{"id":421,"date":"2009-07-16T06:57:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-16T06:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/07\/communion-in-the-sea-of-tranquility.html"},"modified":"2009-07-16T06:57:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-16T06:57:00","slug":"communion-in-the-sea-of-tranquility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/07\/communion-in-the-sea-of-tranquility.html","title":{"rendered":"Communion in the Sea of Tranquility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a poignant flashback to the anniversary of man’s landing on the moon — the launch happened 40 years ago today — from New Zealand Anglican blogger Bosco Peters<\/a>: <\/p>\n

<\/a>On Sunday July 20, 1969 the first people landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were in the lunar lander which touched down at 3:17 Eastern Standard Time.<\/p>\n

Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: \u201cHouston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later he wrote: \u201cIn 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, \u2018I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.\u2019 I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O\u2019Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly\u2026Eagle\u2019s metal body creaked. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA kept this secret for two decades. The memoirs of Buzz Aldrin and the Tom Hanks\u2019s Emmy- winning HBO mini-series, “From the Earth to the Moon” (1998), made people aware of this act of Christian worship 235,000 miles from Earth.<\/p>\n

The 2003 Episcopal Church General Convention resolved that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music prepare propers and collects for churchwide observance of the 40th anniversary of the event, July 20, 2009, and to include \u201cThe First Communion on the Moon\u201d in The Episcopal Church\u2019s Lesser Feasts and Fasts and on the calendar in the Book of Common Prayer for July 20. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s more, so be sure and visit the link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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