Attributes of greatness

Our trip to NASA was one for the record books. As Kim, our boys and I spent yesterday trekking around the Visitor’s Complex at the Kennedy Space Center, I could not help but become awestruck at our nation’s space program.

We sat in an IMAX theater and donned 3D glasses to watch breathtaking pictures that the Hubble telescope captured of our cosmos billions of light years away. We watched another incredible 3D movie about the International Space Station. We observed a remaking of the Apollo 11 launch from a control room that contained the original computers used in that launch. We read storyboard after storyboard of NASA’s rich history, its failures, its accomplishments and its heroes (the astronauts and those on the ground who made it possible).

STS-135 (Space Shuttle Atlantis) sitting on the launch pad.
It would be the last Shuttle to take the ride into space.

But as incredible as all of those attractions were, the ultimate reason for NASA’s greatness was sitting on launch pad 39A. STS-135 (Space Shuttle Atlantis) is scheduled to launch on July 8, 2011 and will be the final shuttle mission. It was an incredible sight!

As I stood on the observation deck, I mentally compiled a list of things that must have been true for that incredible machine to be sitting on the launch pad. The space shuttle, NASA's greatest accomplishment to date, exposes some incredible truths about the space program. Here are some of those truths about the people who made NASA great:

Joseph with the Space Shuttle Atlantis in the background.



· They were vision driven. They had a goal and aimed at it.

· They were committed to excellence. Everything they did was performed with exacting precision.

· They were industrious. They worked tirelessly and gave their tasks everything they had.

· They were focused on the future. While they celebrated victories, they did not spend much time doing so. There were always more exciting challenges ahead to keep their attention.

· They were operating in their area of skill. They found satisfaction in performing the tasks they had been trained to do. They were then able to watch the launch, knowing that they were a part of its success.

· They were couragious. They knew that safety and progress do not mix. They had a passion "to go where no man has gone before" and where not afraid to do so. (Yes, there was a Star Trek exhibit in the IMAX theater.) 

The assembly building. It's a LOT bigger than it looks.
The stripes on the American flag are wide enough
 for a tour bus to drive down each one.

These are just a few of the traits that must have been true of those who worked to make NASA great.

Here's a thought: What would it look like if a believer and/or church had these same characteristics? As we stand in awe of what an organization has done (that claims no official relationship to God), should we think that Christians and churches will do less? Or is our God so incredible that He desires to bring glory to Himself by what He can do through His people?

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His..." (2 Chronicles 16:9).