A friend said that with all that’s gone on here last year, he’d like to leave the planet. Vacate. Relocate. Escape. Maybe live on Mars. I told him that you can now buy land on Mars. That’s right. A celestial real estate company is having an astronomical blowout. Once 35 bucks an acre, prices are falling like a shooting star. A cozy ice front hideaway can now be yours for $12. Talk about “far out!” Think of the benefits.
Say goodbye to nosy neighbours. Enjoy an unobstructed view of—well—just about everything. Bye-bye, diet! Thanks to gravity, you’ll weigh about 30% as much as you do on earth. Of course, the average temperature on the red planet is -80 Fahrenheit. Roughly -36,000 Celsius. Prepare to cover your tomatoes at night. And the tricky part isn’t buying land, it’s getting there. For a ticket to ride, you’ll need 1.5 billion dollars. And your flight will land in about 5,200 hours. That’s plenty of pretzels and about 2,600 inflight movies. If your GPS malfunctions, it could take even longer. So scrutinize your captain’s credentials and bring snacks.
Surprisingly, buymars.com claims 5 million customers own property. Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford and Mick Jagger have staked claims in space.
I too have a growing desire to be elsewhere, a dissatisfaction with the planet I’m on. One of the most popular tweets during the COVID summer of 2020 was, “Congratulations to the astronauts who left earth today. Good choice.” Lately, this world is feeling less and less like home.
Hebrews 13 says, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” Then it asks us to do three things: 1. “Offer through Jesus continual praise to God,” 2. “Proclaim our allegiance to his name,” and 3. “Don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need.”
Is this longing for another world a cosmic cop-out? Or a reminder to do what I can to leave this world better than I found it? C.S. Lewis believed that those who think most of the next world make the greatest difference in this one.
Within each of us is a longing for a better place, a place free of sin, hatred, injustice, fear, and pandemics. A place where peace reigns. By faith, we get a ticket to ride. Make sure you reserve a spot. The temperature? Perfect. The company? Celestial. The food? Out of this world.
Forget Mars. Even if you owned a restaurant there and the food was amazing, the atmosphere wouldn’t be that great.
