Remembering Neil Armstrong For His Biggest Accomplishments

 I admit that I take a different view of life and our earthly 'accomplishments' than most people do. Interestingly, it appears Neil Armstrong did as well. His death this past Saturday (August 25, 2012) put the man who first walked on the moon in the biggest spotlight since he took those steps back in July 1969. But the spotlight was not Armstrong's favorite place to be. In fact, you could probably say it was just about his least favorite place to be. And given the instant (and lasting) stardom that the first moonwalk brought him, it's a pretty amazing accomplishment that he succeeded in staying out of the spotlight.

 Was Neil Armstrong a weirdo or a recluse? It doesn't seem so... it appears his biggest motivating factor in laying low was that he didn't feel he deserved so much attention and stardom for what was really a group accomplishment driven by the hard work of thousands of additional people. That level of humility is extremely remarkable. Personally, I look up to Neil Armstrong far more for that than for the reality that he happened to be the right guy at the right time to be able to take those first steps on the Moon. Sure, he was a true engineer nerd/geek who also had great piloting skills and an excellent ability to solve critical flight problems as they were happening, and I respect and admire all that. But being a humble human being is the real accomplishment in my book.

 I've intentionally waited a few days to say anything here about Neil because it's my estimation that he wouldn't really like all this media attention over his death. I figured I'd spend a few days contemplating the fact that he now knows what happens to a human being when we die, and honestly, nothing that happens on Earth (or the Moon) can compare to that. I've always found it very curious that we humans spend so much time and energy paying attention to when people die, but most of us act as though we care nothing for wanting to seek answers to life's biggest question: what happens when we die?

 I had always understood that Neil Armstrong was a Christian. As a Christian myself (and a person who always wonders how and why things work) I've felt I was in pretty good company knowing that a large number of astronauts, engineers, and otherwise sharp-and-critical-thinkers are also fully willing to acknowledge (even with all of our scientific progress) that we really don't know much about life and the universe... and we have no trouble at all seeing the Bible as truth, now more than ever.

 In my research about Neil's life, I found the following account of his thoughts when he experienced the Temple Mount site in Jerusalem:

 Inside the Temple Mount, much of the original staircase and the arched, elaborately carved Herodian ceilings survive. According to archeologist Meir Ben-Dov, "On his way in and out of the Temple, Jesus must have walked here." Ben-Dov recalls that he was once asked by Neil Armstrong, the American astronaut, to show him an area in Jerusalem where Jesus might have walked. Ben-Dov took him inside the Hulda Gates in the Southern Wall and Armstrong said that he was just as thrilled to stand on this staircase as he had been when he took his first steps on the moon. (from the Southern Wall wiki)

 Godspeed, Neil Armstrong.

Comments

[Michael Boze]

Great post, Martt.

[Sawdust]

Thank you for this post. I'd never heard that story - how powerful. It was great to see you at OSH again this year. Hope you recovered the laptop.

[bum]

i like the steps story,ive also studied life after death,read every good book on it even have a movie on it,and after many a miracle experience i can assure you it is real,david brinkly/betty eddie(not sure of spelling) discribe what its like to pass the vale

[nik]

this was good. very good.

[a random guy]

i havent even read a sentence and im posting this.