Apollo Astronaut's Empty Success
On April 21, 1972, I became the tenth person to walk on the moon. I was 36 years old, the youngest astronaut to ever set foot on the lunar surface. It should have been the pinnacle of my life. But it wasn't.
At that time, my wife Dotty and I were regular churchgoers - everyone we knew went to church. But we had no personal relationship with Christ. Church was just something you did, a social expectation. I had no spiritual experience during my lunar mission, no sense of God's presence. I was too preoccupied with my career success, too focused on what NASA expected of me.
After Apollo 16, I retired from NASA in 1975 and entered private business. By then, my marriage was falling apart. The emptiness that had been growing inside me couldn't be filled by accomplishments or accolades. I had walked on the moon, but I was deeply unhappy. Dotty was struggling too.
When My Wife Found Jesus
Then something remarkable happened. Dotty found Jesus. She came home from a Bible study transformed, and I watched in amazement as my wife became a completely different person. The bitterness, the frustration - it all began to melt away as she surrendered to Christ. She had a peace and joy I had never seen in her before.
Charlie Duke's Salvation Experience
That got my attention. Whatever she had found, I wanted it too. About six years after my moon walk, in 1978, I finally surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. It wasn't dramatic at first - I simply got on my knees and asked Jesus to come into my heart. But everything changed.
For the first time in my life, I experienced true love, joy, and peace. The emptiness that no accomplishment could fill was suddenly overflowing with God's presence. Our marriage was restored. We fell in love again, this time with Christ at the center.
Walking with Jesus Forever
Now, in our eighties, Dotty and I travel the world together through Duke Ministry for Christ, sharing our testimony at churches, conferences, and wherever people will listen. We've partnered with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to point people to Jesus.
People often ask me about my Apollo experience. I tell them this: Walking on the moon was an incredible adventure. But it pales in comparison to walking with Jesus. That 1972 moon walk lasted just hours. My walk with Christ will last for eternity.
I used to be a spiritual infant despite my outward churchgoing. Now I understand what it means to have a real relationship with the living God. The moon was magnificent, but Jesus is everything.