Some time ago a newspaper headline read, “MISSING HYPHEN BLAMED IN ROCKET FAILURE.”  The article told the ironic story of how one small hyphen—accidentally omitted from a computer program—caused the destruction of a huge, powerful missile. I’m reminded of the old proverb written by George Herbert: “For want of a nail a horseshoe was lost; for want of a horseshoe, a rider was lost; for want of a rider, a battle was lost; for want of a battle, a war was lost” — the point being, an entire war was lost because of something as small as a missing nail.

Apparently, that was the case here. On the day in question, a Venus space probe launch vehicle, boosted by an eighteen-million-dollar U.S. Atlas rocket, was lost because a hyphen was missing from a programming equation.

Richard Morrison, a NASA official, told the House Space Committee investigating the incident that the missing hyphen caused a mathematical miscue. Morrison explained, “The hyphen gives a cue for the spacecraft to ignore the data the computer feeds it until radar contact is once again restored. When that hyphen is left out, false information is fed into the spacecraft control systems. In this case, the computer fed in the command, ‘HARD LEFT, NOSE DOWN,’ and the vehicle obeyed.”  Who left out the all-important hyphen?  Morrison either didn’t know or wasn’t saying, but he speculated that it was the mistake of some senior official with advanced degrees and a Ph.D. in celestial navigation.

There’s an important “hyphen” that belongs in our lives as well—and omitting it from our daily “programming” can be even more disastrous.  Without it you are certain to “crash” sooner or later. That “hyphen” is time alone with God—time to pray…time to read His Word…time to listen to His voice.  Just a few minutes a day is all it takes to keep our lives headed in the right direction.

Does your life seem to have gotten “off course?” Then set aside a daily time for God to give you His course corrections. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Wilbert Awdry was the son of a poor preacher in Wiltshire, England. As a boy he often accompanied his dad on his pastoral visiting rounds. Wilbert especially liked riding the train and talking to the railway workers he met along the way.

A poor student, Wilbert barely managed to finish college, but he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps because he liked the idea of helping people see God. However, Wilbert was not a successful pastor. In fact, he was fired by his church and for a while considered leaving the ministry all together—but then an event took place that changed his life forever. Wilbert’s first child, Christopher, caught the measles. While Christopher was confined to his bed, Pastor Awdry amused him with a story he’d made up about a little train engine who was sad because he hadn’t been out of his shed for a very long time.

The boy wanted to hear the story over and over again. Wilbert finally wrote it down and illustrated it with some crude line drawings of trains with faces on them. Wilbert’s wife saw more in the little story than family entertainment and encouraged her husband to offer the book to a publisher. He did—and much to Wilbert’s surprise, the publisher liked it. In 1945, Wilbert Awdry’s first book, The Three Railway Engines, was published.

Book after book followed. All were stories about little train engines with different personalities who interacted in very simple but very human dramas. Every story rang with a message of morality, grace, and redemption. As Awdry himself said of his creation, “The important thing is that the engines are punished and forgiven—but never scrapped!”

Wilbert Awdry wasn’t very successful as a church pastor. But he has been extremely successful in sharing the love of God in another setting. Ask any child if they’ve heard of Pastor Awdry’s creation, Thomas, The Tank Engine, and you’ll see just how successful he’s been.

When he was asked what he would like to have engraved on his tombstone, Awdry replied, “He helped people see God in the ordinary things of life…and he made children laugh.” Not a bad legacy! Wilbert Awdry went to be with the Lord in March of 1997.

I wonder—what will your legacy be? Remember, not just pastors—each of us is called to full-time Christian service. Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

So, if you work for the government, work for the glory of God. If you teach school, teach for the glory of God. If you’re a construction worker, build for the glory of God. If you’re a stay-at-home mom, parent for the glory of God. “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17)

If you embrace that attitude as you do whatever work God has prepared in advance for you to do, you can be certain that you will leave a legacy.

Keep the SON in your eyes!