When Space Flight Became Personal

Elizabeth and I stayed up until 2:00 AM last night to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor. It was spectacular. We had actually received an invitation to go to Florida and be present for the launch, and I could not help but feel like I had missed the opportunity of a lifetime as I watched it last night from home. But even watching it on TV was an experience I will not soon forget: for the first time for me, this launch had personal meaning.

Those of you who have worked with us at Habitat for Humanity in Dickinson have met their wonderful director, Wendy Gorie. You may not have known, though, that her husband Dom is the commander of this shuttle mission, now orbiting the earth above us. We stayed up last night to watch the launch primarily because we had committed to pray for Dom and the Gorie family, and I'm happy to say that the launch was smooth as silk. I was starstruck, if you'll pardon the pun, the first time I met Dom, and could have listened to him for hours talking about his experiences in space, even though we could also talk about kayak fishing and any number of other adventures. I've been inspired by the Gories' devotion to Christ and thankful for their impact in our community. I've also grown to love and appreciate Wendy, with her heart for the less fortunate in our community and the great work she is doing with Habitat. Elizabeth and Wendy are actually in a small group together, and we've spent enough time with them now to begin to see the challenges, stresses, and sacrifices that come with a member of the family being an astronaut. So last night, in addition to watching this amazing feat we call a space shuttle launch, I was looking at those tiny windows of the shuttle on the launch pad and thinking, "I know a guy sitting in there, and I know his family." This little piece of knowledge heightened everything about the experience: I was more interested, more nervous, more excited and amazed than I had ever been about a shuttle launch before. It was not just impressive, and it was more than national or community pride. I had a personal stake in it.

When you think about it, this is true for almost everything in life. If you personally know someone involved, any event or activity takes on new meaning. How does your interest in a Little League game change when your own child is on the field? For some of us, it takes on meaning of ridiculous proportions. The success or failure of businesses in our community mean more to us if the owners are friends of ours. The same is true of marriages. Hospitals are just buildings full of sick people until someone we care about is in one.

This is always true in ministry. Church services mean one thing to you if you're just attending, and something completely different if you brought someone with you. Suddenly you have a stake in whether or not this experience is meaningful. I try to keep that in mind every time we have a service, and I'm often introduced to someone's friend or relative before a service begins. I've never been offended when someone looks at me with that "don't screw this up today" look in their eyes. That's what it's all about. We had a whole bunch of neighbors at our last service, and I was saying those things to myself! I think God feels that way every time, because He's not as selective as we are about who is important to Him.

A cubicle field is pretty blah until you know someone who sits at a desk near yours. It's just another set of apartments, just another street added to the suburban sprawl until you know the family next door and the one down the street. Everything in life is better and more meaningful as we move from detachment to engagement. Knowing people makes all the difference.

For the next several days, I won't be able to look up without saying a prayer for a guy who is zooming around up there at 17,000 miles per hour. I hope my whole life is like that in some way, and I hope yours is too.