The GOOD Earth

Did you notice the moon on 5^th May? Well, I missed it due to my back breaking travel. But many across the globe did and they saw a Supermoon which was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the average full moon.  You must be wondering why am I talking about the moon suddenly. Well, I saw a documentary some weeks ago and now it’s been coming back to me again and again. The documentary was about the Lunar Mission. In one section, it described in details the Apollo 8 Mission. Apollo 8, launched on 21^st Dec 1968, was the first manned mission to the Moon, the first time any spaceship left the Earth’s orbit and carried humans towards another celestial body, the first time any human would have travelled so far, the first time anyone saw moon from such close quarters and the first time anyone saw Earth as a whole planet. The privileged ones were the crew of Apollo 8 – Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders. During the 6 day mission, they orbited the moon ten times and sent live images and pictures to the people on earth. On 24^th Dec, Christmas Eve, the crew did something which surprised everyone. They sent a message back to the people on Earth. It was a live broadcast and, at that time, it was the most watched TV programme ever.

Before you read further, watch the video below about what they had to say. (If the audio isn’t clear please watch the video on YouTube and read the text in the description box http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJEFs0XrrQ)

When I heard it for the first time I was awestruck, had goosebumps all over me. I was stunned to hear the words from the Book of Genesis, about how appropriate the moment was to read it, about how three men who were separated from the rest of mankind could see the beauty of God’s creation and share the same with them. But what struck me most were the last three words of the message – “ the GOOD Earth.”

God created the Earth and everything in it and said, "It was good." But right now, how many us feel that way. God created us humans in His own image and likeness.How many of us feel that way. How many of us fail to see goodness in others. How many of us fail to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who treat us badly. (Luke 6:27, 28). I know, I fail to.

When Mother Teresa started her mission, she had very limited resources. On one occasion she went to a bakery owner and requested him to give her some bread for the orphan children. He was enraged and spat on her outstretched hand. Then Mother Teresa said, “I will keep this for myself, but give me some bread for my children” and stretched out the other hand. That man was touched; he immediately gave her bread and later became one of the main bread donors for her orphanage.  Mother Teresa was able to look beyond his arrogance and was not only able to see but also bring out the goodness in him.

In our lives, we may not go through such an extreme incident, but I’m sure there are many times when it becomes impossible for us to see goodness in others, in our colleagues, in our friends, in our family members and sometimes even in ourselves. And that’s when we need to realize that we all are God’s creation and God found us good. There is not even a single person in the whole world who is completely devoid of  goodness. We need to understand that we don’t know what the other person has gone through or is going through, we don’t know how his/her life has been, we don’t know what he is experiencing.  But what we know is that God created him and God found him good. In such situations let’s look beyond the obvious and try to see goodness in others. It might sound foolish, but let’s be illogical and like those three men let’s look at the big picture and see the goodness in each one of us.

“ If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! ..... Love your enemies and do good to them... You will then have a great reward, and you will be the sons and daughters of the Most High God.” (Luke 6:32-35)

God Bless!