Food for Thought: The First Food on the Moon

Just minutes after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon a remarkable event took place.  Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and took communion.  He had arranged with his pastor to consecrate the elements of bread and wine and took them with him in the space capsule.  He said that he wanted to pause in a solemn moment of thanksgiving to mark the success of the moon landing.

He had also planned to share the event publicly and to read an appropriate Bible verse from the Gospel of John, but was not allowed to do so because of previous backlash from when the Apollo 8 crew read from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas time.

Afterwards, Armstrong commented, “I ate the tiny toast 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 that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there were the communion elements, and that the first words spoken on the moon, were the words of Jesus Christ.”

The verse Neil Armstrong read on the moon is this: “I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in Him, It is he that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

When we think of the courage it took for those astronauts to make that historic journey and how grateful Neil Armstrong was to be able to thank God and to partake of Jesus body and blood in remembrance of His sacrifice for all of mankind.  Let us also thank God for his presence in our lives and for the freedom to celebrate His saving grace whether in our own churches or wherever we go.

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9