I’ve been looking at some pictures from Apollo 11. Some, especially the ones from Earth, are the peek into a particular time that you would expect from any set of photographs. Others, the ones from space and especially the ones on the Moon, are truely timeless. They do seem to capture not only the beauty and unity of the Earth, but the adventure, achievement, and brass balls it takes to do something like go to the moon. These pictures make me feel excited to be a part of the human story.
The debate rages over what the next chapter of that story should be. Should we return to the Moon? Should we endeavor to reach Mars? Would all the focus, energy, and resources be better spent on another project like ending homelessness? The fundamental, unspoken question is “Will we ever do something so grand again? How could we possibly top that and why even try? Don’t we really suck?”
Wherever we choose to put our energy, and however grander or less grand it seems than walking on the Moon, we don’t suck. Somewhere around 1820-30, I bet those guys were wondering what the hell they were going to do to top their folks. You know, the ones who started the country? By the end of their run, they had ended slavery. It wasn’t pretty, but they got it done. There have been great challenges to our generation — 9/11, Katrina, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are meeting those challenges, and in the process a new paradigm is emerging that is seeking to live into the beauty and mystery of unity that we first got a glimpse of 40 years ago this week.