I finally picked up at the library a book I have been
wanting to read for a long time: “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What
Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for
Anything” by Col. Chris Hadfield. Hadfield became legendary for his pictures
and tweets from space, as well as his musical performance of “Space Oddity”
from the Space Station.
At nine years old, watching Neil Armstrong take that
first step on the moon, Hadfield heard the call to be an astronaut. From that
day forward, everything he did—the books he read, the school he chose, the
assignments he sought—was to prepare him in the hopes that he would be chosen
to be an astronaut.
Hadfield knew that as a Canadian citizen, the chance
of him ever being an astronaut was slim—Canada did not have its own space
program, and the chances of him being chosen by NASA was not great. But still,
he persisted and was eventually chosen as an astronaut in 1992, nearly 25 years
after he first heard the call.
I love how he described his first trip to space,
realizing his long-pursued dream:
“In one sense I felt at peace: I’d been to space at
last and it had been even more fulfilling than I’d imagined. But I hadn’t been
given a lot of responsibility up there—no one is on their first flight…The
difference between [the veteran on the mission] and me, in terms of what we
could contribute, was huge. Training in Houston, I hadn’t been able to separate
out the vital from the trivial, to differentiate between what was going to keep
me alive in an emergency and what was esoteric and interesting but not crucial.
There had been so much to learn, I’d just been trying to cram it all into my
brain. During the mission, too, I was in receive mode: tell me everything, keep teaching me, I’m going to soak up every last
drop.
“So despite having traveled 3.4 million miles, I didn’t
feel I’d arrived at my destination. An astronaut was something I was still in
the process of becoming.” (p. 28)
We who follow Jesus are in a continual process of
becoming. Our spiritual growth doesn’t stop once we call ourselves “Christian”.
Every day provides us with a chance to grow more loving, to follow the Jesus
Way more closely, to be drawn to God and others in deeper ways. There are some
further along the journey who are there to mentor us just as there are those
just starting out who need our nurture. John Wesley said of our spiritual
growth that we are “moving on to perfection.” Hebrews 6:1-3 provides
instruction for growth and The Message version is quite frank about it:
“So come on, let’s leave the preschool
fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow
up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on
“salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal
instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment.
God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s
get on with it!”
So let’s get on with it! Let’s
decide to take another step further in the faith, increasing our love of God
and others. Let us find our faith opening us up to God in more intimate ways.
Let us see the footsteps of Jesus more clearly. Let us continue in the process
of becoming Christian.
