Men on the Moon & Psalm 8

 

1 

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

    Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are humans that you are mindful of them,

    mortals that you care for them?

Psalm 8: 1-4 NRSVue 

A few days ago lots of people were celebrating the first human lunar landing in 1969 and one of them was Pope Leo. After leading worship on Sunday morning he zipped over from his summer digs at Castel Gandalfo to the nearby astronomical observatory the Roman Catholic church has maintained since the 19th century, complete with a Papal astronomer. The dispute with Galileo was put to bed a long time ago, including an official apology, 359 years after his initial trial and condemnation 

Pope Leo also made a call to Buzz Aldrin, the last of  the Apollo 11 astronauts at 95 years old. He blessed Buzz and his family as well, and I'm sure didn't offer a peep about Aldrin's four marriages. It was a nice gesture and a good reminder that our Judeo/Christian perspective on the cosmos is wonder, not suspicion. 

When those three astronauts visitied the moon they had with them a note from Pope Paul VI: "To the glory of God’s name who grants such great power to men, we pray for the success of this wonderful undertaking" There was also a calligraphy version of Psalm 8.

I am old enough to have joined with my family around the television as a teen, watching the landing. We weren't aware that the space race between the United States and Russia was as much a political urination match (family blog) as anything else.

There is a tone of humility in thoses opening verses of Psalm 8 that might be taken to heart by the silly billionaires who are taking faux space trips and providing them for friends and celebrities on the way to monetizing the experience. For some reason I can't get the Muppets out of my head right now...