I lived in Houston for a few wonderful yet short years. Specifically, I served a ministry that was right across the street for the Johnson Space Center near Nassau Bay and fell in love with the community and people who worked for NASA. Many of their astronauts, engineers and support personal attended our church and through their witness, I was privy to a bit of their tight knit family.
As a result, I was especially drawn to the 30th anniversary of the death of the crew on the space shuttle Challenger when it exploded 73 seconds after lift-off. I watched the video again and while I wasn’t there then, I felt the weight of the loss that surprised the world. I heard the spectators and announcers trying to make sense of a ‘mission-turned-tragic’ and the loss of friends they experienced in that moment.
73 seconds from now.
These anniversaries cause me pause. They reset my thinking about the brevity of life. Without being too drab, the truth holds — your life, my life, the life of anyone you know on this planet could finish within the next 73 seconds. (Truth be told, your life never ends, it simply transitions to either something far greater or something far worse).
73 seconds from now.
It puts a new perspective on life now, when you think about it. It has for me. I tend to live in the future. I tend to think I’m guaranteed the next year, the next month the next minute. While God encourages planning, more so he encourages perspective. Perspective that opens the world of the ‘now’. Perspective that shows the beauty of the moment in which you now breath. Perspective that encourages you and me to live every moment rightly and helps you recognize the gems in the seconds.
Life is a beautiful mess, but it is still beautiful and your next 73 seconds could be your best ever.
Peace!
Todd Stocker 