Shooting for the Stars: Why Am I Here?

Watching the last U.S. space shuttle launch focused my mind on our search for purpose in this vast universe. Has God put this yearning for meaning in our hearts?

Last week I had the unexpected opportunity to watch Atlantis rocket into space, marking the final American space shuttle launch. The liftoff was executed perfectly; and only two minutes into the flight, the shuttle had already reached a speed of over 3,200 miles per hour and traveled a vertical distance of 35 miles.

End of an era

As I viewed this spectacular event on television (along with over a million people present at the launch site), I couldn’t help but be filled with a mixture of awe and sadness. It was emotional to see the height of man’s accomplishments when our efforts are directed toward positive endeavors, and to realize it was the end of an era that has inspired many people.

Recent “News and Prophecy” blog posts have looked at how the end of the 30-year shuttle program without a replacement in sight serves as yet another indication of the United States’ decline. Those posts showed that possessing the funding and resources necessary for a space program illustrates the strength of a nation; meanwhile the U.S. cannot even pay its enormous debt, let alone fund a replacement for the shuttle program.

It saddens me that America will not only lose prestige on the world stage, but our national morale will also take a hit, and we will lose the benefit of all of the residual technology developed as a result of the space program.

This last shuttle launch made me think about not only the destiny of my nation, but about my own destiny.

Yearning for more

Observing the shuttle launch brought a scripture to mind: “Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

God has given us the capacity to conceive that there is more to life than this temporary existence. Inherently we all feel a void in our hearts as we look at society and what little it really has to offer. Without God’s plan and purpose for our lives, all of our physical human endeavors truly are “vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

What does it all mean?

In our day-to-day lives, beaten down by the daily drudgery, I’m sure we’ve all wondered, “What am I doing? Does my life matter? Why am I here? What does it all mean, and what is it all for?”

I am so thankful God, the One who lovingly created us, provides the answers to these questions in the pages of His inspired Word, the Bible.

And I’m especially thankful that there will come a time when every human being who has ever lived will have the opportunity to see and understand God’s great purpose for his or her life and to live a life of joy, peace and abundance!

For more about the incredible purpose God has for us now and the stunning future He has in store for us, see our booklet The Mystery of the Kingdom.

Melody Hess is a microbiologist who lives in Cincinnati with her husband, Jeremy, and their two dogs, Gibble and Chico. She is beginning work on her master’s in nutrition at the University of Cincinnati. Jeremy and Melody attend the Cincinnati/Dayton, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.