The Day You Will Surely Die

When will you die?

I can't tell you the literal day when your 'form and frame' cease to function on earth.  But I can tell you precisely the day you will die in terms of your true self, essence, and God's intent.

It's the day you stop dreaming; the day you stop having the next goal and vision for your life.  

Frankly, many reading my words have already passed that day.  I mean, many feel the best days of their life are behind them, and there is no reason, or purpose, or promise, ahead of them.  

Rather than thriving, they're merely surviving.  No goal setting.  No aspirations.  Just 'putting one foot in front of the other.'

But this summer is an excellent time to 'kick-out' of your funk, because this summer we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.  Bottom line: Apollo 11 teaches, that a new dream can occur -- even -- amid impossible, funky, circumstances.

Travel back with me to the summer of 1961.  The United States was in the early, anxious stages of the Cold War, as East Germany began construction of the Berlin War. Civil Rights tensions accelerated as Freedom Riders took buses into the South to confront segregation.  And anti-nuclear protests multiplied, as the first 2,000 troops were deployed to Vietnam.   

But John F. Kennedy lasered through such angst, offering a dream, a compelling vision, nevertheless. Addressing a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, Kennedy declared: 

"...I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the of goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth..."

Elaborating on his vision in an address at Rice University on September 12, 1962, Kennedy said: 

"…We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade…not because they are easy, but because they are hard...

"...[Thus] we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away...a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of [a] football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun...

"...[But to] do it right, and do it first before this decade is out -- then we must be bold..."  (emphasis added) https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/apollo-moon-landing-jfk-speech/593899/

It's important to note, that Kennedy's bold, audacious dream was the primary reason the mission to the moon (Apollo 11) succeeded -- literally.

As the surviving Apollo 11 astronauts reflected last week on why their mission was fulfilled, they repeatedly referred back to John F. Kennedy's compelling vision and the specificity and simplicity of his dream:  to the moon -- via a manned rocket -- within ten years -- with a successful return to earth.  Period.    As Michael Collins reflected:

“…(Kennedy’s) masterpiece of simplicity gave us our marching orders. It told us what to do, when to do it, and then the-how-to-do-it was up to us, and that’s what we spent days working very diligently at…As we went through all of the training and preparation, we used Kennedy — ‘Hey, you guys got to get more on the ball. You know what he said. The time’s running out. Get with it. We’re going to be late for this. We can’t do that. You’re falling behind in this part of it.’’ https://www.c-span.org/video/?462745-101/astronaut-michael-collins-discusses-50th-anniversary-apollo-11-moon-landing 

That's the power of compelling vision, a driving dream, even amid the raw and discouraging reality of life.  And so what is your vision?  What is your masterpiece of simplicity -- your direct dream -- giving you marching orders?

And often quoted verse is Joel 2:28 -

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  (Joel 2:28)

The call of this text is powerful, summoning any of us, at any age, to have a new vision and dream for life.  

Sadly, however, many of us give-up, especially as we age.  This is largely because we have, in the words of Louise Aronson in her new book Elderhood, portrayed the later years of life as a disease to be "...dreaded, disparaged, neglected, and denied..."  But in reality, in the opinion of Aronson, the later years of life can be filled with "...joy, wonder...and hope..." despite the necessary losses of the aging process..."https://louisearonson.com/books/elderhood/   

Though often posted, I never tire of listings of the remarkable breakthroughs of persons as they age.  A sample follows.  

• At age 70, Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence. 

• At age 71, Katsusuke Yanagisawa became the oldest person to climb Mt. Everest. 

• At age 75, Barbara Hillary became the first black woman to reach North Pole.  

• At age 77, John Glenn became the oldest person to go into space

• At age 87, Mary Baker Eddy founded the Christian Science Monitor

I especially love the story of Frank Lloyd Wright who in 1937, at age 70, completed the most famous, visionary house in the United States: Fallingwater. But Wright's dream-house emerged out of a gigantic slump in his career, with most believing he was 'washed up,' and his architectural approach anachronistic.  In addition, the United States economy was in crisis in the wake of the failure of hundreds of banks.  Yet, Wright kept dreaming, launching with Fallingwater, one of the most fruitful seasons of his career, resulting in a series of renowned architectural feats, including the Monona Terrace Civic Center in Madison, Wisconsin and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, New York.

Even more remarkable is the Old Testament character, Moses. Why, in the later years of his life, he worked for 40 years as a shepherd for Jethro in Midian. No longer marked by his previous power as a leader in Pharaoh's Egypt, Moses is, for all practical purposes, a 'has-been,' characterized as the meekest man on earth (Numbers 12:3).  Yet, at age 80, God calls Moses to a new visionary role, as God calls Moses to return to Egypt, and free the Israelites from slavery (Exodus 4:18-20).  Amazing!   

Both Wright's story and Moses' story reminds me of the image-laden promise in Psalm 92:

"...But you’ve made me strong as a charging bison, you've honored me with a festive parade.  The sight of my critics going down is still fresh, the rout of my malicious detractors.  My ears are filled with the sounds of promise...Grow tall like Lebanon cedars...grow tall in the presence of God -- lithe and green -- virile still in old age..."  (Psalm 92:10-14, The Message)  

It's encouraging to sense that the prospect of new vision -- lithe and green, virile still in old age -- flows not only from the lips of John F. Kennedy in regards to a space program for an 185 year old country (at that time) -- but also -- from the lips of God in regards to the advancement of our aging days.

New vision.  Lithe and green.  Virile.

I like that.

And so on this 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, I am newly encouraged to 'shoot for the moon' -- at any age -- and thus truly live at any age.

For I will surely die if I doubt the prospect of a next dream.

But I will surely live, if I keep growing tall like a Lebanon cedar -- growing tall, toward the presence and promises of God!