Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. My wife and I recently watched a documentary on TV. The subject was the Apollo 13 Mission. Having seen (and really enjoyed) “The Right Stuff,” We hunkered down to watch this documentary, filled with original footage, interviews, news clips… just good stuff. I am here to report on my findings.

One predominant thought I had as we switched the set off after the documentary was over was just how significant prayer seemed to be during this episode in our nation’s history. Major network newscasters all commented on how the whole world was praying for the safety of the crew. Look it up. It has literally been scrubbed from our history. We are now in a nation where prayer is almost illegal and abortion (along with trans-surgery) is the theme of the day. (Abortion: top of the recent Democratic ticket for the presidency along with… pronouns? )

Back to Apollo 13: An article I recently came across from the National Catholic Register read: Upon the astronauts’ safe return to Earth on April 17, the Pope sent a congratulatory cable to President Nixon, expressing ‘profound gratitude to God, to men of science, and to all who contributed to make this possible.’ All around the world, similar messages and prayers mingled with long sighs of relief from the great and the unknown. Formally and informally, the world gave thanks to God and to science for the safe return.” Kids in school were led in prayer.

One NASA engineer described seeing 14 children bow their heads and pray, and saying that God responds to prayer. Prayer, if you recall, was still permitted in School and was not yet considered “inhumane” at this point. Another, very recent, article I found online (From April 2024) titled “Apollo 13 and Divine Providence,” addressed to kindergarteners I believe, was clear on this aspect of history as well. Not filled with hardened facts and figures but nice to read nonetheless.

Shrug it off if you will, but take heed as you do. There are several points in American history and World history for that matter (D-Day?) where God’s hand had been recognized, only to be immediately put aside as we turned to congratulate ourselves on our cunning and grandness. I say this, comparing “The Right Stuff” to this documentary.

In the movie” (The Right Stuff”) with Ed Harris as John Glenn, much to do was given to the development of a makeshift air-scrubber while it was barely made mention of in the documentary. Surely it was a critical piece in the puzzle to save the crew. But maybe God had a hand in this as well.

The documentary, instead, disclosed the role prayer played in this mission’s success. Showing clip after clip of media news anchor reports. Can I prove that prayer actually played a role? No. Can you prove that it was not a factor? No! Was God’s hand in the development of the air-scrubber? Ask Him yourself someday.

And do I believe it was God’s hand that rescued us from the 2024 Democratic run for the next chain of command? Yes. I also credit God with removing Mike Pence from that same chain this year as well. God works behind the scenes folks.

I came across another book “Seeing the Son on the Way to the Moon: A major NASA Engineer’s Reflection on Science and Faith,” written by W. Merlin Merritt, a lead NASA engineer for several decades. In this book he writes … “the immensity and wonders of the cosmos point not only to an intelligent creator God but also to One who is actively involved in the universe.” But again, can we prove this in a lab? No, Disprove it? No. Faith folks. Thanksgiving.

Our nation’s history is replete with examples of what I will call “less than God-like moments.” We are human, we are prone to sin. Slavery jumps to mind. But it was defeated at the expense of millions of (white) American lives. Evil situations and circumstances such as this have populated the earth as long as mankind has. Slavery has always been, and still is, with us here on the planet. Topics like “racism” or “oppressor/oppressed” are just too complex to be made into slogans or bumper stickers. We endeavor to do it.

But the woke calling our National Day of Thanks to our creator “Friendsgiving Day” or that some are calling it a “National Day of Mourning,” are good examples of evil attacking the very roots of our founding. I surely can’t even dream of clearing these waters in even an unlimited slew of articles. But the story is in the Bible, in Scripture. Look it up.

It is said of George Washington that Divine Province took charge in many moments during his life, in battle, and the struggle for our nation’s independence. A nation based on Biblical principles. Faith in God. Principles obviously not completely understood when it came to that “created equal” thing, I admit. But people are not perfect. We must work with what we have just like they did to scrub the air in Apollo 13. No calling for an Uber. No, we are products of our environment. We must learn and grow. Realize our “smallness” in the overall picture.

But this time, it is not a small capsule with three men in it that is at risk of being lost.. We are looking at the future of humankind. All of us tossed about in space with nowhere to go. (And I am not talking about “climate change.) Think about it.

Our president-elect is someone whose life seems to have been spared by some miraculous intervention. Can I prove it, No. Can this be disproven…? Again: No. I flew helicopters in the Vietnam War. How do I explain the fact that I was not killed? Luck? I guess. Skill? I doubt it. Many a skilled pilot died for sure. You mean luck like finding a $20 bill on the ground? Psalm 91:2 reads “God is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” What else can we do? If there’s a $20 laying there, He knows about it.

Nothing is serendipitous. Not even that bug that hit your windshield yesterday. It’s all moving parts in a big machine. Chaos theory at work? Maybe. Well-oiled chaos perhaps. But every cause has an effect that is also a cause for some other effect and so on.

So, we are here now. I believe we are at a juncture in our history where our nation, the world, has a window of opportunity to resume some serious prayer. The Bible reads: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) To ask that age old famous question yet again: “Are we there yet?” We may very well be. There is certainly no reason not to pray however.

A couple of other points this Thanksgiving: take an hour to listen to (or read) Rush Limbaugh’s “The True Story of Thanksgiving.” (Available all over the internet.)

In it, he discusses how “many of the Pilgrims literally believed that God had sent Squanto to save them.” (Note, God sent him! No accident) … “And they believed, the Pilgrims believed, that without Squanto they never would have survived, or thrived… .” Later he continues: “One of the most important legacies of early settlers is that they experimented with socialism in the 1620s, and it didn’t work. Private property rights and personal responsibility, two pillars of a free market economy, saved the Plymouth colony from extinction and laid the economic foundation for a free and prosperous nation that we all enjoy today.” Have we just about come full circle? Toying again with bad ideas? Perhaps. Christ said that the poor would always be with us. Perhaps this too is true.

I see a couple of things at work here. 1: An over-abundance on self-reliance and 2: crediting randomness to events that should be credited to the hand of God at work. There’s an old joke about a guy stranded on a roof during a flood. You know the story. Turns down several attempts by people to rescue him as he tells them “God will save me.” Question is in the morning, do you always send a canary out to check if there is air or not outside? The question is, how do we know if it is God’s work or not? Prayer and faith. Prayer and faith. Surely no low pitched loud voice coming from the clouds.

Let me close with a quote from the “First Prayer in Congress,” Delivered by the Reverend Jacob Duché, Rector of Christ Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1774, 9 o’clock a.m. “Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectively restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen.” Let’s not forget.

Happy Thanksgiving.