Cynosure. (First Moon Landing) Harvey Madison
Cynosure (noun): something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc… Something serving for guidance or direction.
47 years ago today, America, and indeed the world, was distracted away from myriad conflicts for a few short minutes, notwithstanding great social and political turmoil.
47 years ago today, humans experienced the breathtaking response to fears that all we could do was fight and fail, transcending the powerful urges to which we had otherwise given in…in Vietnam…in Montgomery…in Eastern Europe…on Earth.
Look at these people at JFK airport on July 20th 1969 as they watch the first humans land on another world. Look at their faces. Assorted races, genders, nationalities…all transfixed by a human-made event universally lauded as embodying the best of humanity. Look at their gazes, all in the same direction. Look at their faces…neutral-to-gaping with awe,
We made that awe.
We went to the Moon because we chose to go. America was embroiled in literal battles over Civil Rights, mired in an unfocused war in Vietnam, weary from unending vigilance against the Soviet Union…yet we still accomplished what is arguably the greatest and most inspiring achievement in our history to date.
Every year on July 20th, I write something I hope reaches one more person…finally tips someone’s optimism and belief in humans over far enough to believe we can do it again…that we’re capable and worthy of the greatest good and success.
Look at the faces in this crowd. The cynosure of Apollo need not be a fond but distant memory. We can choose this again, even when times are dark and divisive.
I want to be a face in a new crowd, in a new photo, staring at inconceivable achievement. Do you?
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(re-posted in its entirety by permission of the author)