Article May 25, 2015 Issue

No inertia to hold back good

Allison Rose-Sonnesyn

A few months ago, my job required that I take a trip to view the test flight of a new space capsule that is expected to fly astronauts into space within the next several years. The capsule was to be launched on top of the most powerful rocket in the world. It was scheduled to orbit the Earth and go beyond the Van Allen radiation belts, which protect the Earth from solar radiation, to travel the farthest a human-rated space capsule had flown since the Apollo moon missions. While no crew was to be on board this flight, tests were scheduled to confirm the integrity of the vehicle’s design and to help ensure the safety of future crewed flights.

The morning of the event, it was determined that the wind was too strong for the rocket to be safely launched. A boat violated the safety perimeter surrounding the launch site. And, finally, the valves providing the liquid hydrogen fuel to the rocket froze open. The launch was rescheduled for the following morning.

There were many comments among the various industry representatives and government officials there that these kinds of delays happen frequently. I was not comfortable accepting this. As a Christian Scientist, I have learned that divine Mind, God, is all-powerful, infinite, limitless, and orderly. Therefore, I didn’t have to accept that it is normal for good of any kind to be thwarted. Certainly, if it was unsafe or unwise to launch the rocket, it shouldn’t be launched. And I knew divine Mind would communicate that message to the engineers in charge. However, it seemed that technical problems with the rocket itself were not an issue here. That afternoon in my hotel room I spent a great deal of time praying about this situation.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

God’s plan for us: always good