1969: WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
1969 was a very special year of great accomplishments. Today, July 20th, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of man walking on the moon. That same year the New York Mets won the World Series and Casey Stengel began calling them the “Miracle Mets”. In 1969 the huge Boeing 747 was first introduced. The extremely fast French Concorde jet also debuted then. In 1969 the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the epitome of the American muscle car was introduced. The Woodstock Rock festival brought in an estimated 350,000 to 500,000 people. In October 1969 the first communication was sent over the ARPANET, the predecessor to our INTERNET. And most miraculously, the average cost of a house was under $5,000.00 and a brand new Toyota Corona cost $1,950.00 and a gallon of gasoline was 35 cents. I personally had a lot of great achievements that year. In 1969 I graduated from college with a Bachelors degree in Scientific Management – Computer Science and ten days later I married my beautiful wife Martha. Within three months of my marriage I enlisted in the U.S. Army. All three of those events changed my life for the better and I still reap the fruits of those events.
1969 also had a lot of sad events. Members of a Cult let by Charles Manson brutally killed five innocent people. Senator Edward Kennedy had his Chappaquiddick Affair in 1969. That year an accidental explosion on the US Enterprise killed 27 people. Abbey Road would be the last album the Beatles would do together and 1969 became the last year they toured together. During 1969 the Vietnam War continued to grow and the US began the Draft. In 1969 Richard Nixon became President of the United States. The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland escalated as British Troops used extreme force. In Mississippi, Hurricane Camille hit hard killing 248 people. Australian light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne sliced the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half killing 82 of her crew. !969 became a year of rising inflation worldwide.
Throughout the years good things happen as well as bad. It is just a fact of life. There is one good thing in 1969 that I would like to look at. For the first time in history, man was able to walk on the moon.
Apollo 11 was certainly a remarkable task. Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins and Neil Armstrong took off in a ten foot by 12 foot 913 pound capsule made out of aluminum, steel and titanium that was attached to a 363 foot tall Saturn V rocket. That rocket weighed over 6.5 million pounds and had three stages. It was 58 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. The Rocket carried the capsule as well as the Lunar Module. The Lunar Module could hold two people. Once they reached the moon, Mike Collins remained in the capsule while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong went to the surface of the moon in the Lunar Module. Neil Armstrong was the first man to set his foot upon the moon. He said, ”That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Just before the Lunar Module landed, there was some serious concern. First the computers that were to do the landing began acting up so they shut them down and decided to land with manual controls. All of this used up extra fuel and the low fuel light came on. They were able to successfully land the Module. Many years later, when Armstrong was visiting troops, one of the troops asked, “Mr. Armstrong, weren’t you nervous flying over the moon with all those rocks and craters, knowing that you only had a few seconds of fuel left?’ Armstrong grinned at the young soldier. “Well, young man, Everyone knows that when the fuel gauge says empty, there’s always a gallon or two left at the bottom of the tank.” I love to see the human spirit respond to such difficult tasks. The moon landing was a cooperative effort that included over 400,000 people. Neil Armstrong was right in saying that his step was small but mankind’s step was huge. The whole world cheered the event and the common cry was, “WE did it!”
What is really amazing is that we accomplished this mission over 50 years ago. The on board computer, which was state of the art at the time, is weaker than the computers that we carry around in our pockets on our smart phones. I truly believe that man can accomplish great things, through the help of God. Many people in the Space program had a deep relationship to God and I am sure that there were a lot of prayers for the mission. The mission commander, Buzz Aldrin, described the mission as “part of God’s eternal plan for man”. Aldrin was an ordained Presbyterian elder and decided that he wanted to take communion to the moon. When he first spoke to NASA about this they were reluctant to allow it because Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the famous Atheist, had brought a lawsuit against NASA for reading from the bible during Apollo 8. But Aldrin insisted and was given permission, but he was told to keep it quiet. He brought with him bread, wine and a small chalice. He pulled out the Chalice and bread and wine and announced over the radio, “This is the LM pilot. I would like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.” He then silently read John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” After that he performed the Presbyterian ritual over the bread and wine.
It is interesting that Pope Paul VI was watching the lunar landing from the Vatican Observatory going between the televised version and the Observatory Telescope. He greeted and blessed the astronauts in English: “Here, from His Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Pope Paul the Sixth is speaking to you astronauts. Honour, greetings and blessings to you, conquerors of the Moon, pale lamp of our nights and (our) dreams! Bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father. We are close to you, with our good wishes and with our prayers. Together with the whole Catholic Church, Pope (Paul) the Sixth salutes you.” The pope later met the Apollo 11 astronauts and their wives at the Vatican.
Buzz Aldrin took a small part of the bible with him to the moon. Later, in Apollo 12, the full bible was brought there. Many people are unaware of the faith of the people in this program. I personally feel that it is their faith and prayers that made the mission successful. As Buzz Aldrin read (from John 15:5), “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.”