COMMENTARY
73 Seconds That Changed My Life
By Chris Carpenter
CBN.com Program Director
Last Monday, January 28th, marked the 27 year anniversary of the most horrific tragedy in space exploration history. It was a day that changed my life forever.
On a fateful January day in 1986, I sat in my fifth period
senior social studies class staring out the window at another
snow covered Maine morning. As my mind wandered, my teacher, Mr.
Cox, was stressing the importance of some concept I was obviously
not interested in.
I kept thinking to myself as he lectured, "I dont know
how much more snow I can stand. Shoot, I dont know how much
more of this class I can stand. I just want the school day to
end so I can fully concentrate on our game tonight."
A loud knock at the classroom door shook me from my mid-period
daydream. I looked up from my seat in the seventh row to see
Mr. Cox flagging Mr. Davis, my homeroom teacher, into the room.
Mr. Davis had a perplexed look on his face as he excitedly spoke
to Mr. Cox in a hushed tone.
I could tell by the way that Mr. Davis was gesturing that something
was amiss. Assuming their discussion was completely irrelevant
to me, I resumed my daydream of warmer days and hitting jump
shots.
A few moments later I was again shaken from my daydream by
the sight of Mr. Davis wheeling a television on its cart into
the classroom. As he fumbled with the cord, then the archaic
pair of rabbit ears, Mr. Cox made an announcement to the class
that I will never forget.
"Kids, what I am about to tell you is something that may
come as a shock. But this is the type of event that you will
always remember where you were when it happened. For your parents
it is like the Kennedy Assassination. For you the closest thing
I can compare it to was the day President Reagan was shot. Here
goes, about 30 minutes ago the Space Shuttle exploded in mid-air
on take off, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including
Christa McAuliffe, a school teacher from New Hampshire. Because
this is such an important event, we will watch the news coverage
on television until the end of the period. If any of you has
study hall next period I will arrange for you to stay and watch
if you wish to do so."
As I viewed the horrific white plumes of smoke criss-cross
across the all too blue sky on television, I slowly raised my
hand to indicate that I had study hall the next period and wanted
to stay and watch.
The television news anchor kept repeating over and over again
that the explosion occurred just 73 seconds after lift-off.
I kept replaying that number over and over in my head. Seventy-three
seconds. One minute and 13 seconds. Approximately 1/60 of an
hour. Seven peoples lives had ended 73 seconds after perhaps
the most important achievement of their lives. These astronauts,
who had achieved the pinnacle of success in their profession,
had had their lives snuffed out in an instant.
I left the classroom that day with the realization that life
as we know it is fragile. One minute we can be on top of the
world and the next we could be gone. I made an important decision
that day as I shuffled down the hall toward my seventh period
English class. I determined that A) I was a merely mortal and
not the inpenetratable teenager that I thought I was, and B)
I needed to make myself "right with God." I was not
some rebellious person who lived life on the edge but I hadnt
been living in step with God, my father in Heaven.
Several years after the shocking national tragedy I experienced
in fifth period senior social studies class, my wife and I had
the opportunity to tour the Arlington National Cemetery in northern
Virginia. Among the various monuments that included President
Kennedy's eternal flame, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and
an assortment of presidential graves, we stumbled upon a memorial
marker honoring the seven victims of the Challenger disaster.
As we stood before it, my mind immediately flooded with thoughts
of that fateful day in 1986 when I came to the stark realization
that I needed to be right with God and that I was but a frail
human being totally dependent on Gods soul enriching grace.
In Joel 2:12-13 it says, "Now, therefore," says the
Lord, Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping,
and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing
harm."
In this passage of scripture, God told the people to turn to
Him while there was still time. Destruction would soon be upon
them. Time is also running out for us because we do not know
when our lives will end. We should trust and obey God now. We
should not let anything hold us back from turning to Him.
As I walked through a friends living room on a cold, winter's
day in February 2003, I couldnt help but notice the eerily
familiar plumes of white smoke that enveloped an all too blue
sky. A quick glance at my watch told me that it was not the
17-year anniversary of the Challenger. That had taken place
a few days earlier. Then President Bush appeared on the screen.
He simply said, "Columbia is lost; there are no survivors."
It was January 28, 1986 all over again. I asked myself the
question, Am I right with you Lord." Thankfully, the answer
was yes. How about you?
No one knows the day or the hour when Jesus Christ will return.
Furthermore, no one knows when their last breath will come.
As a father loves his son and waits patiently for the moment
he returns home, so too does our Heavenly Father wait patiently
and lovingly for His children to return and follow Him. Wont
you make yourself right today with Him?
Information used in this article from The
Transformer Study Bible.
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