ExoMars is a “Programme to investigate the Martian
environment and to demonstrate new technologies paving the way for future Mars
sample return missions.”[1]
The European Space Agency successfully launched their two craft on March 14 on
a Russian Proton M rocket and has received signals indicating that the launch
was successful. The two craft will continue to travel together for the next
seven months and will then separate for two unique tasks shortly before arrival
at Mars. The orbiter will measure trace gasses in the Martian atmosphere and
will particularly look for gasses such as methane that could be evidence of
life on the red planet. The orbiter will also seek to identify the source of
these gasses.
Three days before orbit insertion, the two space-craft will
separate allowing the Schiaparelli lander to aerobrake, deploy a parachute, use
its heatshields, and land in the Meridiani Planum. This area is known to
contain “hematite, an iron oxide that, on Earth, almost always forms in an
environment containing liquid water.”[2]
The Meridiani Planum region is significant because it has
been explored by the Opportunity Rover[3]
and a good deal of information about potential locations of water and minerals
has been determined. If significant amounts of water can be located, it may be
possible to use that water to generate electricity and rocket-fuel so that a
spacecraft might make a return voyage. To this point, all missions to Mars have
been one-way trips. This is what ESA means when they say that this mission
could “pave the way for future Mars sample return missions.” ESA, NASA, SpaceX, and the
entire scientific community will be watching this mission for the next several
months.
Works Cited:
ESA: Robotic Exploration of Mars;
“ExoMars.”
Science News, March 11, 2016
Wikipedia, “Meridiani Planum.”

[1] Science News, March 11, 2016; “ExoMars Mission to Search for Signs
of Life on the Red Planet”; accessed 2016-03-16; https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/exomars-mission-search-signs-life-red-planet?tgt=nr
[2] ESA: Robotic Exploration of Mars; “ExoMars”; accessed 2016-03-16; http://exploration.esa.int/mars/47852-entry-descent-and-landing-demonstrator-module/
[3] Wikipedia, “Meridiani Planum,” accessed 2016-03-16; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridiani_Planum


I am preparing for a few days of solitude at Kingsfold Retreat Centre. How will I experience the quiet of this place? Will I hear from God? How will I know if I hear from God? Elijah, A.B. Simpson, Gordon T. Smith, and Teresa of Avila have insights. I will listen to the mighty wind, the earthquake, the fire, and the gentle whisper. I will silence other sounds and the noises in my mind, so that I might hear “the still, small voice.” I will allow Jesus to speak while paying attention to my emotions rather than cultivating “a particular emotional response.” I will ask for the fruit of justice and truth as evidence of effective prayer. I will take what You offer oh God of my life.
“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. - 1 Kings 19:11-13 New Living Translation (NLT)
“Beloved, let us take His stillness, let us dwell in ‘the secret place of the Most High,’ Let us enter into God and His eternal rest, let us silence the other sounds, and then we can hear ‘the still, small voice.’” (Simpson n.d.)
“. . . we cannot truly attend to the voice of Jesus if we think that the purpose of prayer is to cultivate a particular emotional response.” (Smith 2003)
Spiritual maturity “does not consist in spiritual delights but in greater love and in the deeds done with greater justice and truth. . . . It is in the effects and deeds following afterward that one discerns the true value of prayer; there is no better crucible for testing prayer.” (Teresa n.d.)

Works Cited

Simpson, A.B. The Holy Spirit, vol. 1 of The Old Testament. Harrisburg, Penn: Christian Publications, n.d.
Smith, Gordon T. The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
Teresa. Interior Castle. Avila, n.d.

The older I get the more precious time
becomes. This morning as I was walking from my condo to my parking place, I
realized I was cursing the amount of time it was taking me to get there.
Minutes matter. I love life and I find that I don’t want to waste a single
second; but, what does it mean to waste time?


Is down-time wasted time? When I
watch a movie; when I sleep; when I make food; are these wasted moments? No, of
course not! Perhaps it is those moments that we don’t enjoy that are the wasted
moments. I have no trouble working hard, playing hard, or relaxing hard. I
guess what I want to avoid is the moments that I do not enjoy. But even then, I
realize that when I am visiting a loved one in the hospital or going through
the grief of the death of a friend, I can make the most of these moments and
even enjoy them at a certain level. I am remembering the memories of better
times; I enjoy the sweet moments we have as life gets hard and the body hangs
in the balance between this world and the next.


It comes down to this, I want to
celebrate each hour; each minute; each second; each and every heartbeat. If I
can live in such a way that even the moments walking from my condo to my car
are celebrated, redeemed, and made significant, then my life will truly be
good. It is about gratitude for each heartbeat; about choosing to enjoy moments
rather than waiting for enjoyment to come. Give me a few weeks of seeking to
live this way and I will let you know how it is going. In the meantime, listen
to these words by Randy Stonehill.
CELEBRATE
THIS HEARTBEAT
(Listen while you read)
I’m gonna celebrate this heartbeat
Cause it just might be my last
Everyday is a gift from the Lord on high
And they all go by so fast
I’m not shy, I won’t hide
The happy way I feel inside
There’s a love light shining down on me
And it’s true, I can’t lie
There is more to life than meets the eye
So I want to live each moment faithfully, yeah
I’m gonna celebrate this heartbeat
Cause it just might be my last
Everyday is a gift from the Lord on high
and they all go by so fast
So many people drifting in a dream
I only want to live the real thing
I’m gonna celebrate this heartbeat
And keep movin’ on
Look toward tomorrow cause the past is gone
If I laugh, it’s no crime
I’ve got great news on my mind
It’s a hope that never fades way
Now I don’t understand
All the mysteries of the master plan
But I’m sure the Master does
So that’s okay, yeah
I’m gonna celebrate this heartbeat
Cause it just might be my last
Everyday is a gift from the Lord on high
And they all go by so fast
So many people drifting in the night
(Lonely people in the night)
I’m gonna keep the Morning Star in sight, alright
Celebrate this heartbeat and keep movin’ on
Look toward tomorrow cause the past is gone
This world is in so much trouble
All of the sadness can break you down
But if you’re ever going to change it
You must show them the love you’ve found
Hey now, everyday is a gift from the Lord on high
And they all go by so fast
So many people drifting in a dream
(Find the life that love can bring)
I only want to live the real thing
I’m gonna celebrate this heartbeat
And keep movin’ on
Look toward tomorrow cause
The past is gone
I said the past is gone
Yeah, you know the past is gone
Oh yeah, oh, the past is gone
Movin’ on
Written By Randy Stonehill
© Copyright 1984 by Stonehillian Music & Word Music (a division of
Word, Inc.) (ASCAP)

Thomas
Merton’s classic book, The Seven Storey
Mountain is a helpful commentary on how one can live a spiritual life
despite pressures in the opposite direction. Merton knew how to live in the
world without being swallowed up by the world. He has much to show us about the
balance between solitude from and solidarity with our fellow humans. Perhaps
more than any other writer, he teaches us the meaning of being “in the world”
but “not of the world.” His words have been steeped in solitude and
steeped in the tensions of making a living, finding his place in the world, and
struggles with the sins that so easily entangle every one of us.
Gordon
T. Smith quotes Merton in his book, The
Voice of Jesus, and, in one of my recent blog posts,
I looked briefly at one of his comments on suffering. Today, let’s go a little
deeper with Thomas Merton. The following quote is certainly one that will
challenge our understanding of the purpose of suffering and will encourage us
to embrace, rather than reject, the pain we will all experience.
Indeed, the truth that many people never understand,
until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you
suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in
proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering
is, in the end, the one who suffers the most: and his suffering comes to him
from things so little and so trivial that one can say that it is no longer
objective at all. It is his own existence, his own being, that is at once the
subject and the source of his pain, and his very existence and consciousness is
his greatest torture. 
– Thomas Merton, The
Seven Storey Mountain, 1948
Do I embrace
suffering or avoid suffering? How large or small are the items which torture
me? Will I make the shift to embrace rather than deflect, avoid, or hate
suffering? “Should
we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job
2:10).
Today,
I will meditate upon these things. Selah.

The Mel Gibson movie, We Were
Soldiers, is one of my favourite movies of all-time, with strong themes of
leadership and courage. An example is Colonel Hal Moore’s stunning speech just before the
young soldiers ship out under his command?
I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home
alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go
into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the
last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all
come home together. So help me, God.[1]
Then there is his prayer with a soldier who is a new dad and is questioning
how he can be a soldier and a father at the same time.
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore: Our Father in Heaven, before we go into
battle, every soldier among us will approach you each in his own way. Our
enemies too, according to their own understanding, will ask for protection and
for victory. And so, we bow before your infinite wisdom. We offer our prayers
as best we can. I pray you watch over the young men, like Jack Geoghegan, that
I lead into battle. You use me as your instrument in this awful hell of war to
watch over them. Especially if they’re men like this one beside me, deserving
of a future in your blessing and goodwill. Amen.
2nd Lieutenant Jack Geoghegan:
Amen.
Lt. Colonel Hal Moore:
Oh, yes, and one more thing, dear Lord, about our enemies, ignore their heathen
prayers and help us blow those little bastards straight to Hell. Amen.[2]
Yet, some of the most touching scenes, that continue to bring tears to my
eyes, are delivered by Madeline Stowe who plays Hal Moore’s wife, Julie. The scenes give insight into the method of delivery of news of the
deaths of soldiers and the impact on the wives who live on the army base. Mrs. Moore is both
critical of how the army communicates the news and sympathetic to those who
must do this task. Regarding the preparation of the bureaucrats, for the sheer
volume of death telegrams that had to be delivered, she says, “Nobody expected
this. The Army was as stunned as everybody.”
In one of the scenes we see Moore’s
wife at the Fort Benning base watching a Yellow Taxi arrive at the home of her
neighbour. She finds the new widow sobbing and angry that the news had been
delivered by taxi – no chaplain, no officer – just a cab driver who didn’t want
to be there, but had to do his job.[3] Next, Julie Moore sees a taxi arrive at her own door, and fears that it is news
of her own husband’s death, only to learn that the driver is lost and needs an
address. The following dialogue recounts the emotion of the moment.
Driver: [removes his hat] Mrs.
Moore? Colonel Moore’s wife?
Julie
Moore: Yes.
Driver: I need help finding an address. I’m looking
for —
Julie: You JACKASS! Do you know what this is?! Do
you know what you just did to me?!
[The
driver sheepishly walks toward his cab, but stops at the curb.]
Driver: I-I don’t like this job, Ma’am. I’m just
trying to do it. [continues toward cab]
Julie: Wait. Wait! [runs to the cab] I’ll
take it to her. [she takes the telegram] And tell the cab
company if there are any others, just bring them to me.[4]
Following this, many
more telegrams arrive and Moore and another soldier’s wife walk each one to the
designated wife. With tears in their eyes and arms that shakily reach out to
console, the two do the best they can to remain strong and help the women
understand their losses.
The movie pulls no
punches as it shows the horror of the battle that occurred at Ia Drang, Central
Highlands, Vietnam on November 14 and 18, 1965. For several terrifying
hours the U.S. Helicopter Cavalry was seriously outgunned and over-run by the
enemy. At least 559 Americans were killed and more than 1000 Vietnamese
soldiers died. The movie tells the story in a way that is gripping and at
points humorous.
There is a touching and
comedic scene in which Colonel Hal Moore is encouraging his children to say a liturgical,
Catholic prayer while one of his little charges resists the familiar prayer in
preference for “praying whatever she wants to pray.” She tells her father, “I
don’t wanna be Catholic. I wanna be nefodist (Methodist) like Mommy so I can
pray whatever I want.” Moore responds by telling her “that’s alright, that
just means that God made you hard-headed.”
If anyone is
“hard-headed” it is certainly Colonel Moore. He is true to his word and, as he
promised, he is the “first to set foot
on the field, and . . . the last to step off.” May God grant us real leaders
who live up to this larger than life soldier and commander.

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/quotes
[2]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/quotes?item=qt0408924
[3] http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/ceb3/ceb3-scenelog.htm
[4] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/We_Were_Soldiers

A few days ago I wrote an entry entitled “Sacrifices”
to remind us that God wants our trust more than he desires sacrifices from us. The
blog was prompted by our common desire to do something for God in order that we
might get back into good relationship him, specifically when we experience
suffering and question God’s favour toward us. When we or one of our loved ones
experiences suffering, we may be tempted to question God’s goodness and his
love for us. But it is at times such as these that we have the greatest
opportunity to know and trust God’s love.
Gordon T. Smith, in his extremely helpful
book, The Voice of Jesus: Discernment,
Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit, speaks of the paradox in which we
sometimes find ourselves.
The paradox, then, is
that if we embrace suffering, rather than causing us to doubt the love of God,
it becomes the context in which we come to learn, know and appropriate God’s
love as our own. The very thing that might cause us to doubt the love of God
(namely suffering) is the context in which it is most crucial and in which we
are most capable of seeing and appropriating the love of God. This, surely, is
what it means to live by faith – believing that God loves us, despite the
contrary evidence.[1]
When suffering engulfs our lives, we can take
stock and ask ourselves questions about our faith in God and his love toward
us. Smith reminds us that we must rightly assess our suffering, as he quotes Thomas
Merton regarding “exaggeration of our trials and crosses.”
Thomas Merton made a
pointed aside when he wrote “I have a peculiar horror of one sin: the exaggeration
of our trials and our crosses.” His words are a good reminder, for we easily
complain when in fact we have it remarkably good. This is not a moment to
suggest we do not suffer; it is merely to emphasize that we must not overstate
our suffering.[2]
Smith then quickly goes on to say that,
indeed, we all suffer. He rightly encourages us to place our suffering within
the appropriate context.
All of us, like the friend I mentioned in
the former blog, will experience suffering in this life. In the life of many
people, this is where the road goes on in two directions: one toward bitterness
and dismay toward God, and the other toward a greater understanding of God’s
love toward us. If we desire to be ready for suffering that may come upon us,
or if we wish to know how to deal with our already present suffering, we would
do well to decide which course we will take when suffering occurs.

Bibliography

Smith, Gordon T. The Voice of
Jesus: Discernment Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit. Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2003.

[1] Smith 2003, p. 85.
[2] Smith 2003, p. 85.


Shia Labeouf’s latest performance art piece is called #touchmysoul and has
people talking about the soul. Labeouf invited people to call him at a special telephone
number set up for this performance and “touch his soul.” No further information
was given. It is an interesting concept. From the perspective of the collective
that put together this performance piece, the soul seems to be the seat of
emotions. What they are asking for is someone who will make them smile, give
them goosebumps, or affect their emotions in some way. So, how does one touch
another person’s soul? What is a soul? How do we touch the soul? Dallas Willard
had this to say about the soul.
“While the brain has its role in
emotions, intellect, and will, and while people’s bodies are essential, we must
always remember that the person is the ultimate unit of
analysis: you, me. Thought, feeling, action (involving the body, as well as
relations to others) are ultimately dimensions of the person. And it is the
soul that combines all the dimensions of the person to form one life. It is
like a computer system, which runs an entire commercial operation.”[1]
“The soul is one non-physical
dimension of the person. A human person is a non-physical (spiritual) entity
that has an essential involvement with a particular physical body. The brain,
then—a piece of meat that is of more than usual interest—is one part of the
embodied dimension of the human person. It too is integrated by the soul into
one life, along with all of the dimensions of the person (at least when all is
well).”[2]
Augustine, described
the soul as “a special substance, endowed with reason, adapted to rule the
body.”[3] 

In contemporary
thinking, perhaps a helpful metaphor is to think of the soul as the operating
system (OS) that organizes the actions and thoughts of a person. Many things
will touch or affect the soul but some will affect more than others. We may
experience a beautiful piece of music that affects the soul. Poetry, paintings,
photography, a well-told story or movie may also touch the soul. Theoretically,
if we touch a soul, that soul will be changed forever and will affect the
operating system of the person. If the OS is changed, the whole being is
changed.
This leads me
to want to touch the soul of others. It causes me to ask questions about how I
affect others (for good or bad) and causes me to want to have a positive
influence on the souls of those around me. If I can “touch a soul” in a good
way, I can make that person a better person and ultimately affect the world.
What could be grander than that?

[3]The Greatness of the Soul,
Augustine.
Do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own worries. The
troubles we have in a day are enough for one day.
– Jesus, Matthew 6: 34 (New
Living Translation, NLT)
I am once again
learning to live by this wisdom. I’ve got to take it day by day. I cannot live
my whole life in one day. I know that I will fail my Lord on some of the days
of my life. I cannot muster up enough faith to live a complete life of wisdom;
but I can live for Jesus today. Then, I can live for Jesus in the next day that
is called “today.” Tomorrow is not yet here; but, today, today, today, and today,
I can live for Jesus.
Day By Day
By DC Talk; Welcome to the Freak Show: DC Talk Live in
Concert
(See the DC Talk YouTube video here)
Bottom of Form
I live a simple life,
I take a day at a time
I spend my mornings with God before I hit the grind
The subtleties of darkness never cease to amaze
As a physical world creates a spiritual haze
Blinded by
distractions
Lost in matterless affairs
Reaching through the darkness
Trusting You will meet me there
Day by day
(Day by day)
Day by day
(Day by day)
Oh dear Lord, three
things I pray
(One, two, three)
To see Thee more clearly
(Day by day)
To love Thee more dearly
(Day by day)
To follow Thee more nearly
(I got to take it)
Day by day
You cruise around the
corner
You watch your back
You sweep your feet down alley streets
Sometimes you creep, I never see you coming
Monday, man you’re on my back
Like a knapsack strapped with my heavy burden

No, You cannot condemn me
I won’t buy your bag of goods
You’ve got nothing for me anyway
That’s why I pray 

Day by day
(Day by day)
Day by day
(Day by day)
Oh dear Lord, three
things I pray
(One, two, three)
To see Thee more clearly
(Day by day)
To love Thee more
dearly
(Day by day)
To follow Thee more nearly
(I got to take it)
Day by day
Songwriters: Music and lyrics by
Stephen Schwartz; arrangement and
additional lyrics by DC Talk. (See the Godspell YouTube version here)
Day by day I
seek to live my life for my Lord. Will you join me?

“A long time ago in a galaxy far far away”
two black holes merged into one. To be more precise, this event happened approximately
1.3 billion years ago in a galaxy in the direction of the Magellanic clouds. We know
this because scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravity-Wave Observatories
(LIGO) in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana detected the
gravitational waves of this massive collision on September 14, 2015. This was the
first time gravitational waves had been detected despite the fact that Einstein
had predicted their existence 100 years ago.
This is an important discovery that ushers
in a whole new way of “seeing” our universe. Not only can we now detect light
from distant parts of the universe but we can also detect gravitational waves. This
also represents further understanding of what gravity is and how it acts over
large distances and propagates at the speed of light. This measurement of
gravitational waves immediately becomes a candidate for a Nobel prize.
I have always been fascinated by gravity.
It is a force that is difficult to comprehend and describe. The best
explanation of gravitational waves is that they represent ripples in the
space-time continuum. Gravity is the way we describe the effect of acceleration
as objects with mass create dents in space and time.

Not only are we humans fearfully and wonderfully
made (Psalm 139:14), our universe is fearfully and wonderfully made. The
mysteries of the universe with colliding black holes and gravitational waves
are too wonderful for us to understand (Psalm 139:6). Every new scientific
discovery gives us greater understanding and reveals more questions that can
now be asked. These discoveries continue to have an effect on the study of
physics, cosmology, philosophy, and theology. May we never tire in our search
for greater knowledge and still be content with mystery. 

I had lunch with a friend recently and he
was wrestling with some difficult things in his life. (I will change some of
the details so that you will not know who he is.) His wife had recently been
diagnosed with cancer and they were in the midst of a significant
transformation in their knowledge of all things “chemo,” “prognosis,” and
“statistics.” To say the least, it was very disorienting. This led my friend to
ask questions about his faith and what we might be able to expect from God.
When God’s people pray, what happens? Does heaven move for us? Do we pull
ourselves closer to heaven? What is the appropriate response when experiencing
such things? My friend asked the question, “Should I go to church more often?”
(This from a guy who, as best he can, makes it to a church service one to three
times per month.)

It occurred to me that something like that
was my usual response and the usual response of God’s people from time
immemorial. The logic goes something like this, “God seems to be angry with us.
He has a right to be angry at us; after all, we are sinners saved only by God’s
goodness and grace. Maybe God wants more _________, insert the appropriate
words: animal sacrifices, words of praise, acts of obedience, attendance at
church, prayers, Bible verses read, ….” You see, I have a tendency toward
legalism. I daresay, you have a tendency toward legalism. We think we can purchase
God’s favour with a higher level of asceticism or praise.
It may surprise us to know that Hosea,
from his ancient, Jewish, perspective saw through such ideas. He tells us in
Hosea 6:6 that God does not want greater legalism:

I want you to show love,
    not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
    more than I want burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:6 New Living Translation (NLT)

At a later time in the history of God’s
people, Paul, the great defender of the Law of God, a man who should have been
more prone to legalism than any of us, had this to say to the church in Rome.

But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God
by keeping the law, never succeeded. Why not? Because they were trying to
get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They
stumbled over the great rock in their path. God warned them of this in the
Scriptures when he said,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,

    a rock that makes them fall.

But anyone who trusts in him

    will never be disgraced.”
Romans 9:31-33(NLT)

So, going back to my own propensity and
that of my friend, we can try to get right with God by “keeping the law,” or by
reading our Bibles more, or by reading our Bibles with more thorough
understanding, or by listening to more sermons, or by being more diligent in
church attendance; and we will fail to draw any closer to God. What will draw
us into close relationship with God? Trusting in him. Trusting his plan;
trusting Jesus, the rock.

Trust in the Lord with all
your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you
do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Can we say with Paul, “I will trust you,
oh Lord.”? Can we say this when our lives are going well? Can we say this when
cancer is present? Can we say this when we have enough to eat? Can we say this
when we are in need?

With every bone in my body I will praise
him:
    “Lord, who can compare with you?
Who else rescues the helpless from the strong?
    Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who
rob them?” 
Psalm 35:10 (NLT)