Not many people will say the first word that comes to mind when you say “astronaut” is humble. But, attendees at the 2nd Annual Williamson County Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast learned a great deal about humility, when keynote speaker and Apollo 16 Astronaut Charlie Duke, shared what life was like after he walked on the moon.
THE EVENT
Organizer Jerry Geiger was the first co-sponsor of a Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast in Oklahoma City in 1983 and, with help from Sun City’s John and Melinda Marler, chose to continue the tradition in Williamson County in 2019. The early-morning event was sponsored by Schwertner Farms and NationalUnited Bank, and drew several hundred guests who joined Police Chief Wayne Nero, County Judge Bill Gravell, and Georgetown pastors Kelly Barnett and Ernest Jones to pray for our leadership, first responders, business community, our State, and our nation.
Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder also humbly thanked the assembly, and was quick to point out the breakfast was not about him, or his office, but about the commitment our community showed by gathering in faith for the sake of its citizens.
THE UNIVERSE
General Duke had complete command of the room as he shared personal recollections of the first moon landing—with computers that had 80K of memory—and his own tremendous, and funny, experiences in space. Movie fans might remember his name from “Apollo 13”; he was the astronaut who got the measles, resulting in the crew change in that mission.
Apart from the adrenaline-fueled stories of being atop the Saturn V rocket, he recalled seeing the circle of the Earth 25,000 miles away. “That jewel of Earth was suspended in the blackness of space…At the time i didn’t believe God created it, but I do now.” After his time at NASA, he struggled with life decisions that would plague any person who had stepped on the moon at age 36, but wasn’t quite sure where to go from there. After many years of personal and professional angst, he gave his life to Jesus and said it was then that he felt the peace he had been searching for since beginning his journey to space.
You can see (and be moved by) General Duke’s keynote address and other videos. Contact Jerry at [email protected]. See the committe’s ad on the previous page.