BY JUSTIN BENJAMIN

“It would be worth everything to go.” –Mars One Applicant

The documentary Mars One Way by Vita Brevis Films shares the aspirations of a handful of the applicants to Mars One, the first manned mission to Mars, a one-way trip that is set to land in Mars around 2024. According to the Mars One website, a team of about 24-40 applicants will be selected. 202,586 people applied.

These applicants state that they have little to aspire to on Earth, that they don’t have a lot going on, or that they have a unique affinity for confinement in small, enclosed spaces. “Once you’re gone, you’re technically dead to Earth,” an applicant says.

At first it was shocking to see how easy it was for these applicants to just want to leave everything behind. Don't these people see Earth’s unique creation and the potential that they have to be a part of it? What about the things they have spent their lives doing, creating, desiring? Are they tired of this world and of living in its brokenness? Are they searching to find what is missing on Earth?

I find myself feeling the same way sometimes. I want to see Jesus return, and all things restored on a new Earth, the pain in my body and the wounds in my heart healed fully. Sometimes, this world can seem unbearable. Romans 8 speaks about this longing in the Bible. “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).

Some of the applicants of this mission speak of a boyfriend or a girlfriend who is the only thing that would change their mind about going. One applicant is even married with kids. He would have to choose his family or his dream.

These applicants see that there is only one life that they will live – and we realize that we are all traveling one way. We will all live and die for something. We chase what we love.

What keeps you tethered to the ground?