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Faith and Culture: Spokane Astronaut Michael Anderson February 03, 2003 Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134627141_anderson03m.html Monday, February 03, 2003, 12:00 a.m. Pacific Spokane astronaut 'belonged to this age' By Jonathan Martin Seattle Times staff reporter SPOKANE — A day after tragedy claimed one of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church's most cherished sons, friends of astronaut Michael Anderson celebrated their belief that he was in a place higher than space. The church gave an emotional tribute to Anderson, among the seven who died Saturday aboard the space shuttle Columbia. A gospel choir brought the mostly black congregation to its feet with a rousing "Amazing Grace." Dripping with sweat, the church pastor finished a two-hour service by holding an altar call. The Rev. Freeman Simmons, Anderson's childhood pastor, chuckled at Anderson's singular sense of purpose. It took Anderson about two months to fall in love with, court and marry the daughter of another church family, Sandra Hawkins, said Simmons, who presided at their wedding. Citing a Bible verse, Simmons said, "To this end I am unto the world, to this end I was born. Mike was born to do this." The church, in a statement released yesterday, said, "He belonged to more than his family, more than his race, more than his different affiliations. He belonged to this age." Friends called him an inspiration to a generation of children. He spent a day at his alma mater, Cheney High School, after his 1998 space-shuttle mission, talking to students and giving the school a Cheney Blackhawks banner taken into space. As Morning Star's services were starting yesterday, a group of children in the historically black neighborhood rode by on bikes. They said they'd heard about Anderson from news coverage and wanted to see where he'd come from. When speaking to schoolchildren, the Rev. Happy Watkins, a black community leader who taught Anderson in Sunday school, cites Anderson's progression from Air Force brat to two-time space traveler. "I talk about Mike Anderson and Martin Luther King Jr. almost in the same breath because both had a cause and a means to achieve it," said Watkins. "I tell kids, if he can do it, overcoming barriers, anyone can." His success is notable in a mostly white town with a history of racial strife and a tiny black minority. Anderson's mother, Barbara Anderson, said Saturday that her son knew his success would come only from hard work. "He knew he had to have the right stuff," she said. "He knew he had no political pull. He didn't get nothing handed to him because he was somebody's son." Spokane Mayor John Powers, who attended the service at Morning Star Baptist yesterday, said he'd like to see a permanent memorial constructed to honor Anderson. "Would that each of us live a life like he did," said Powers. The church is planning a large memorial service later this week when Anderson's parents return from Houston. The Andersons planned to leave early today. Anderson accepted his parents' Christian faith at age 12 and kept in touch with his hometown church. He invited Morning Star Baptist minister John Claiborne to watch the Columbia's launch in Houston, an offer Claiborne had to decline. His family's faith helped soothe their grief. "It was God's will for it to happen," said his father, Bobbie Anderson, a few hours after learning of his son's death. "Man does not have control over his life span. When God says it's over with, it is." Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company |
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