Thought for the week

THE Big Day arrived – the next mission to Mars, called “perseverance” - launched costing some $2.4 billion, searching for signs of life beyond Earth. Perseverance to search for signs of ancient microbial life, collecting samples for a future return to Earth in 10-15 years, with the prospect of paving the way for human exploration of Mars in the 2030s.

Forgive me, but when I heard this news report, my reaction was, “and I thought perseverance had left planet earth a long time ago!” I must be getting old, but it has become apparent to me that “life on earth” has become more fragile, unpredictable and unstable than ever – why “on earth” would we want to look for preancient forms of life elsewhere – maybe we’d be better off investing in life as we already know it. So why has life become so precarious? On earth, perseverance has certainly become scarce – determination to overcome obstacles and unexpected challenges is a lost art. Then patience is hard to come by – we are all too busy looking after “No1” and the need for everything to happen now! What about the importance of character – who’s bothered as to whether their actions match up to their words any longer? So sad. Maybe that’s why there is so little hope in the world right now! The Bible teaches us that “suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character hope. (Romans 5:3,4) With so much suffering in the world at this time, we should surely be looking to rediscover what society has lost – perseverance, patience and character - because we all need HOPE. And that is found only in God.