Friday, April 5, 2013

Mattingly's Moment

My physics class has been watching Apollo 13 this week...some "spy the physics" watching. I find myself so struck by the story of Ken Mattingly, the astronaut who was supposed to be on that mission but was cut because of a possible measles diagnosis. The exclusion was a horrible disappointment for him, and it turned out he never developed the illness.

Wow...how often do we stop our own stories right there...in that moment where disappointment is consuming...?

When the catastrophe occurred with the Apollo mission, it was Ken Mattingly...in his "grounded" state...who developed the plan to save the others. Without his disappointment, the others would have died.

The limitation led to heroism.

How many missed opportunities happen because we often choose to get lost in our losses??

Perhaps those disappointments are divine appointments...Hmm.

 

No comments: