Dear Reconcilers,

Guest writer Sheila Graham shares how inspired she was by the Artemis II astronauts after their trip around the moon.

One People

After watching the first interview of the Artemis II space crew after their return to earth, my daughter remarked, “That was church.” I felt the same way.

The four astronauts voiced their overwhelming awe of seeing Earth as a small fragile blue ball hanging in the vast darkness of space. They saw themselves and us as one people flying through space on a marvelous living planet that is home to us all. One said it was as if Earth were a spaceship and we were the crew.

How sad it is we aren’t the good crew members of our special spaceship the Creator admonished us to be. But, as important as it is to be good stewards of the earth, what is more important is how we relate to our brothers and sisters living on this planet.

Their adventure flying around the moon seemed to bring a fractured country together for a brief time, much as the earlier Apollo flights did in the past. At least we all watched together in wonder, hoping and praying they would make it safely back home.

Though we are one people, we are a world divided, ever warring against each other. As far as we know, we may be the only living planet and the only humans in the universe. If there are others, I hope they’re doing a better job of getting along than we are.

It’s not as if we don’t know better. Our history over the centuries is one long list of war after war. Our attempts at peace are short lived and usually achieved through more warfare.

OK, granted, as one person, you or I can’t solve this monumental global problem. We can work for peace in our families though. We can work for peace in our relationships with our neighbors, our coworkers and all others we come in contact with daily.

We can put aside our religious, racial and political differences and treat every other human being with respect. We can realize we are all trying to cope under sometimes terrible circumstances. Let’s learn from the astronauts and remember how special and unique we are and be kind and thankful for one another.

Sheila Graham has a master’s of arts in religion and a master’s of arts in women’s studies in religion. Among her published writings is The Proverbs 31 Woman and Other Biblical Women, coauthored with Michael Morrison, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which also addresses the question of what roles women can play in the church today.