Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, 1968, three men circled the Moon for the first time.  In 1968, the world seemed to be coming apart at the seams, so the crew wanted to send a message of hope and inspiration back to the people on Earth.  While a grainy image of the lunar landscape played on TVs around the world, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman read the first ten verses from the Book of Genesis.  The impact of the Christmas Eve message and the successful flight was summed up in telegram sent by a stranger to Frank Borman.  It said, “Thank you Apollo 8. You saved 1968.”

Borman felt that he needed to make some sort of statement in his TV broadcast as the Apollo 8 crew circled the Moon, the first humans to ever do so.  In the midst of all his training, he struggled with choosing the words he would say from lunar orbit.  A friend suggested that the words were already written; Borman, simply read from the Bible.

I’d hoped to write a really great post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  I wrestled with how best to express what I really wanted to say, but I could not find the right words.  Like Borman’s friend, I realized the words were already written. So today, I will rely on the words of a Greek physician who recorded the events of nearly 2,000 years ago. 

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Merry Christmas and God Bless us all!