Over the last few days, we’ve been hearing a lot about the anniversary of the moon landing, which happened 40 years ago Monday. A lot of us can remember where we were when it happened, and where we were when we watched the first person walk on the moon.

I remember being sound asleep in my bedroom on Morgal Street, in Rockville, Maryland. I was a 10-year-old on summer vacation, and my parents woke me up to come downstairs and see something incredible on television. They sat me down in front of our Philco black and white portable TV and I watched grainy pictures of a man in a space suit. My most vivid memory of the event was that the picture was awful, and I’d rather be sleeping.

I thought about it again, 40 years later, when I was going over this Sunday’s gospel, and reading how Jesus invited his apostles to “come away…to a deserted place and rest awhile.” I realized: you can’t find a more deserted place than the surface of the moon, in a quiet and airless place known as the Sea of Tranquility.

I think this time of year, a lot of us seek out our own “Sea of Tranquility,” our own deserted place where we try to unwind. For some of us, it’s not so deserted – my wife and I are going to visit Disney World in August. I know a couple families headed to the Jersey shore. For others, vacation time is a chance to just stay home, to have a “staycation,” to save money. There are basements to be cleaned out and gardens to weed and chores to finish. The best part is often just not having to go into work every morning.

And New York, in July and August, can be like a small town. You can actually get a reservation at a restaurant and a seat on a bus. There’s something to be said for staying home.

I’ve taken some vacations like that, and it’s often more relaxing than actually going away.

But if you are going away, and making a check list of what to take, remember to pack something else along with your SPF 40 and your Speedo and your camera.

Remember to pack your faith.

I have a sign in my office at home, quoting a saying that Carl Jung used to have hanging in his office: “Bidden or not bidden, God is present.”

Whether we realize it or not, God is with us. He is in our lives. He is continuing His work in the world.

After all, the last time He took a vacation was on the first Sabbath, when He rested.

So: remember Him. Pay attention to Him.

Because He is paying attention to us.

It can be easy to forget, or neglect, our prayer life. Especially when we’re on vacation. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. We can find excuses not to go to mass, or not to pray. We can shrug it off. But I remember what a seminary teacher used to tell his students before summer break: “You don’t take a vacation from a vocation.” And that includes the vocation each of us has – whether ordained or not.

It is our vocation as children of God.

One of the more surprising stories about the moon landing is one that was kept quiet for many years. It is about the deep faith of the second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldren.

Aldren was an elder in the Presbyterian church. And he made a point of bringing with him on the moon mission a small amount of wine, and some communion bread. After they had landed and were preparing for their first moonwalk, he asked Mission Control for a moment of silence. In that silence, he offered a quiet prayer of thanksgiving. And then, in keeping with his faith tradition, he consumed the bread and wine. As a result, the first meal on the moon was a kind of communion. It wasn’t what we know as Eucharist – Presbyterians do not believe it becomes the body and blood of Christ.

But it was nonetheless a humble and holy act of remembrance.

Do this in remembrance of me, Jesus said.

Remembrance.

Buzz Aldren remembered. He traveled to the moon – and he remembered The One who made it possible.

Will we remember that when we head to the Jersey shore?

How about when we just take the subway to go to work? Do we take our faith with us on even that simple journey?

Because God is there. Bidden or not bidden, God is present.

Do we acknowledge that? Do we celebrate that? Do we honor that, with even just one hour a week?

I don’t want to wag my finger like Sister St. Margaret and tell you we should go to mass while on vacation, because we have to.

But I do want to suggest that we should go to mass…because we want to.

Because we want to offer the God who has given us so much – our lives, our livelihoods, our families, our faith—we want to offer Him praise. And we want to say, quite simply, “Thank you for this.”

We should go because we want to express our love for Him.

And we should go because we want Him to know this beautiful truth: bidden or not bidden, we are present.

We are here for Him. As He is here for us.

One of the lessons of this Sunday’s gospel is that after the apostles have done their amazing work – we heard last week about the miracles they performed – they returned to Christ, who reminded them that the job of being a faithful Christian isn’t all work. It’s rest. It’s prayer. It is seeking out a deserted place to find peace.

In the chaos of daily life, each of us needs to return to Christ, and to find a deserted place to rest, a sea of tranquility for prayer.

But as we do that, now may be a good time to recall what transpired on that Sea of Tranquility 40 years ago – and remember as well that the deepest and most tranquil sea is one we easily take for granted.

It is God’s love.

He has given us that bottomless, endless gift.

What are we going to give Him?