Remember: Things Once Considered Impossible Are Now Possible

It’s interesting to remember that things which were considered impossible in the not too distant past have been found to be possible, after all.

In a book I was looking through this morning I came across an anecdote regarding Robert H. Goddard who was “the driving force behind America’s early space programs.”

Apparently, Goddard was mocked many years ago in the New York Times for believing a rocket could travel through outer space. In the Times it was pointed out that Goddard did not even possess “the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” Not a very nice thing to write about a respected scientist, huh? But that did not cause Goddard to quit.

The thinking against Goddard’s ridiculous idea of space travel went like this: “With no atmosphere in outer space and therefore nothing for an engine to thrust against… a rocket couldn’t move an inch. That was in 1920.”

Of course, we now know the experts regarding what-is-possible and what-is-impossible at the New York Times, in 1920, were wrong.

In the late 1960s—following the Apollo 11 mission which reached the moon—the Times made a reference to their earlier editorial, writing “the Times regrets the error.” When that happened I doubt if Goddard pointed, made faces and laughed at them. Eminent scientists don’t typically behave that way…I think.

Hey, it’s easy to be tough on the New York Times for their shortsightedness but this is a great example of the point I’m getting at: A mission which seemed literally impossible according to the laws of science (as many educated people understood them at the time) turned out to be possible, after all.

I like the idea that we still don’t know everything and that there are all kinds of possibilities we have not yet exhausted. It helps me feel optimistic and hopeful. And it reminds me of someone I know.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’"  Matthew 19:26

[ I read the anecdote about Robert Goddard in a book titled, “Get Out Of Your Own Way” by Robert K. Cooper ]