“Beautiful. Beautiful. Magnificent desolation.” That’s how astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin described the moon to Neil Armstrong and an estimated 500 million television viewers watching the first moon-walk on July 20, 1969.

Forty years later, it’s easy to take man’s landing on the moon for granted. But notice what Time wrote about this event on July 25, 1969 (emphasis mine throughout):

Although the Apollo 11 astronauts planted an American flag on the moon, their feat was far more than a national triumph. … It was appropriate that the event was watched by ordinary citizens in Prague as well as Paris, Bucharest as well as Boston, Warsaw as well as Wapakoneta, Ohio. In practically every other corner of the Earth, newspapers broke out what pressmen refer to as their “Second Coming” type to hail the lunar landing.

It was an incredibly historic event. Time even wondered if the moon-landing might be a much-needed reality check for mankind: “The spectacular view might well help [man] place his problems, as well as his world, in a new perspective,” it mused.

Clearly not enough people deeply reflected on that event and put their world in that “new perspective.”

Imagine being one of the first two men to walk on the moon. How would you describe that experience? Imagine if you got to realize the long-standing dream of men and participate in an event that revolutionized science and was recorded as mankind’s single greatest achievement. Imagine standing on the moon, staring at the horizon where brilliant blue planet Earth, brightly silhouetted against an endless tapestry of blackness, hung effortlessly more than 238,000 miles away.

Now imagine what you’d see when you turned your gaze to the lunar wilderness on which you stood. Imagine standing exposed and isolated on a frigid planet in the throes of decay, surrounded by blackness, staring across a pockmarked, gray, dusty lifeless wasteland. What a spectacular contrast.

Magnificent desolation!

I don’t think I’ve heard a more pithy, profound and exquisite description of anything in all my life.

I learned about Aldrin’s observation this past Sunday during a tour of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and I haven’t been able to get those words out of my mind since. They’re so cogent and sublimely poetic. It’s a deep, mentally absorbing statement, short in length yet infinitely long in meaning. Magnificent desolation: It’s a moon-walk described in two words.

But it’s more than that: It’s planet Earth and mankind described in two words!

It’s a thought-provoking observation worthy of deep reflection!

Consider our planet. It is so perfectly situated in our solar system that if it were moved even a little it would interrupt the conditions needed to sustain life, wiping out flora, fauna and mankind. It’s sustained by awesome physical, chemical and atmospheric laws that are utterly unique to this planet. Our planet is spectacularly beautiful, with each part playing a vital role. Vast, life-filled oceans supply bountiful food and shape global weather patterns; towering mountains provide protection, influence weather and dictate national boundaries; long, meandering rivers irrigate croplands; vast forests act as lungs filtering the air and transforming carbon dioxide into oxygen.

It’s magnificent!

But Earth is a planet speeding toward decay. Weather patterns are becoming unpredictable and violent and are precipitating a host of natural disasters: floods, droughts, fires, hurricanes. Deserts, many of which were already vast, are expanding, swallowing much-needed farmland as they grow. Clean water supplies are fast becoming scarce. Many of Earth’s oceans, rivers and harbors have been polluted beyond repair, ransacked of aquatic life. Our skies are filled with smog and dangerous air pollutants that affect the health of flora and fauna, not to mention humans. Our forests are being massacred, only to be replaced with roads and houses and factories. Our open plains and farmlands are doused endlessly with chemicals; every year millions of tons of topsoil is blown or washed away.

Desolation besieges our magnificent planet!

The contrasts are even more striking in mankind. Our achievements these past 6,000 years are mind-blowing. Mankind’s population growth has been phenomenal; we’ve added 5.5 billion people in the last 200 years! Average life spans in most countries have increased radically, thanks largely to an advanced medical system capable of transplanting hearts and waging war against disease. Our progression in the fields of science, education and politics are beyond impressive. We’ve genetically engineered fruits and vegetables to be more disease-resistant and produce higher yields. We’ve successfully cloned sheep and dogs. We’ve gone beyond walking on the moon to taking soil samples from Mars. We’ve peered into galaxies billions of miles away.

We’ve created intricate governments, defeated tyrants bent on world dominion and forged an integrated, well-connected, interdependent global economic and political system. We’ve split the atom and created nuclear power. We’ve constructed gigantic cities replete with the infrastructure to enable ease of travel and ease of communication, and cultural infrastructure—including amazing new gadgets, new trends, new sounds and new visual attractions—that has introduced millions to new heights of enjoyment and pleasure. We’ve constructed more educational institutions than ever, all of which overflow with knowledge, and many of which are constantly discovering new knowledge.

These are some truly magnificent accomplishments.

Yet despite these magnificent achievements, humans remain utterly unable to solve our oldest problems!

The greatest war in human history occurred only 60 years ago. In it, 50 million people were butchered! Countless others have since died in acts of violence. Wars, genocide and violence are as much a fixture of human existence today as they were during medieval times. Across the world, more than 1 billion people are illiterate, nearly 2 billion are malnourished, and multiple millions perish every year from a host of diseases. Despite our magnificent accomplishments in the fields of science, medicine and education, we haven’t yet figured out how to solve age-old, basic problems like illiteracy, disease and violence!

We refuse to admit it, but we’re utterly desolate of solutions to these problems!

Human civilization is collectively and individually devoid of purpose and direction. Religion claims to have the answers to life’s most important questions, the solutions to our problems. Yet religion in so many cases has been the cause of much conflict and war. Millions of people—many under the perception that religion is hypocritical (and they’re right, for the most part)—reject spirituality and live as atheists. Millions of “religious” people are confused and uncertain in what they believe. The same goes for morality: Promiscuous sex, adultery, homosexuality and other heinous sexual practices are accepted in Western society. Pornography is a mainstream and incredibly lucrative business; horrendous music condoning drug abuse, greed, rape, gang violence and rebellion against authority becomes the most popular hits. Divorce, fatherlessness and family breakdown are accepted as normal; dress standards and standards of conduct are practically nonexistent.

We’re spiritually and morallydesolate!

Despite our magnificent achievements, the human heart is the same as it has always been. We can create magnificent medicines, yet we lack the ability to treat attitudes of jealousy, resentment and strife. We’ve created wealth and all kinds of devices designed for ease of living and pleasure, yet we can’t buy a solution to depression and suicide, which are as prevalent as ever. We can create children at will, even manipulating their sex, yet we still can’t figure out how to raise them to be happy, educated, productive and responsible adults.

We’ve invented various forms of governments and laws, yet we still don’t know how to use government and law to forge long-term, widespread peace, security and prosperity. We can build powerful, highly advanced weapons, but we can’t figure out how to keep them from snuffing out thousands of lives. We’ve soared to the moon and taken spectacular snapshots of the universe, yet here on the ground we still don’t know where life began or why man was created.

Mankind is just like the moon: Magnificent desolation!

The Bible clearly shows that the entire universe exists in a state of decay and desolation, just like the moon (Romans 8:19-22). Peering into the galaxies and marveling at the beautiful universe has long been a favorite pastime of human beings. Many scientists and astronomers understand that the universe exists in a state of decay, and are mesmerized by it.

How many of those experts would ever consider the decaying universe to be a reflection of Earth and mankind?

But that’s how God sees it! When He looks at the galaxies and the universe and planet Earth and mankind He sees a creation crying out to be renewed and replenished and beautified. If only we humans weren’t so vain and arrogant, we might begin to understand this. We vainly consider planet Earth and human civilization to be supremely magnificent and beautiful. But God looks at us and sees a magnificent creation gasping for its last breaths!

It’s time we stop lauding our magnificence and start thinking about our growing state of decay and desolation—not the state of desolation on the moon, or the state of desolation besieging the universe—but the state of desolation currently besieging human civilization!

We can help you do this. Begin by reading “Mars Reveals Your Universe Potential!” and then request your free copy of Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The Incredible Human Potential.