Lunar Leaping

Matthew 7:14 -- "Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Just as the Florida summer was settling in to get comfortable with it's promise of warm sea-side adventures and wonderful afternoons chock full of rope swing launches into local watering holes, a  man by the name of Cliff Charlesworth sat with busy fingers and a bulky head-set at command central. He sat [or more likely, he paced] in a room so tense that one had to practically swim through it to get to the other side.

His job? To guide three brave individuals aboard the Apollo 11 all the way to the moon, and then all the way back home to this great blue marble. Safely. AND - he had to do this from miles and miles away. An endeavor that surly took Eisensteinian math skills Mr. Charlesworth had to ensure that the Apollo space craft remained on a VERY narrow, correct path. As the earth continued to spin and the moon spun around the earth, room for error and the resulting deviation from that very narrow path was ZERO. A slight miscalculation would send the team hurling out into the black space beyond the moon with little, if any, way to get back.

Talk about your narrow road.

But because everyone stuck to the plan and there was no deviation from the very narrow flight path, on July 20th of 1969 Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin made it all the way to our celestial neighbor, planted a few footprints on it's soft, dusty Sea of Tranquility, and then landed - quite literally - with a splash back here on our home planet. An amazing feat that forever changed American history AND the history of the human race.

The extremely thin line between success and a total disaster ending in death - was all about keeping the space module on the aforementioned very narrow flight path.

Sound a little familiar? In a jumbled super highway of personal beliefs, religious cults, and superstitious cultures, it might FEEL like there are so many, many pathways that lead to life and success. It might seem that really all one has to do it pick one. Don your hiking shoes, pick the path most prosperous, most comfortable and viola! Life. Happiness. Big fat bank accounts and huge houses, perfect children that lead perfect lives ... and at the end of it all, we can close our eyes and bid farewell to this hustle and bustle by gently passing "to the other side" for a long peaceful post-earth existence in bliss.

We are thousands of years away from the moment Jesus first spoke the words that Matthew jotted down in his notes - but there is STILL only one path that leads to salvation and life. Amid the confusion of a plethora of church doctrines, mission statements, and styles of worship - the road is still narrow and the gate is still small. Why will only a few find it?

In general, we as a species don't really like difficult, narrow paths. We tell ourselves that it's better to be open-minded, tolerant, or maybe more understanding of those who may harbor different personal moral views than those of our own. But the truth of the matter is - as a dear friend recently put it - the very commitment we've made to follow Christ makes us intolerant. If I stand for Jesus, then I cannot stand for the things that he's made very clear are not pleasing to him. In very plane language God has given us His Living Word as a light - to shine brightly on that narrow road. We CAN see where we are going. And while the gate IS small, God has already given us the Key to enter.

There are certainly going to be times when we feel stuck on a rigid path that so many of our earthly acquaintances have chosen NOT to take. And there are definitely times when standing up for a thing that we know is right [take pro-life vs. pro-choice for example] is going to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those around us. But let's not confuse compassion and grace for a passport to relinquish our grip on God's laws. For example: murder is wrong. God is very clear on that. If a cherished loved one or a member of our churches or even a person in our own family murders some one - it's STILL wrong. I don't have to cuss at them. I don't have to spit at them and call them names. But I certainly CAN'T tell them that the actions they took were a personal choice that I will accept.

We CANNOT do that.

Mr. Charlesworth had a very straight forward and clear cut directive. Keep the Apollo 11 on a clear and safe path to the moon and back. He didn't tinker around with the personal opinions of his team members. He didn't accept any other trajectory other than the one he knew to be right. If he had done otherwise, our history books would have a much different story within their thick pages.

On a planet with 24/7 news channels, internet, and instant text messaging - it may be a bit difficult to keep our eyes on the road - to remain steadfast on the clear-cut trajectory that Jesus tells us is the right path. But veering off that path will grant us nothing but devastation, sorrow, and failure. Keep to the narrow road. At the end of it is REAL victory. REAL celebration, and REAL life. Just like the very narrow path taken by those aboard the Apollo 11 space module.