Thoughts on Space Travel

Picture of the moon I took in October 2024 from my Samsung Galaxy S24, zoomed at 30x.

Science can be boring, I have to admit.  Believe me, I majored in a science.

HOWEVER!

Somehow, NASA made it exciting.

Or maybe because I always like learning about space and the universe.  I recall when I was in 4th and 5th grade, I would go the library and check out books about planets and the universe, and stars, and all kind of spacey things.  My awe and wonder about the universe never waned.  But it never crossed my mind that I could have and should have pursue a career in NASA or something related.   

Or maybe when I was in high school and old enough to watch whatever I want on TV, I would watch Star Trek: The Next Generation during the 90's, most of the reruns.  (I know, exciting stuff...) I had stumbled across old reruns a few years ago, and decided to watch almost all 7 seasons of it on reruns from January through July, and then follow up with watching all 13 Star Trek films.  I go on to watch a few other movies, like Lost in Space, and the Adam Project.

I felt NASA made science more relevant.  Through their social media, they connected with the audience.  Hopefully a younger generation.  Like you can still do the science but have fun.  The four people who went around the moon and back in the first part of April 2026, they were real people.  They seem to have fun.  I don't think they were jerks to each other.  I'm sure maybe someone had said, "Are we there yet?"  The toilet broke three times.  Outlook wasn't working.  They woke up to "Moon Tunes", like Pink Pony Club, beamed up from Mission Controls.  There was a video clip of a jar of Nutella floating around before they went behind the moon.  They emailed home.  There was livestreaming of the spacecraft hurdling towards the moon (although there were times it went blue).  We got to see them doing life, seemingly almost normal things (aside from the floating) in a spacecraft the size of a mini-van.  That was some 10-day sightseeing tour to the moon!

It makes me question myself, "I wish I had work harder and I wish I had done that."  My major wasn't that far off from doing the space things.  I majored in Mechanical Engineering, in a department called Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NC State University.  But, honestly, I am not really THAT smart.  No, really.  I am embarrassed to say what my GPA was when I graduated.  One famous YouTuber is Mark Rober who majored in Mechanical Engineering was an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and worked on the Curiosity Mars rover.  I'm just pointing this out because ME's can work in a lot of different careers and at NASA.  They don't have to have a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The one thing that impressed me about this recent moon mission is what two of the astronauts said about peering out of the windows of their spacecraft, looking at the earth in the vastness of space.

Victor Glover said in a sort of an Easter speech, 

“As we are so far from Earth and looking at the beauty of creation, I think, for me, one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see the Earth as one thing. When I read the Bible and I look at all the amazing things that were done for us… you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe and the cosmos. Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you. And I’m trying to tell you — just trust me — you are special. In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together. I think, as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing, and that we’ve gotta get through this together."

That "thing" I think he's trying to say is that we are all humanity, of God's creation, made in God's image.  I know he was put on the spot when he spoke these words.  But from a Christian perspective, I think he was trying to explain that in order to live with each other on this planet, we have to work together, and love each other, and serve each other in humanity.  

Christina Koch also said something similarly, 

“The thing that changed for me, looking back at Earth, was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty of Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it just made it (earth) even more special. It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive. ..."

While I don't know Christina's religious background, it sort of sounds like she had a similar emotional tug about her heart about the blue planet and the people on it.  

And here's my thought on space travel.  We should do it.  For a long time, I actually didn't understand or don't know why we would ever go into space.  I thought it was the thing of science fiction.  It was just good enough for us to sit back in our seats on Earth and gaze at the cosmos.  But hearing that these share experiences are similar, it makes me question, "What does it really take for humanity to understand God?"  I mean, are we meant to go into space?  Are we meant to travel the universe?  Can we physically, mentally, emotionally handle it?  And most importantly, can we spiritually handle it?

To end this blog, another story I ran into I think yesterday about Reid Wiseman's experience.  He describe the experience as something he could not explain... “When I got back on the ship… there was just no other avenue for me to explain anything or to experience anything. So I asked for the chaplain on the Navy ship to just come visit us for a minute… I’d never met him before in my life. But I saw the cross on his collar, and I just broke down in tears.”

Exit the Dragon

Every year, over a billion people around the world celebrates Chinese New Year.  With this year, we have exited the year of the dragon and entering the year of the snake, going from a fictitious reptile to a real reptile.  

But let's talk about the dragon for a minute...

In the Chinese culture, the dragon is a serpent-like creature that dwells at the bottom of the ocean, a deep lake or river, and has control over the waters and weather. Very similarly, the early Jews also has a large serpent which they called "Leviathan" which also lives in the ocean and mentioned in the book of Job. The views these serpents and ancient animals compare to the nearby Canaanites and other mid/near East people groups are almost very similar or the same as well.

When I was a younger Christian, I never really thought about dragons and monsters being in the Bible. However, as I got older and had questions about dinosaurs and other animals, I took a deeper dive into the events of creation in Genesis and also found verses on Leviathan and Behemoth (this was thought to be a mammoth, or some kind of large beast).

What distinctive about the worldview of dragons vs the Biblical view is that the Bible is the only place that only God can rule over Leviathan, or any animals on earth.  He created them, and not only does God have dominion over them, God also created us to have dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:26-27).  

As we celebrate our holidays, and exit the dragon, let's not forget about our Creator who created all things on earth.

Short Blog: Thoughts on The Screwtape Letters

I recently read a book called The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.  The central story is that Screwtape is writing to his nephew on how to deceive his "Patient", an Englishman who just recently became a Christian (chapter 2).  At the end, the Englishman dies due to the Germans air raids on England during World War II and gone to heaven.  The letters go through different stages of the Englishman's life: conversion, finding a church, relationship with his mother who lives with him, having a girlfriend, and then his eventual death at the end of the book.

Some thoughts:

1. Although this is a must-read book for some Christians, I always find reading Lewis's books a little difficult.  I struggled with Mere Christianity, but not as much as Screwtape.  I think Mere Christianity, I knew that it was a transcription of his radio program, so much of the book was his babbling on radio.  But dwindle down to the core of Mere Christianity, I understood the overall message of the book.  But Screwtape was a written work of fiction, and there is much babbling which sort of distracts from the central message of the book.
2. Speaking of, what is the message of the book?  If you read chapter 2 (or round abouts), you see that this "Patient" has become a Christian.  But throughout the book, Screwtape writes to Wormwood on how to manipulate his mind, to get him to denounce his faith and fall back to sin.  Taking a step back, does C.S. Lewis suggest that one can lose their salvation?  Or that no matter what the devils do to Christians, Christians will always have a place in heaven, and that God's love prevails, and faith will ultimately overcome temptation?  
3. Towards the end of the book, you read that World War II is happening in Europe and the Germans has started to attack England.  One of the things I find interesting is that Screwtape is asking Wormwood to do all that he can to keep the Patient alive.  If the very act of war has started with evil and Satan (which Screwtape called him "Father" in the book; God was referred to as the "Enemy"), why would Screwtape want the Patient to remain alive?  Or maybe Screwtape doesn't know no matter what he and Wormwood do to the Patient, the Patient will go to heaven no matter what?

Un-resolute the Resolution 2025

You ever wonder why we always reflect on what we've done in the past year towards the end of the year? It seems like this time of year, we reflect on what we've accomplished or have not accomplished, and make goals and plans to do better for the coming year.  Why do we not have this same reflection during the summer? Is it a psychological effect of the winter solstice?  

To dissect this a little bit, let's look at the history of the calendar.  Before the Julian calendar, the first of the year was observed in the spring which made sense.  Spring was the time flowers started to bloom, animals came out of hibernation, and people were preparing to sow seeds for harvesting later in the summer months.  But there were many calendars used around the world, and the history I found of the calendar were mainly about the calendars developed by the Romans and later the Catholic Church.  Before the Julian calendar, the Romans used a 10-month calendar which had a void of two strange nameless months during the winter months.  This calendar was messed up, and that was a big problem especially for celebrating holidays.  The Julian calendar sort of fixed this with a 12-month calendar (with 365.25 days per year, with a leap year every 4 years) and also placed the first of the year on January 1st. (January comes from the Roman god Janus, who is the god of time, transition, and beginnings.  This date is also the date the Roman consul took office every year.)  But this calendar did not take into account an extra 11 minutes each year which still shifted the calendar days.  This was still a huge problem with the seasons and holidays, especially now that after the birth of Christ and the spread of Christianity, there were many major holidays to observe and celebrate.  It was in 1582 that Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar to 365.2524 days a year, which accounted for the 11 minutes.  We still had leap year every 4 years, adding a day to the calendar on those years, but every 100 years, we do not have leap year, except every 400 years.  Yikes.  But since 1582, we have not had any major shifts in days and months as we did many hundreds of years ago.  The Gregorian calendar is now used worldwide, although many cultures may still use their respective cultural calendars to calculate their holidays (e.g. the Chinese calendar is still used in China and diaspora to figure out the Chinese New Years and other various Chinese holidays).  

So, why bring this up?  I think people could have easily plucked any date from the air and call it day one of the year.  The Romans picked January 1, which is about a week and a half after the winter solstice, or a week after Saturnalia (December 25).  The Chinese calendar is mainly a Soli-lunar calendar, so the first of the year on the Chinese calendar is usually the second new moon after the winter solstice.  March 21st (the vernal equinox) could have been picked which is the first day of spring, or right on the Winter Solstice which marks the day with the least amount of sunlight but also signifies the start of increasing daylight every day afterwards.  It could have been on April 1st, which was another original date for the first day of the year.  

During this time of the winter holidays and around the winter solstice, people are already gathered together to celebrate the end of a season and/or the beginning of a new season.  Folks are already in that mood of reflection, so I think it's easy for people to look forward to a "new year" after their festivities.  However, people could easily make these same reflections and set goals throughout the year, and not just this time of year. 

Although this is the time I would also reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the new year, I would make some goals for this year, but I'm also not going to be too hard or strict on myself.  A "resolution" is setting goals with purpose and determination.  I decided that although we do need purpose, I am not going to be so determine about it.  Because we are humans, and we make mistakes, and we fall out of habits quite often.  

So, to reflect back on what I did in 2024 and set some loose goals for myself this year:

• Family: My dad's eyesight hasn't been great last year and has gotten a little worst.  In case you don't know, my dad has diabetes and glaucoma, and glaucoma will affect ones eyesight.  Even though he's been taking insulin, watching his diet, etc., his eyesight started to go out from the beginning of 2020.  He does still get depressed, which in turns really saddens me.  I do hope he finds some joy that I am taking care of him as his caregiver.  My dog is still around.  She turned 10 last July, approaching 11.  She's still a hoot, and still very much like a puppy, although she has slowed down some.  We have hit different greenways last year and I hope to go to some more when the weather turns warmer again.  Right now, it's chilly and we can still go but I don't like cold weather, and we have resorted to short walks in the neighborhood on good days.
• Reading: I had this goal last year in reading at least four books, but I only read three books.  And although you may see that as short of my goals, I called this a success because I used to love reading books as a child and youth but fell out of interest many years ago.  So, to read three books, at least I'm showing progress.  This year, I still plan to read four books, which the first three are Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein, Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, and a fourth book yet to be determined.  But I'm not going to fret if I can't get to all of these books, or I may even change my mind and read something totally different later on.
• Writing: I did want to write more.  I only got to six blogs, which is a far cry from the 24 blogs I wrote in 2023.  I think because I got involved with life again, in-person activities, meeting of friends, and more travel.  But I think now I know my limit of "peopling" and will focus on some more writing this year.  How many blogs and other things will I write?  Who knows!
• Travels: Last year, my cousin got married!  So my brother and I took a trip to Hong Kong, but we also did a cousins trip to Seoul, South Korea.  I think my travels last year also took me to Chicago for a workshop conference (which is one that I've been to many times, both the city and the conference), and a single Christian's retreat to St. Simon's Island, GA (more on that later).   Although I don't have those types of travel plans this year, I hope to travel to some place by some random planning. 
• Activities and Health: Never started jogging.  Well, I tried.  Every time I tried, my back hurts and my knees hurt.  I sound old but I have had a crooked back for a while now.  And the knee is probably a hereditary trait as my mom had the same problems.  But in August of last year, I joined Planet Fitness and things were going fine until I messed up my back after my Asia trip.  So, I haven't really been back to the gym much, but I plan to go now that we are in a new year.  I've also signed up for Weight Watchers a few days before New Year, so at least I'm starting something before everybody else.  And of course, I'll need to eat healthier, and all that stuff.  
• Spiritual and Fellowship: I think I'm still kind of at this stage of questioning.  Last year, the questioning was a lot less but I think the "why's" are still in the back of my mind.  I still question the original sin.  I still question the actual essence of Jesus Christ and his connection to God, or rather the whole connection and relationship of the trinity.  For over a year now, I've parked myself at Mosaic Church (Charlotte), and although I enjoy the sermons and their general beliefs, I don't know if I will continue going to just the sermons, as I need a group to connect.  But their cast of characters can be awkward sometimes, and I don't know if I want to contribute to the awkwardness since I am usually a socially awkward person sometimes.  I think the biggest thing for me with regards to fellowship is being involved with a Facebook group called The Grownup's Table: A Community for Christian Singles.  It's been the biggest source of fellowship for me in 2024.  But although I enjoy being in the group, it also has its downs as well.  The group itself is made up of 3500 members worldwide, with the biggest groups in the Southeast.  Within the Charlotte region, there are at least 200 members, but most of them live in an area about 30-40 minutes from where I live.  So in response to that, I started having meals as a sub-group of the Charlotte group, in hopes that we would meet regularly and do stuff together.  Also through this Facebook group, I joined a Bible study that one of the members holds.  I have been going on and off in 2024, but I hope to commit and go continuously and as much as I can.

Korea's Got Seoul: Things I've Learned

About a month ago, I came back from vacation to Hong Kong and South Korea.  Since I've been to Hong Kong many times, it's not a culture shock to me anymore.  However, I've never been to South Korea, and surprisingly, it was a bit underwhelming.  But nonetheless, here are some things I learned about Seoul, South Korea:

1. There were so many coffee shops and a lot of bagel shops as well.  They even have a chain (at least in Seoul) called the London Bagel Museum.  I thought it was meh.  And there were the occasional Western/French bakeries, which I think Korea might have out-did France on this one.  There was a bakery I went to at the Incheon-Seoul International Airport that was pretty good.  It's sort of like Tour les Jour which is another Korean/French bakery that has an international presence.  There two Tour Les Jours in Charlotte.

2.  Restaurants serve cold water.  Maybe not ice water, but it was definitely cold.  (This is comparing to China and Hong Kong, where restaurants serve hot tea or hot water.)  Or maybe it was just Seoul, where there are a lot more tourists.

3. 7-11 sells cups of ice.  I don't think I saw cups of ice being sold at the 7-11's in Hong Kong.  Koreans really like cold drinks.  I had to buy a cup of ice one evening because I had left my drink out on the table, so it became room temperature.  It was nice to have iced soda.  

4. In Seoul, Uber partnered with the local taxi drivers.  You can still try to flag a taxi driver, but your best bet is to use Uber.  It's the same, or similar, price.  You can also use the subway system, but it was a little confusing and most everything was in the Korean language.  If you study the map, I think it may not be that hard to navigate Seoul via subway.

5. In observing the Korean people, they dress very proper.  I feel like they dress up more, even when they go out to the shopping malls, or to a local restaurant.  They are not slobs.  And their color schemes are more neutral, pale pastels, and blues.  No extreme colors that you may see in the U.S.

6. Korean food is a billion times better than what I had in the U.S.  My cousins, brother, and I had a lot of Korean barbecue, and a few times we had soup bowls or tofu bowls.  One time we had Korean bar food, which was interesting.  The first night, we had Korean fried chicken.  I think I was taking a shower, so when I came out, my brother and one of my cousins came back with some chicken.  My cousins and brother already ate most of it, so I guess it wasn't as crunchy as I had hope.  

7. We received a few text messages (in Korean) from the local Korean government.  It was strange, actually.  I had to take a screenshot and translate what was going on.  If my old phone hadn't died, I would share at least one of them in this blog.  But generally, the text was communicating that the few days we were there, they were exercising demonstrations leading up to their Armed Forces Day on October 1st, and not to be alarmed if you hear military airplanes.  But then, we were so close to North Korea, you never know...I guess this is normal for South Koreans.  At least we didn't get poop dropped on us.

8. The Sunday we were there, we walked to one of the royal palaces.  A church had set up service outdoors in the main street and blaring (in a nice way) "What a Friend We have in Jesus" (in Korean).  All of my cousins grew up going to church, and my brother and I have been to church as well, so we knew the song in the language we have learned it, and we felt that we were going to church on our way.  But to point out, South Korea is the one of the few democratic nations in Asia, and they have freedom of religion.  There are a lot of Christians in South Korea.  And it's the most Christian thing I've experienced outside of the United States.

9. Not-so-automatic doors!  But it is electronically operated.  Some stores in Korea, especially those facing the street, will have doors with a button on the door.  Instead of automatic doors, where there is a sensor at the top of the frame that sense people coming in or out, you have to push the button to open the door.  And then do not let the door shut on you!  It won't sense that someone is inside the frame of the doorway.  

10. It was so surprisingly... Western.  I was a little bit shocked to experience what I call "reverse culture shock" when you expect one thing but find out it to be very similar to the culture in which you came from.  And I don't know what the culture was like before the Korean War, but South Korea felt weirdly Western.  I may have to work and live amongst them long term to get the full effect, as I heard their work culture is extremely stressful, especially those who work in an office setting.  

I think that's all I can think of right now.  I think I may go back to South Korea some day and travel to other regions of the country.  I think I will get a lot more out of going to different places and experiencing other local cultures.