Communion on The Moon, 1969

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SunandFun
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Communion on The Moon, 1969

Post by SunandFun »

COMMUNION ON THE MOON

I presume that most of us were unaware of this story. I didn't know this, but it's awesome!
42 years ago...guess what happened... many have not heard of this before . . .

Communion on the Moon: July 20, 1969
(This is an article by Eric Metaxas)

Forty-two years ago two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. "I'm talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.

And a few years ago I had the privilege of meeting him myself. I asked him about it and he confirmed the story to me, and I wrote about in my book "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask)."

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life, and knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt he should mark the occasion somehow, and he asked his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon.

He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement: "This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way." He then ended radio communication and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion. Here is his own account of what happened:

"In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me.
In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture, 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.. Apart from me you can do nothing.’

“I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly.
“I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility.

It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

And of course, it's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon - and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and other stars." :bow:
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aragon
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Re: Communion on The Moon, 1969

Post by aragon »

Good article, but sad to note that even 42 years ago Christianity was being maligned by PC BS :banghead: :cuss: :banghead:
“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” Sir Winston Churchill

Life isn't like a bowl of cherries or peaches, it's more like a jar of Jalapenos--what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow......
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STEVE G
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Re: Communion on The Moon, 1969

Post by STEVE G »

Here is a 2007 article about the sale of the handwritten card from which Aldrin read his communion:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... 9411_x.htm
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hhfarang
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Re: Communion on The Moon, 1969

Post by hhfarang »

Shhhh, don't speak (or write as it were) favorably of Christianity... you will draw the wrath of SM67! :wink:

:cheers: Sandman, couldn't help myself... :P
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Terry
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Re: Communion on The Moon, 1969

Post by Terry »

As the man says-
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
And I agree with him 100% 8)

Incidentally, during my late teens and early twenties, I was captivated by the Apollo moon missions.
These guys are my all time heros
Anyone who sits on top of one of them Saturn V rockets when they light the blue touch paper - gets my vote for having balls.............
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STEVE G
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Re: Communion on The Moon, 1969

Post by STEVE G »

Incidentally, during my late teens and early twenties, I was captivated by the Apollo moon missions.
These guys are my all time heros
Anyone who sits on top of one of them Saturn V rockets when they light the blue touch paper - gets my vote for having balls.............
Yes, I watched it all on TV as a small boy and since so much information about the project has been released on the internet by NASA, I've downloaded large amounts of it. I have most of the radio transcripts and many of the manuals for the hardware on PDF files, including a Saturn V flight manual.
Most of the flight had margins of error and abort programmes built in but the take-off from the moon was very critical, I think that more than about 0.5 degree of orbital plane error would mean that the command module couldn't reach you for the return to earth.
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