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On top of the capitol building in Topeka, Kansas, there is a statue of a Native American with his bow drawn pointing to the North Star. This is not just beautiful art, but is a homage to our state motto, “To the stars, through difficulties.” It’s good to know where we’re going. On this Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus should help us to gain perspective on where we are headed, not to the stars, but the eternal life.
As I write this reflection, for the first time on over 50 years, there are four people headed to the moon. As I looked up at the moon on Easter Eve and thought of the Artemis II astronauts, I couldn’t help but think of the the Apollo 8 astronauts who were in a similar position on Christmas Eve in 1968. We take for granted that we know what the earth looks like from Space. But Apollo 8 was the first time we ever saw the earth as the little blue ball that we call home.
As the Apollo 8 spacecraft came around the back side of the moon, Bill Anders took one of the most famous pictures in history. It’s called “Earthrise” because we saw for the first time the earth rising over the horizon of the moon. And seeing earth in that perspective changed everything. People had a new perspective on just how fragile the earth is. The modern environmental movement can trace it’s birth in some what to that picture.
But this was also a spiritual experience. The crew of Apollo 8 famously read from the book of Genesis that Christmas Eve. They read the story of the creation of the heavens and the earth. How appropriate that on Easter Eve this year, we just read that story again at the Easter Vigil as we do every year. God truly created us a home. Creation is beautiful, fragile, and belongs to all of us.
Viewing earth from space changed our perspective. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead should change our perspective even more. Now we know that death is no longer the end. This shouldn’t just be something we think about happening at the end of our life. It should make a difference in how we live now. Seeing Jesus risen from the dead changed the way the apostles lived their lives. They were bold and confident instead of afraid. How will this celebration of Easter today change your life? How is your perspective different?
Ever since Apollo 8, we’ve gotten used to being able to see the earth from space. Maybe we’ve also gotten used to the message of Jesus Christ raised from the dead. Thanks to Artemis II, we are now seeing the earth again for the first time. I pray that today’s celebration of Easter might help us to take a new look at this greatest event in history. Let it change our perspective as we continue to shoot for the stars.