Following overwhelming natural threats posed by cosmic objects likely to collide with Earth, NASA's official representative and boss, Cmdr Charles Frank Bolden, was on Tue 19-Mar-2013 interviewed by the US House of Representatives Science Committee in connection with funding to develop a defense system. In answer to a question, he acknowledged God Almighty by saying, and I quote:
"Pray. That’s about all the United States – or anyone for that matter – could do at this point about unknown asteroids and Meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth”.
“From the information we have, we don’t know of an asteroid that will threaten the population of the United States but if it’s coming in three weeks, pray”.
End of quotes.
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/03/20/asteroid-threat-earthly-budgets/
When we hear that someone is praying, what comes to mind is speaking to God, a deity, a potential benefactor, a god, a saint, etc., in order to express gratitude, regret, ask for forgiveness of sins, ask for help, etc. Prayer can also be defined as an address of earnest or passionate request to somebody (usually a higher being) with strong hope or wish for something.
Usually, many people pray to ask a higher being for boons they hope will make their life's journey easier than it is at the time of prayer. These include requests for money, children, love issues, tangible things, knowledge, power, success and health issues. The Being to whom a prayer is directed depends on the religious or spiritual orientation of the supplicant. Irreligious people and atheists also pray although they may not recognize their prayers as such. People pray when they are in earnest need of something or when they are at their wit’s end; having exhausted all the resources at their disposal without achieving a relief in their condition.
NASA as a body is known to be on the opposite side of religion and “silly” things like prayer so when Cmdr. Bolden advised prayer, I was first shocked, then curious so I went to Wikipedia to understand the man and the situation better. I learnt that Cmdr. Charles Frank Bolden is a Marine, went to Naval School, logged over 6,000 hours of flight – many of those hours in air combat, and had also logged many hours in 4 space missions as an astronaut.
From Charlie’s profile, I can hazard a guess that he is a guy that gets the job done, does not hold grudges, warns you not to engage him and allows you to draw first before shooting the gun outa your mitt. When I learnt that he is an astronaut, I immediately understood why he recommended prayer from his NASA pedestal without batting an eyelid. He is frank and bold, so don’t mess with good ole Charlie. If he says that you should pray, get down on both knees and look towards the sky because he knows what he is talking about--he has been “around”, gone “down in the Sea” and “up in space” and cannot but be humbled by the Creator’s arrangements. A veteran of dozens of sorties understands the mechanics of prayer; when to engage physically; when to apply metaphysics and when to surrender in prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Omniscience, the Omnipresent, the Omnipotent, the Alpha & Omega--that’s is why he is very successful.
Cmdr. Bolden owes allegiance to the United States and the population of the US but he knows that he is not that parochial cos he has seen Earth from space. He knows that he still needs to pray after he gets his funding and completes his project. He is a citizen of the world and his priority should not be the United States but the ISS. Cmdr. Charles Frank Bolden is a man after my heart. He wants to get children interested in space and if he had his way, he would also teach them how to pray. Obama surely knows his Onions so he should assist Charlie to engage the Chinese to make very cheap Java Phones with plenty of free interactive Games about space, combat and prayer to the Supreme Being…
Mmm, now we are done with asteroids and comets. Next… Who is in charge of Earthquakes, Sinkholes etc. in the House of Reps? Let us pray!!!
