the orbits of life

On February 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn went into space aboard the Friendship VII Mercury capsule.

    51 years ago today, he traveled at 17,500 miles per hour 160 miles above Earth, orbiting the earth three times, and providing humans with their first glimpse of earth from the heavens:

"a brilliant blue" horizon; a continent "covered by... wispy high cirrus looking clouds"; Thunderstorms and lightning that looked "just like firecrackers going off."

    When I was young, I truly thought that by the time I was an adult my age the space age would have us connected to the moon, and perhaps nearby planets.

    Yes, I do love syfy, so my thinking is pre-ordained in this manner. But keep in mind that in “Back to the Future,” when Marty McFly traveled to the future, the year was 2012!

    Clearly, not all of us are called to travel to the heavens. But the directive to follow God is an invitation to trust our lives completely to the one who created us, regardless of what orbits life takes us.

    As our friend and Maronite priest Fr. Sami reminded me at yesterday’s daily Mass, if I claim to believe that God has known me and loved me from the time I was in my mother’s womb, how can I NOT trust the One who has loved me the longest and deepest of all?

    Alas, some days, all I can do is plead for the grace to say yes, again, and to desire to desire this with my whole being.