So, Captain Kirk made a trip to space! William Shatner struggled to express himself after his trip in the Blue Origin rocket.
Moments after landing he told Jeff Bezos, “Unbelievable. The covering of blue…it’s so thin, and you’re through it in a moment. What you see down there is light. What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I am so filled with emotion about what just happened! I hope I never recover from this. It’s so much larger than me and life. It has to do with the suddenness of life and death! OMG!”
I understand Shatner thanking Bezos, but he could have said more. If Shatner is still struggling with words, here’s a cue: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers…” (Psa. 8:3).
Consider a down-to-earth story. The widowed lady’s grandson, Adam, lives hours away. She enjoys their fleeting moments together. His parents bring him to visit a few times each year. She decides to create a permanent reminder that she loves him, something that would be meaningful now and after he’s grown up.
She begins to sort through her closets. She sets aside the cowboy-themed linens from his dad’s childhood and shirts his grandfather wore. She finds the blue gingham dress she wore as a young mother, and the colorful, embroidered curtains from their first house. She still has some of Adam’s baby clothes left behind from a visit a few years ago.
With material in hand, she begins the months-long task of making a full-size quilt. The arthritis in her hands and the fatigue in her eyes reduce the pace of the work but not her dedication to the task. When it is finished she says, “It’s beautiful, if I may say so myself. This is good.”
She holds onto the treasured gift until Christmas. She wraps the box and marks “Adam” on the tag. “They will know it’s from me,” she muses. During their visit, the boy opens the box. “I’ve never seen anything like this!” he marvels, showing his parents. They are delighted with the colors, design, and usefulness of the quilt. But they never acknowledge how the quilt came to be. They do not recognize the sacrifice, creativity, and love that went into it. It never occurs to them to thank her. She loves them, nonetheless.
You don’t need a ten-minute trip in a Blue Origin rocket to be inspired to give credit where credit is due. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psa. 19:1). Consider the beauty and design of creation and worship the Creator! “Worthy are You…for You created all things” (Rev. 4:11). One day you’ll see Him face to face and “O my God!” will have new meaning.