Smile God Loves You
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“You are going to the moon in a few minutes, but first you have to go down,” says the NASA astronaut. “Down?” asks the man. “Yes. The rocket that’s taking us up into space is going so fast that it will burn off most of your body heat within an hour or two if we don’t put you in a cryo-chamber.
If I didn’t do this for each one of my crewmates, none of us would make it.” The astronaut then hands him a device that looks like a large flashlight with a screen on it. “This little gadget contains more power than anything else on board our spacecraft and can run the entire ship.
But you must hold this against your forehead until we get back. It will protect you from all radiation, keep you warm, and allow us to wake you as soon as we land.”
The astronaut walks over to the window to take a look at the Earth, and suddenly he sees a dark cloud approaching fast from the south. A massive thunderstorm is bearing down on them, threatening to wreck their mission and send everyone hurtling toward death.
He quickly checks the instruments on the spacecraft again: no problems—it’ll make it through. “I’m sorry, sir,” says the astronaut after checking everything, “but there’s nothing I can do about this storm right now; we need to get ready for reentry. You have just enough time to pray before we lose the signal.”
The man takes out his prayer book and starts reading a passage from Psalms, and soon he feels a sense of peace and calmness wash over him. He’s never felt this way while praying before, and when he looks over at the astronaut next to him, he notices that the man has stopped watching the instruments and seems lost in thought, perhaps contemplating what he is about to face.
After finishing the psalm, the man thanks God, gets in the cryo-chamber and puts the device against his forehead. As they pass through the cloud, lightning strikes the spacecraft several times, but the man sleeps peacefully as long as he holds the device against his head.
Finally, the astronaut wakes him up and tells him it is safe to remove it. As the astronaut opens the door and shines his light outside the window, the man sees that the storm clouds have disappeared. There’s only a beautiful blue sky and an endless horizon.
He takes a deep breath of fresh air and says thank you to the Lord. They see the ground getting closer, and finally, the spacecraft lands gently. They open the doors and walk onto the tarmac where there’s a crowd waiting to greet them.
A reporter from a major newspaper approaches them and starts interviewing the astronauts. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” says the reporter. “How did you survive such a terrible storm? What was it like during those hours when it seemed like you were being crushed by the weight of the rain?”
One of the astronauts answered, “Well, I couldn’t help thinking about my wife and daughter, who were waiting for me at home. I prayed for their protection and asked the Lord to let us make it safely back to Earth.”
“And how did you feel at the moment the storm cleared away?” asks the reporter.
“Like I could breathe again. That’s when I knew God loved me and that He would always be with me. Amen.”
There’s silence in the room for a few seconds, and then one of the other astronauts begins laughing. “That’s exactly how I felt!” he laughs.
They all laugh together. The reporter shakes his head and walks away.
***
“I know that I will not return from here alive,” says the young woman sitting quietly at her desk. She’s talking about Mars, and she explains that it’s the second planet from the sun and is very similar to Earth, except that its atmosphere is too thin for humans to live on permanently.
Still, the European Space Agency plans to send an unmanned probe to Mars next year to investigate whether it might support life under certain circumstances. The probe will travel for a billion miles before returning to Earth.
In fact, it will take ten years for the probe to reach Mars, spend six months studying its surface, then come home. The probe is so large that it’s larger than any spaceship ever built. Its name is Prometheus, and the people of Europe believe it will lead mankind one step closer to colonizing another planet.
Meanwhile, the girl, whose name is Anaïs, has been selected to be one of the first human beings to explore Mars. She is excited to learn what awaits her, and she eagerly awaits the day of takeoff.
Her mother, however, cannot understand why her daughter would want to go to a place with little chance of survival, especially given the risk to her career if something goes wrong. But the girl is determined to go to Mars even though she knows she may die there.
Finally, one evening while she is walking down a corridor, she hears a voice saying, “I am calling your name.” At first, she doesn’t recognize it, but then she realizes it’s coming from her own reflection in the mirror. She turns around slowly. “Who are you?” she asks the mirror. It doesn’t answer, and when Anaïs reaches out to touch it, it shatters into millions of pieces.
Her mother rushes into the room. “Anaïs! What happened?!” she cries.
“Nothing,” says Anaïs calmly. “I think it must have been a trick of the light.”
When her parents ask her more questions, she lies and tells them that it was probably the reflection in the glass door that disturbed her and made the water in the bathroom bubble up. When they leave, she goes into her room and stares at her reflection in the wall-length mirror above her bed. For days afterward, she continues to hear voices calling her name.
Sometimes she thinks she hears someone calling her in another part of the house. She decides it is her imagination and tells herself not to worry about it. She tries to forget that the voice was actually hers—that it belonged to her soul, which she is about to lose forever.
***
In the year 2525, when Columbus landed on Mars, he looked up in wonder at the blue sky, as well as the two moons hanging high over the distant mountains. The red soil reminded him of the earth and the air smelled faintly like the sea.
The sight of the land below was breathtaking, and he marveled at the way the rocks formed small craters that resembled eyes, noses, and mouths. His mind began to spin as he tried to comprehend how the Martians had shaped the rocks into such strange objects.
It took him several moments to realize that he could no longer distinguish between Mars and Earth; indeed, he could see no difference at all between the two planets. This realization shook his worldview so deeply that he thought he might collapse in fear. It wasn’t until later that he learned that it was simply due to the effects of cosmic radiation.
After three months of traveling through space, the spaceship docked with a small asteroid and descended onto its surface. There were many people aboard, but it was still difficult for Columbus to find anyone familiar.
As the ship neared the ground, he saw some Martians waiting for them. They wore white robes and carried spears, swords, and bows and arrows. Their skin color appeared to be somewhere between brown and yellow.
A group of these Martians approached him and asked him what country he came from. When he replied with the name of Spain, they told him that they were also Spanish. They said that their planet was called Al-Jalila, meaning “The City of Peace.”
After a short conversation, the Martians led him toward a small house where he met other travelers from Earth. Together, they traveled to the capital city, which they named Sevilla. They ate with a new species of animal called a pig-like creature, and soon after, a tall Martian man walked into the room.
He introduced himself as Columbus and explained that he and his fellow explorers were on a mission to colonize Mars.
They spent three months visiting various places around the planet, each time leaving behind an outpost of settlers from Earth. One night while they slept, a huge meteorite hit the city. Everyone was terrified. The Martians assured them that the impact hadn’t affected their safety because it had not come close enough to destroy them.
Columbus was relieved by this news, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he should feel more afraid of the crash. In his sleep, he dreamed that the Martians had killed thousands of humans.
When they awoke in the morning, they went outside the settlement to examine the damage. They discovered that most of the houses were damaged beyond repair, and many residents lost their lives. Some were missing limbs and others had internal bleeding. Columbus was shocked to learn that there had been over five thousand human settlers who lived near the impact site.
He and his companions searched the wreckage until they found two survivors: a woman and a child. Both were badly injured and needed immediate medical attention. Columbus took them to a nearby cave where he gave them food and water.
Once the woman and child were healed, Columbus brought them back to the settlement so that he could help them return home. But before he left, he noticed something disturbing: the martian woman was pregnant.
“I thought we had eradicated all forms of life on your planet,” said Columbus to her. “Why did you bring a baby to our colony?”
She responded calmly that she didn’t want to abandon her son on Earth; therefore, she decided to take him with her to Mars. “My child will always know that he came from another place, even though he will never go there,” she told Columbus.
The colonists returned to their daily routines as quickly as possible, and Columbus became absorbed in his work. Over the next few weeks, he began to notice that he was feeling strange emotions. He started having nightmares about the death of the two women and the child.
These dreams continued for days, making him anxious and unable to sleep. On top of that, he experienced frequent headaches and nosebleeds that would make him faint every now and then.
Eventually, Columbus developed diarrhea and vomiting, causing him to lose considerable weight. He knew that these symptoms were abnormal, so he went to a physician, who diagnosed him with acute depression.
Columbus was surprised by the diagnosis, as he thought that he should be happy with what he accomplished on Mars. Yet, whenever someone mentioned his name or the colonization effort, he felt nothing but shame and disappointment. He was convinced that he should have acted differently during those three months on Mars, and if he had done so, he would not have been depressed.
The depression only worsened as the weeks passed by, and eventually, Columbus stopped working altogether. He stayed alone in his quarters, rarely going out anymore. Sometimes, he would walk outside and look down at his feet.
His legs grew weak, and one day, he collapsed, fell unconscious, and was rushed to the hospital. There, doctors determined that he had suffered a stroke. His mind was damaged beyond recovery and he was forced to retire.
***
One evening, Columbus was invited to a gathering of the Martians in the capital city. The leader of the group stood up and greeted him warmly. The people were friendly and curious, and when Columbus answered their questions, they applauded his efforts.
They told him how much they enjoyed his stories about Earth. He was so happy to hear that the Martians loved him. At least now he could forget the pain and humiliation caused by his illness.
After several hours of socializing and drinking, Columbus was escorted to a large tent where a feast was being prepared. A small table was set up inside the tent with an empty chair in its center. It looked like the kind of chair used in a meeting room, but Columbus knew that wasn’t the case.
He walked toward the table and saw that his name had been written on a napkin beside an unlit candle. After placing a plate and utensils on the table, the Martians closed the flaps of the tent to prevent anyone from seeing inside. The only way they could enter the tent was if Columbus invited them in himself.
“What is happening here?” asked Columbus curiously. “Are you inviting me into your house?”
“No, no, this isn’t my home,” answered the leader. “This is your house.”
The tent’s flaps were opened again, and a Martian man stepped forward. He wore a simple white dress shirt and long green pants, which were decorated with intricate embroidery. His head was bare and he held a knife in his right hand.
“This is my friend,” explained the Martian. “He has traveled far from Mars to see us. I am honored that you accepted our invitation and allowed him to sit at your table.”
The Martian put the blade on the table and placed his left arm against his chest. Then he bowed his head and said in a low voice, “Welcome to my home,” while holding his hand above the knife handle.
Columbus was shocked by what he saw. This ceremony meant that he was welcome in their world. In the past, he had been ashamed and humiliated because he thought he failed everyone. But these Martians understood his situation. He was still human. And just as important: They welcomed him unconditionally.
The End