Pick up your cross

With a thunderous roar that shook the ground and a gush of fire and flame, Stennis Space Center in Mississippi started a new era of working with commercial space flight Monday afternoon. The NASA Administrator and other NASA officials joined Stennis employees as they watched the test firing of the Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine. What makes this a unique project is that for the first time, NASA, a federal government agency is not testing a rocket for their own space missions, such as the Apollo and Shuttle projects. Instead, Stennis is testing the rocket engine for the private commercial space exploration company, Orbital Sciences Corp.

What does one say when the rocket blasts off and blazes into the sky?

There's little left to say except, "Thank You!"

"Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!"

"Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: 'Thank you! Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength."

This is the beginning of the 138th Psalm, a David psalm, one of praise, admiration, glory. The writer cries out to God, and all earth's kings will say 'Thank you.'

We gather in large and small groups and both individually and together we grasp each other's shoulders and shout wistfully our thankfulness. "When they hear what you have to say, God, all earth's kings will say 'Thank you' They'll sing of what you've done. 'How great the glory of God!' And here's why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.' "

David writes, "When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my toes, with the other hand strike my toes. With your other hand save me. Finish what you started in me. With your other hand, save me. Finish what you started in me, God. You love is eternal -- don't quit on me now."

Out here in the hinterlands, in the mass of trees both pines and oaks, God prepares for the end of it all. He works up a bunch of it all. He crafts. He carries. He garners. He is ready for the end.

"When they hear what you have to say, God, all earth's kings, will say 'Thank you.' They'll sing of what you've done: 'How great the glory of God!'

In that time, that wondrous time, God will address the multitudes. "God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us."He has waited for that moment of perfection, and when it comes, he sees it and he moves. He knows everything about us. That insanely powerful moment comes, and God sees it, and he strikes.

He has waited for that perfect moment (or that moment of perfection) far below. The risk is huge. The risk is humongous. He takes up his cross and bears it like a man with a cross to bear. When he slides the risk up, onto his back with his back supporting the beam bearing load, he knows that the cross will support his beam-baring moment.That moment will be unlike any other in history.

God has created this cross for this moment, shared this cross for this time. He has prepared the cross for this one time only. For no other moment was this cross, this particular cross, this singular cross, created for. He shared this cross for this moment. For all other crosses, he shared this cross. Pick it up, and die, Pick it up, and cross-bearing will get another round of applause. Pick it up, and crosses will never been the same.

Go ahead. Pick it up. I dare you.