“I’m safe on Mars. Perseverance will get you anywhere.”
According
to Wikipedia, NASA chose the name “Perseverance” after a nationwide K-12 student
"name the rover" contest that attracted more than 28,000 proposals.
A seventh-grade student, Alexander Mather from Lake Braddock
Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, submitted the winning entry.
Mather wrote in his essay:
“Curiosity. InSight. Spirit. Opportunity. If you think about it, all of these names of past Mars rovers are qualities we possess as humans. We are always curious, and seek opportunity. We have the spirit and insight to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond. But, if rovers are to be the qualities of us as a race, we missed the most important thing. Perseverance. We as humans evolved as creatures who could learn to adapt to any situation, no matter how harsh. We are a species of explorers, and we will meet many setbacks on the way to Mars. However, we can persevere. We, not as a nation but as humans, will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future.”
We are living in a time when perseverance in wearing a mask and physical distancing is required for everyone’s survival during a worldwide pandemic. A smaller subset of the human race—Christians—are about one week into the season of Lent, which requires perseverance in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In addition, each of us faces our own unique challenges to persevere in our relationships, our work, and our dreams. Thus, it is encouraging to see such a dramatic outcome of perseverance in the landing of the 2,263-lb Mars rover at the end of a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles.
As John McNamee, project manager of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, said, “This mission is about what humans can achieve when they persevere. We made it this far. Now, watch us go.”
If we can make it to Mars, how far can we go in our journey into the heart of God when we persevere?
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