Humans are returning to the moon.

In 1969 the United States and Russia were racing to be the first to get human footprints onto the moon’s surface. Dad dragged me out of bed at age two to watch Neil Armstrong set his boot on the dusty surface and flub his line (he planned to say “One small step for a man”).I have no memory of this but somewhere there’s a picture of us in the front of our little black-and-white television.

Now the mission is the beginning of a much more ambitious long game to create a moon station and use it as a launch point to get to Mars while also exploring and exploiting lunar resources. There are other interested parties as well making their own plans to go to the moon.

I am a confirmed Terran. If offered a free seat on a rocket ship, I would decline without hesitation. Keeping my feet on the ground is a vital part of my human identity. My husband Bill would kiss me and climb aboard in a second! He has always dreamed of space travel.

Science fiction writers have been exploring for over a century the question of what it means to be human far from our home planet.. Soon we’ll be able to ask in real time. Are we ready?

In wisdom, grace, and hope.

Rev. Ruth