“All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”
-John F. Kennedy (Inaugural Address, Washington D.C., 20 January, 1961)
Having only part of the picture is fine. Some nearly forty eight years on and the future of the planet is a lot different to how those in 1961 would have thought of it back then. No one could have comprehended back then what we know now regarding the use-by date of planet earth at the present rate relating to our use and abuse of her. We seem to be on the downhill run; it’s like we’re on a roller coaster and there are no brakes to stop our rapid descent.
In 1958 when NASA was first set up, the main priority was competing with the Russians who were then the world’s major security threat. It is rather ironic but very poignant that the biggest threat now is not one single country but the future of the home we all call home--the planet. How timely it seems to be, looking back at it now, was the embarking on of this space program that continues today, and it is certainly our brightest hope of universal survival.
In life, we do what we feel is best if we have the courage. We set our plans never always knowing what will happen and what the outcomes will be. Yet we forge ahead in faith. And this is what it means to be human. It’s the very essence of our humanness, that we intelligent creatures have the innate sense for survival and transaction.
There are no guarantees in life. We get a moment and we work with it. We get a moment more so we continue on. After many years of moments and doing our best to survive and thrive we could be forgiven for investing too much in the plan believing that we’ll always be here. There are no such promises.
We don’t really know where humanity is headed, but there is one thing we do know for sure; whilst there are God-fearing people on this planet--people who live by faith and not by sight; people who love and try not to hate--there will be a role for ‘endeavouring,’ exploring. We do what we think we must, and having only part of a big picture is as much as we need in continuing any great work for the betterment of what we believe is God’s purpose and plan for his creation.
Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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