope to have the knowledge to use.
If you will read the first few chapters of Genesis, you will find that in the beginning God gave man everything that he could ever want. He put Adam in the garden of Eden; gave him a companion and command over all creatures. However, God wanted him to have a mind of his own, so He put one tree in the garden which bore the forbidden fruit to tempt him. Had Adam worked to earn this paradise, he would not have been so easily led astray.
Madame Curie discovered radium, now one of the more valuable elements in the chart, but at the time of discovery she did not have any idea of its use. She died in 1934 of cancer. Some believe that it was caused by an overdose of radioactivity from exposure to the radium. Today, her discovery is used — in small doses — in treatment of the very disease that caused her death, The Madame Curie story is an excellent example of knowledge without wisdom. Had she known the effect of the radioactivity she would have shielded herself better from its rays.
Today, when an unknown substance shows signs of emitting radioactivity, scientists shield themselves with lead or some other substance before working with it.
Radium is used in the treatment of cancer, but is not always a cure. Some substance, which may even be within our atmosphere, may someday be found to be a full and complete cure. That is one of the things that we perchance may gain from our ventures into space.
If we can find a cure and wipe out all the disease and sickness, we will, in turn, wipe out a lot of the sin of the world. For sickness and disease sprang from the sin of Adam.
Christ told us that He would come again, so that Christians can live with Him in a second paradise. This paradise will be, I'm sure, much more appreciated than was the first.
From the time of Adam to the present, countless centuries have passed, but it was only about 60 years ago that man first got his feet off the ground.
In the last 60 years, man has brought the world closer together through faster transportation. In the next few years, it is hoped that the universe will be brought within our grasp.
Every one is wondering whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe. Out of the countless number of planets and stars, is this the only one to contain life? We've waited thousands of years to find the answer, and I'm afraid we will just have to wait a few more.
Our uncertainty as to what lies beyond will make our relationship with God that much stronger. For as more people see the wonders of the infinite universe, they will then realize that its being did not happen by mere chance. That is God's stand! Where Is yours? Do you stand at God's side, or are you A.W.O.L from His army?!!! — R. D. NO. 1, Oneonta, New York