Readings from the Message for the Second Day of Camp
Genesis 1:1-10
Psalm 8
John 3:16 – 17
This sermon was preached by Fr. Daniel London at Camp Living Waters at Cookson Ranch in Blue Lake CA on Tuesday July 26, 2021. Camp Theme: “‘Space Camp’: To Godfinity and Beyond.”
I want to tell you a story about a man named Frank and his two friends Bill and James. Frank was a lector at an Episcopal Church in Texas (St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in League City TX). And he was scheduled to read a passage of Scripture at church on Christmas Day, but he was not able to read in church because on that day he was not only out of town, he was out of this world. He was serving as the commander of the Apollo 8 spacecraft which was the first to leave the earth’s orbit and reach the moon, in 1968. They didn’t land on the moon, but they orbited the moon several times, observing its grey surface and craters and scoping out flat surfaces for future spacecrafts to land. Frank and his fellow astronauts (Bill and James) were the first humans to see what we call the “dark side of the moon.” Of course, the “dark side of the moon” (although a great Pink Floyd album) is a misnomer. It’s actually the far side of the moon. The side of the moon facing the sun is, of course, always illuminated and that was the part of the moon that Frank, Bill, and James were observing during their fourth orbit when they noticed a bright blue marble rising in the distance which took their breath away. It was the most colorful object they could see in the entirety of space. And when Bill saw it, he said, “Oh my God! Look at that over there! There’s the Earth coming up. Wow, that’s so pretty!” And as Bill reached for his camera to take a picture, commander Frank jokingly said, “Hey, don’t take [a picture of] that, it’s not scheduled.” Bill laughed at Frank and then proceeded to take a color picture of the earth rising from the moon’s horizon, a picture that has been called “the most influential environmental photograph ever,” a picture that has helped us see this fragile earth as our island home, a picture that invites us to see ourselves as interconnected and interdependent and enormously blessed with a home that is just the right distance from the sun to absorb its energy. Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said, “I wonder if, at some level, God whispered in their ears and said, ‘Behold. Behold the world of which you are a part. Look at it. Look at its symmetry, look at its beauty. Look at its wonder. Now, y’all see what I see.’”
Bill (Anders) said, “We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” The picture was taken on Christmas Eve in 1968 and when the three men were broadcasting back to the people living on that blue marble which they could cover with their thumb, they decided to be lectors for the whole planet on what was then the most-watched TV broadcast. They decided to take turns reading verses from Genesis chapter 1; and so, Frank finally fulfilled his Christmas lector duties in a powerful way as he read verses 9 – 10, ending with the words “and God saw that it was good.” Frank concluded the broadcast saying, “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close, with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good earth.”
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 