Thoughts on the Moon

A Philosophical Post for You:

Today as I was driving, I was listening to NPR as usual (no tv at home, so any chance for 'news' and I'll take it). It was "Science Friday"- not my interest- but still caught my attention. They were interviewing a brilliant astrophycisist, a woman who was a professor at MIT. Her life's goal was to study the moon- it's origins, what it's made of, what's inside of it. She was enthusiastically explaining all these theories of how the moon came into being- that maybe the earth was collided into and then the moon broke off. And maybe there were once 2 moons (um, where'd the other one go??). She was overseeing a big project that sent up some kind of satellites that were gathering data to answer some of these questions. I turned off the radio after a few minutes because it was overloading my brain.

Some of the thoughts going through my head were:

• How much do these projects cost? And how will the answers they find help human life? After all, it's not like anyone can go live on the moon.
• What's wrong with just looking at the moon? I think it's lovely.
• God created our minds to want to know more, to explore, to explain- and that's overall a good thing. But this scientist was classic Romans 1:25- worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. She even said the only plausible theory for how the moon was made is that is broke off earth in a collision...I think it's sad that it's no longer even a theory that God created the heavens and the earth. And He did- He tells us that He did, right in the beginning of the Bible.
• I felt sad for this woman, who's life's goal was to prove something that is really irrelevant to most people and won't really do anything for people. And I feel sad for her if she really believes the moon and humans and everything else are just complicated accidents. What does she believe will happen when she dies? 
• I think it struck me most of all that I'm beginning to value myself more as a wife and mother these days. I'm realizing that this calling is so important and it's what God has for me. That I'm making an impact on some souls, that this will last- because it's being done for Christ. If I was a scientist studying the moon and loved God with all my heart, that too could be used for His glory. It's not the task- it's the heart behind the task.