a musing ames

Rocket at the Kennedy Space Center near Orlando, Florida.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon, and those uttered words that we will always remember, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  My mind goes back to a visit at the Kennedy Space Center, where they shared the clip from JFK’s speech that inspired the whole journey into outer space in the first place:

“But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”  John F. Kennedy, “We choose to go to the Moon Speech,” September 12, 1962.

The moon.  It was a choice.  People rallied behind it.  It became the single aim of an entire sector of government research and development.  Those who believed in the goal made sacrifices to achieve it, including some who died in the process.  And they made it.  Seven years later, they made it to the surface of the moon.

To me, this illustrates one of my favorite quotes, one that I had to memorize in the fourth grade:

“Remember that you will never reach a higher standard than you yourself set. Then set your mark high, and step by step, even though it be by painful effort, by self-denial and sacrifice, ascend the whole length of the ladder of progress. Let nothing hinder you. Fate has not woven its meshes about any human being so firmly that he need remain helpless and in uncertainty. Opposing circumstances should create a firm determination to overcome them. The breaking down of one barrier will give greater ability and courage to go forward. Press with determination in the right direction, and circumstances will be your helpers, not your hindrances. Be ambitious, for the Master’s glory, to cultivate every grace of character. In every phase of your character building you are to please God. This you may do; for Enoch pleased Him though living in a degenerate age. And there are Enochs in this our day.”  Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 331-332.

Last school year I purchased a new laptop computer, and in the process of transferring files from my old Mac, my photos became disorganized and scattered between different places on my hard drive. I’ve been trying to put them in order for the last few months, but today I realized a simple way to import them all into iPhoto, so all I would have to do is compile them into broad categories.

As I sorted through photos, memory after memory came rushing back through my mind: full-time ministry, canvassing, graduating from college, painting the rock.  The photos stretched back over four years. And all I could think was, “where in the world has all of this time gone?”ti

This made me think of a conversation earlier this week where a friend told another friend that the reason we value time is because we were not made for time to run out, but rather for eternity, and yet our reality does not conform to our design (for now). The Bible says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart.” Ecclesiastes 3:11.

I can truly say that God has made so much in my life beautiful in His time, bringing me into friendships that I value more than anything else in this world. And that concept of eternity is definitely in my heart too. As the last grains quickly slip through the hourglass of this summer, I don’t want it to end.  I love being near to my family, and close to my friends. I cannot imagine this coming to an end.

What seems only a distant dream right now will be reality again when I soon return to Virginia to begin my second year of law school. And I’m tempted to be sad, dejected, depressed.

And yet, one of the verses that came up when our theme for ASC at UM was “Remember” (2005-2006) keeps coming back to mind:

“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18,19

Telling a historian not to remember seems a futile command. But I appreciate what the text says nonetheless. Yes, God has done incredible things in the past, and I am eternally grateful for those evidences of His kindness in my life. But  He is not finished yet.  He can create a new thing, out of apparent impossibility, something that will also be worth looking back over.

Yes, I will cherish my last two weeks in Michigan (just writing that ties my heart up in knots). But I won’t let the memory keep me from looking forward to see what new thing the Lord is brining. The best is yet to come.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” 1 John 1:1-4.

I have spent a good part of my summer vacation from law school in the courtroom, not yet practicing as an attorney, but observing proceedings, hearings, and trials as an intern.  One of the trials I was able to observe involved a man who was accused of witness intimidation in another case against him the court.  He was trying to have the witness against him kidnapped so that she could not testify in court.  If she did testify, her eye witness account of what he had done to her would surely convince a jury, causing him to spend a significant portion of his life in jail.

Witnesses are key to proving your case in court.  And as I studied 1 John 1:1-4 last week, I see how important witnesses are even in the Great Controversy.  The book of 1 John was written in part to combat some of the things that were being said at the end of the first century about Jesus that were not correct, ideas of gnosticism and such.  John is establishing that he has the authority to speak, authority to say who Jesus really is because he has witnessed Him, he has experienced Him.

In this day, where people say that Jesus is a great teacher, a moral man, but not the Son of God, the importance for each child of God to have not just an intellectual knowledge of our Lord, but an experience of Him, so we can testify to who He really is.

In the reality that is the Great Controversy, God is on trial.  He is on trial for not being the loving God that Scripture declares Him to be.  The jury is still out for those who have not yet made a decision one way or another for Christ.  As much as Jesus is our lawyer (1 John 2:1), representing us in our judgment before Heaven, we serve as an advocate, a respresentative for God’s character on this earth.  Not just as representatives or lawyers defending Christ, but witnesses to what He has done personally in my life, and in yours.

People are misrepresenting the character of God to the eternal detriment of those who come in contact with the felonious argument.  Can He get a witness to who He really is?