I feel that God has been speaking some forgotten truths itnto my heart. Many years ago I got into an online scuffle where I had taken another blogger under my wing (back in the days of MSN Spaces), and had leapt to their defence when a hostile blogger had staqrted trolling them, My response was to start posting on the bloggers wall and try to be supportive. All this resulted in was being targeted by the young man doing the trolling, and drawing all his fire on to me. In truyj, I was okay with that in truth... because I had achieved my primary onjective and that was to take the heat off my friend. It subsequently tuned out (after multiple deletions of pure trolling attacks), that my would-be adversary let his mask slip and actually made a genuine point about some personal pain and grievance in his life. What he probably waasn't expecting was my not deleting that post and actually directly responding to it. In the end an uxpected peace and respect broke out.
Why am I bringing up this anecdotre? Well I believe ir turns out that past is prologue. You see, it turns out that my usual method wah of dealing with issues used to involve me ecomiing a tank. Let's just say in D&D terms I'd probably be a hill dwarf fighter paladin with massive healing.
Anyway I'd forgotten a lot of this personal character trait but I've recently been reminded of it because I think God may have use of it for me once again, hence the reminder.
So I figured I'd leave you with an example of this behaviour in action. For a comparison see Captain Sulu's timely arrival at the Battle od Khitomer in Star Trek VI.
I've recently started binge re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. For some reason I decided to rewatch the other Star Trek spin-offs first... so like Eric Morecambe, I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.
That last sentence is actually a useful metaphor for what I want to talk about today. It's all about people behaving in a completely alien fashion, and how it bemuses us, possibly angers us and how we need to overcome that hurdle if we are to move beyond that.
So, in the TNG episode "Darmok", the Enterprise crew encounter a species known as the Tamarians/Children of Tama, who are desperate to open a dialogue with the Federation. Great, no problem... except there's a catch; while the universal computer can translate all the relevant words into English... it can't make sense of how those words are utilised by the Tamarians in dialogue. All prior attempts at communication with the species have failed and no working relationship has ever been achieved.
Picard struggles to understand the Tamarians in the TNG epsiode, Darmok.
It turns out that the Tamarians speak in metaphors and use short statements from their mythology to convey the literal idea they wish to express. In the episode, the Captain of the vessel - Dathon, takes the radically unusual initiative of beaming himself and Captain Picard (the latter against his will), onto the planet surface to fight a creature in circumstances akin to those from Tamarian mythology. The idea eventually works... but does so at the cost of his own life and all the while, as Picard is struggling to understand and establish a dialogue... the situation in space between the two starships, deteriorates and culminates in a brief firefight. When the Enterprise is finally able to retrieve Picard, he hurries to the bridge and finally manages to speak to the Tamarians using what he learned from the encounter on the planet. The possibility of friendship finally exists between the Federation and the Tamarians... as they finally have a way to communicate.
This got me thinking about today's epistle reading, particularly the last verse:
"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Colossians 1:15-20
Scripture tells us that God's ways - like the Tamarians with the Federation, are completely foreign to us:
""For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.""
Isaiah 55:8-9
If you read the Bible it becomes very clear that humanity has struggled over the millennia to have a proper dialogue with God. There are a few touched individuals through the ages who are blessed with the ability to convey or interpret God's messages in prophetic manner but the struggle to grasp what God's agenda is, is often a very real one as from a temporal perspective, his motives don't always seem consistent... because of our wrongdoing, our sin... we look at the world through a limited perspective that is tainted by our selfishness. In order to overcome this language barrier, God - like Dathon, took the extraordinary step of allowing his fullness to dwell within the confines of the full human experience. However even then, in the Gospels... it becomes painfully apparent that the people he lived among struggled to understand the message he brought. You can clearly see Jesus acknowledgement, acceptance and even frustration with this at various times in the Gospel narratives.
Something even more radical needed to happen for God to be able to get through to us.
And that brings us once again to the cross.
There are many ways to look at Christ's sacrifice on the cross and I think some people (foolishly) fall into the trap of stating it means only one of those things... at the expense of the others; to do so, I think, means we miss out on the fullness of the message. To apply human psychology to God's reasoning for acting as he did... is to make the early mistakes of the Federation in dealing with the Tamarians - it is to foolishly use our own mindset to try and understand what somebody else (in God's case, infinitely higher and deeper), is saying. Some theologians have argued that the idea of God punishing Jesus for our sin is "cosmic child abuse"... but that is to entirely miss the point of Jesus's nature. If the fullness of God is within Christ... then it is not about God projecting His anger onto a wholly separate child, it is about Him taking responsibility for what angers Him, upon Himself. It is also to deny the gravity of our situation... God has to take extraordinary harsh means to deal with a situation we are utterly incapable of dealing with in our own strength.
But I want to look at one thing Jesus' sacrifice does, that is echoed in that Star Trek episode... and that is that it provides a "Eureka" moment. Regardless of any physical functionality behind Jesus' death, when we step back at look at the simple facts - that God, believing us to be unable to save ourselves from a very real danger that he perceived... decided to send himself in the form of his Son, to alert us to our circumstance and confront us with the fullness of divine love, set against the heart of human darkness; we are presented with an opportunity to recognise and respond to that love.
Humans respond to love - when somebody (known or unknown) does something moving for us as an act of love in any form, we are burdened to respond. We might find it inappropriate or incompatible with how we feel, and choose to reject it... or we might change our behaviour or circumstances to acknowledge or even embrace it... but love always by its very nature, demands a response.
When Jesus died on the cross and revealed his reasons for doing so, we were confronted with the depth of God's love.
If we choose to embrace that love... the door is opened. We begin to speak God's language - the Holy Spirit is available to us, in a way that before Jesus death... just wasn't possible.
But it all starts with a single, audacious and extraordinary event instigated by someone who seems alien to us.
In the Star Trek universe, April 5th (in the year 2063), the Vulcan race makes contact with Earth as a result of the flight of the Phoenix spacecraft flown by Zefram Cochrane:
Also if you are a fan of Babylon 5 (to your credit), you may know that the 7th April marks another first contact day for humanity - that of humans and Centauri.
Babylon 5 also celebrates a First Contact Day Around this time.
First Contact in science fiction normally represents a sea-change in the fortunes of the human race, an even that leads to a renaissance of technological and socio-political advancement... or in some cases to cataclysm. Often it leads to humanity reaching for the stars and spreading its influence across the galaxy. In Star Trek, it leads to the end of many of humanity's self imposed troubles and basic survival struggles.
As time goes on, fans of Star Trek commemorate the event and even here in Britain, the National Space Centre plays host to a gathering of fans who meet to celebrate (this year they are attempting to break the world record for redshirts in one place).
I can't help thinking that there's a better way to celebrate though, one that is all inclusive. Here, today on Earth... we have yet to encounter sentient alien life and are not therefore as yet challenged or encouraged in a manner in which such a discovery would present us. As a Christian I do believe we have had a very unique and special first contact - with God himself (something I wrote about two years ago), so I think there are other ways of looking at it.
Let's look at those famous words of dialogue from the franchise (taken from the Next Generation format):
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Starship
Enterprise.
It's continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds,
to
seek out new life and new civilisations,
to boldly go where no one has
gone before.
While none of us have an interstellar spacecraft at our disposal, each of us is on a similar journey in life. Our hearts, minds and souls contain the culture we carry to the outside world... and our bodies are the vessels with which we carry them to the universe outside.
So here are my suggestions/challenges for how you can celebrate First Contact Day throughout the course of this weekend in the everyday world... and stay true to the maxim of Star Trek:
Go to an unfamiliar place - a new pub, a new cafe, coffee shop, place of worship, library etc or visit a new town and study the environment around you.
Follow some new people on Twitter or other social media... preferably someone random and not suggested by your feed.
In each of those places try and strike up a conversation with an unfamiliar face - make first contact. You get bonus points if you connect with someone of a different worldview or background.
From my own Christian perspective, this is what the early church was best at - not just proselytising... but listening and observing the culture and needs of the people around it before sharing the wisdom of the Gospel message. True evangelism requires ears and heart... not just mouth. St Paul listened to the people of Athens and learnt about their shrine to an "unknown god", before proclaiming his belief in who that God was. I also believe that in a couple of verses, the Bible has its own version of the Star Trek intro:
"He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.’"
Acts 1:7-8
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20
However you choose to spend the next couple of days, may you live long... and prosper.
What things do you think we can do to celebrate First Contact Day?
Today is the day when members of the Facebook event 10eleven12 (organised by Andy Campbell), have been charged with finding a moment of inspiration and contribute a photograph, poem, blog post or other creative work and share it with other members in the group. As fate would have it this day is also the anniversary of Carl Sagan's birthday. I've had a blog brewing for a while and as Sagan was executive director in the Voyager Space Program... it seems fitting that today I write it.
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of watching Voyager: To the Final Frontier - a BBC4 programme featuring as part of the channels Big Science season. I've always held something of a fascination for the Voyager program - the ongoing story of two late 1970's space probes that were sent to analyse the Solar System's outer planets and having accomplished their mission, continue onwards through the void of local space on a new mission to become Earth's first interstellar spacecraft... and now in 2012 they (particularly Voyager 1), are on the verge of achieving this.
I believe those of us born in the 1970's can consider ourselves "Children of Voyager", we are the Star Wars generation - always looking outward from the desolate sands of this Tatooine... imagining what a brighter and more exciting future could await us if only we could break free of our restraints and limitations. When the Voyagers launched, I was merely an infant making my own first discoveries at the tender age of 2... I had already experienced my first major setback in life and was just literally getting back on my feet - though really, how many of us remember much from those first chaotic years as our brain begins to make sense of itself and define who we are?
Having a relatively contemporary timeline to the Voyager program, has caused me to think that perhaps we share something in common with those two mechanical space emissaries.
Like the probes, our journey begins at the same source... we emerge from the womb and begin our journey of exploration through life. The Voyagers both have golden discs attached to them which give hints and clues to anybody who should happen upon them about our diverse cultural heritage, our nature, our values, an invitation to discover us and directions on how to find us.
As a Christian I believe that we carry a similar message in our souls. It isn't visible, it isn't physical; it's not a golden disc inconveniently branded onto our buttocks. No, it is our very lives... our interactions with everyone we encounter, that reveal our culture, our nature, our values and if you are willing to accept it... the invitation and directions extended to others to come and meet with our creator - God. In fact the Bible tells us this is so... and this is the message we bear:
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Another way we are like the Voyager probes is that we take different journeys based on what our Creator plans for us. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are in completely different locations in space... this is because NASA decided to send Voyager 1 off to investigate Saturn's largest moon, Titan. This meant that the probe missed out on journeying to the other outer planets with its counterpart. For 10 years Voyager 2 continued throughout the Solar System recording data on Uranus & Neptune... and all this time Voyager 1 drifted in darkness encountering no planetary bodies at all.
Sometimes I think we can look at our lives and think we are drifting through nothingness. We see our friends and counterparts living active lives and being used for God's glory while we seem to be doing nothing... but really we are foolish to do this, it isn't a race and our journey is unique and not a carbon copy of anybody we encounter. In fact after his resurrection, Jesus gently rebuked the apostle Peter for enquiring after the future fate of John in comparison to his own. We may drift in silence, but God has a plan for each one of us and our moment will come... perhaps at an hour we do not expect. What became of Voyager 1? Did its mission end after it shot away into the darkness beyond Titan?
No. Billions of miles from Earth, as it reached the edge of the Solar System in 1990, Voyager 1 was given a command to turn its cameras around one last time and take a "Family Portrait" snapshot of our Solar system... our home. Among those images was perhaps one of the most humbling pictures you will ever see when it comes to contemplating our place in the universe:
The Pale Blue Dot
Entitled "The Pale Blue Dot", the photograph depicts a single pinprick of blue riding on a single sunbeam of solar wind. That dot is us... all of us. Voyager 1 may have missed out on many of the encounters that Voyager 2 experienced... but it had its own special moment of glory. When you see people around you living out the joys and experiences you feel you are missing out, have faith that your moment will come... your trajectory is your own and your own experiences will have just as much value in the long run.
On a personal note, for several years I've been periodically orbiting the same Bible passage from Isaiah over and over again:
“For a long time I have kept silent,I have been quiet and held myself back.But now, like a woman in childbirth,I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hillsand dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islandsand dry up the pools.I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."
Isaiah 42:14-16
I used to think the imagery in that passage was quite strange until I looked at what the end result of the actions described would be. Mountains and rivers mark the natural borders of kingdoms... the barriers that impede and prevent us from passing from one place to another and keep us confined within a sandbox. When God takes down the mountains, dries up the rivers and burns up the briers, he removes the obstacles that prevent us from heading off into new and exciting territories.
There is however a cost.... and again it is a cost that the Voyagers share in their journey.
As they traverse the area of space at the very edge of our Solar System known as the Heliosheath, the Voyagers are to all intents and purposes blind; they aren't passing any known physical objects and so there cameras are deemed to be of no further use. To maximise their working life and to prepare them for that final step beyond into interstellar space, NASA shut off the probes' cameras to conserve battery power.
I think there's a lesson to be learned there for us (especially me) there too. If we are to make the most of our journey... if we are really going to move beyond our limitations and into God's promises... we can't waste energy looking back at where we once were, or looking across at our neighbour and observing how successful they are. If we want the darkness before us to turn into light, we have to shut off our over analysing cameras and paradoxically submit ourselves to a kind of blindness. for God says that He "will lead the blind by ways they have not known". How can He do this if we resist it by turning our gaze elsewhere?
Finally I want to take a look at the fantastical. We don't know what awaits the Voyagers once they disappear into the night, but science fiction offers us some tantalising (if far-fetched) possibilities. In the 1984 film Starman, Voyager 2 is encountered by an alien race who in response send an emissary of their own with miraculous powers, to walk about among us and learn from us. As we journey deeper into our relationship with God, it opens up more areas of our life for his Holy Spirit to enter and testify to the others around us about the presence and love of God.
However it's the fate of the fictional Voyager 6 in Star Trek: The Motion Picture that I want to focus on:
In the film, Voyager 6 became the entity known as V'Ger. It was programmed by NASA to "learn all that is learnable and return that knowledge to the creator". However V'Ger didn't simply want to hand over its notes like a good schoolboy; it wanted to be united with its Creator. As we move through life in our walk with Christ, we should be striving for the same thing. That on the final day when we have learned all that we can, loved as unreservedly as we can and fulfilled all that was asked of us we shall be called Home into full union with God... no longer seeing a reflection in a mirror but seeing face to face; no longer knowing in part but knowing fully... as we are fully known.
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Who Will succeed Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury?
If you are a regular follower of my blog... I think you know what to expect. A poll will follow at the end, which I would be honoured if you would please vote on... and remember it is just for fun. :)
Candidate 1: Gandalf the White (The Lord of the Rings)
As you are probably aware, throughout his tenure as existing Archbishop of Canterbury (and possibly even prior to this), Rowan Williams picked up the affectionate nickname of Gandalf. I even joked a few weeks ago that after his resignation, Rowan would return to the role as Rowan the White. However let us consider for a moment the possibility that the ACTUAL Gandalf inherited the role of Primate. Having one of Tolkien's Istari on board, would come in extremely handy. Apart from demonstrating powerful magical abilities, effective combat against the forces of evil and dispensing wisdom to the the peoples of Middle Earth, as Archbishop Gandalf would guarantee a world beating display of New Year fireworks along the Thames during his tenure. Oh and he already has a handy stick.
Candidate 2: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)
If beards are your thing and you want an alternative to Gandalf, why not choose old Ben? In an illustrious career only slightly marred by one pastoral failure with an apprentice (although... true, it did lead to the subsequent near extinction of his order), Ben Kenobi would be a great choice for a Church of England seeking to reach out to a generation yearning for action and purpose, that feels forgotten and trapped in a bleak environment. Furthermore if anything nasty should befall him, he'll just return with an eerie blue glow and hand out even more inspirational advice to the Anglican Communion.
Candidate 3: Ambassador Kosh Naranek (Babylon 5)
Perhaps an outside choice in science fiction circles, Kosh might just prove to be an important bridge between a church that is sometimes perceived as distant and disconnected from society. The Vorlons faced similar accusations (Kosh himself didn't help by implying they took no interest in the affairs of others), however to the very contrary they had a finger in every single pie and were very involved in the affairs of others. The Vorlons in general were bastions of order... but Kosh demonstrated a genuine care and compassion for the aliens he encountered that was unique. It is true that half the things he said would confuse even the best cryptic crossword solver, but you can't doubt his motives or his achievements.... and although shy and retiring... when he comes out of his shell his actions can be perceived to be angelic. However... be very wary of the guy who follows after him.
Candidate 4: Spock (Star Trek)
Spock would surely have to be the logical choice. Although half human and capable of emotion, his unswerving devotion to the merits of logic would ensure that personal feeling would not compromise any theological debates. Also... let's not forget that Spock himself has a certain level of insight into the meaning of great personal sacrifice and resurrection which are surely invaluable. However, it should be noted that whilst logic and theology have their place and might endear him to some traditionalists, a lack of emotion might equally isolate him from charismatics and liberals... and this should be borne in mind.
Candidate 5: The Doctor (Doctor Who)
"It's a mitre. I wear a mitre now. Mitres are cool!" He's defended the planet Earth from hostile forces an innumerable amount of times, he has gone face to face with demons and even the Devil himself. Having been compared to a god on several occasions, could the beloved time-travelling wild old man of the universe have a realistic role in shaping the Anglican Church of the future? It is certainly true that Christians should be like the TARDIS (living lives that are bigger on the inside than on the outside), however churches should definitely be the other way round - bigger on the outside (in the community), than on the inside (within its walls). The Doctor would probably take issue with forms of worship that didn't get congregations to think about and engage with what they believed in... he'd be very much against anything that lulled people into what he perceived as a mindless conforming pattern like the Cybermen. However The Doctor would be excellent at travelling across the entire length and breadth of the Church of England with his TARDIS (only missing important appointments by a couple of years every now and then), and he could offer something unique that other candidates could not - a personal pilgrimage to see events from the Bible as they happened. Some might question whether a Time Lord who is difficult to tie down in any place and time is fit for permanent office, but let's not forget he held the Presidency of the High Council of Gallifrey for a time.
So there are my amusing alternatives. Please do vote and if you have any other alternatives or serious suggestions, please do get in touch and comment below... I'd love to hear what you have to say...
As any self respecting Trekkie/Trekker will be aware, April 5th is an auspicious day in Trek lore; this date marks the moment when for the first time, the human race made first contact with an alien species (the Vulcans).
Zefram Cochrane Greets A Vulcan in Star Trek: First Contact
Because the date falls in Holy Week this year, it has caused me to ponder the nature of first contact and how in some ways it relates to the great act of reconciliation performed by Christ on that terrible, precious and wondrous day, some 2,000 years ago.
"But wait!" I hear you cry, "Star Trek has nothing to do with religion. In the 24th century, humanity is completely secularised and has no belief in a deity". I could cite several facts that dispute the absolutism of this claim from the show's own canon... but my aim here is not to say "Star Trek is religious" but rather instead to look at an event from Star Trek's timeline and look at how its subsequent effect parallels a spiritual truth. That said, if you want to read more about the case being made for religion in Star Trek, I thoroughly recommend the insights in this article by Chase Masterson, who played Leeta in Deep Space 9.
What really stands out to me about the first contact scenario in Star Trek, is that contact is prohibited with a species until they have passed a certain milestone... the achievement of warp drive (the rationale being that for a species to have acquired the technology necessary, they must have reached a certain level of intelligence and peaceful coexistence). Prior to April 5th 2063 in Star Trek's history, it is only through misadventure or villainy that humans encountered aliens at all... and they certainly don't have a day to day relationship with the visitors.
This to me is in many ways very similar to our spiritual condition and how we relate to God. In the ancient past God spoke to our ancestors and forefathers through prophets and teachers who were specially appointed by him. However we weren't able to broaden our horizons and have an intimate relationship with him, due to our brokenness and sinful nature (our way of life that was centred around selfish living and hostility towards God's desire for us to be dependent on Him). What we needed was a game changing event that drew us nearer to God... not a technological milestone, but a spiritual one.
In Star Trek, humanity finally passed the milestone of warp drive through Zefram Cochrane's development of warp technology and his first flight aboard his spaceship, The Phoenix. There was an irony in the design of the Phoenix... it's first stage engines were originally part of a nuclear missile... and so it was that a symbol of death and destruction became integral to the ushering in the dawn of a new age of peace and happiness on the planet Earth:
This for me is in many ways exactly what Jesus did for us on that other universally acknowledged symbol of death - the cross. It was Christ's willing sacrifice on the cross that made it possible for people to become close to God in a properly established relationship. Jesus Christ - The Alpha and Omega, the First and Last... became our first contact. The cross became the warp signature that lit up the night sky and brought us firmly into God's spotlight.
There are a couple of very important differences of course. Zefram Cochrane was one man among many... if he had not invented warp drive, then it would certainly have been achievable by another character at some point in the future of humanity. Jesus was and is not just another human being. He was in his very nature, God as well as human. There could never be another Jesus... only he was able to bridge the gap between man and God because of the fact that he was uniquely both.
Technology can be developed by many people but atonement was only achievable by The One.
As I previously mentioned, in Star Trek the achievement of warp drive is seen as an indicator that a race is refined and sophisticated enough to be worthy of contact by advanced alien species... but the cross exists because the very opposite is true. We are not worthy... we are not ready, but when God looks at the cross he sees us as ready because he sees us through the lens of his Son, Jesus.
As we move towards Good Friday, we remember the milestone that made our own personal first contact with God possible.... and just as the Vulcans descended to Earth to commune with those first humans, Jesus Christ stands at the threshold of each of our lives with the deep hope and intent that we too, will commune with him:
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that
person, and they with me."
Revelation 3:20
The Most Important First Contact You Will Ever Make.
Jesus said that he had come that we may have life and have it in abundance... to the full!
In knowing him, may you live long... and prosper.
Things to share:
Have you made "first contact" with God? What was it like for you?
What are your thoughts about religion and Star Trek?
I've been thinking a lot about how some diversions can be incredibly important, even if we don't know it at the time.
Sometimes on "The Way" we have to go a bit out of our way.
Having got home from work incredibly late last night, I found my way wandering towards the supermarket to pick up something that could vaguely be described as dinner. On the way there I ran into a friend's dad who was returning from the pub. This particular friend has had a few problems and has been off radar for a while, so I decided to enquire as to how he was and chatted to his dad for a few minutes. In the course of the conversation I discovered that my friend was in the aforementioned pub. We went our separate ways and I continued to the supermarket. I was going to text my friend but in my heart I believed the right thing to do was to go and meet him. Having left the shop I made my way to the pub, found my friend and chatted to him for about an hour or so... checking up on him and putting the world to rights.
We don't live to ourselves alone and sometimes we have to accept that on our own personal journeys, situations or opportunities are going to arise that require us to go off on a tangent into unexpected places or circumstances.
If we look at the Bible there are plenty of examples of this. Some come through an act of God, others come through consequence and still others come through a conscious decision. To quote just a few of these examples: Joseph was diverted from life at his father's side by his brothers' choice to sell him into slavery; Moses was diverted away from Egypt and into Midian after he beat an Egyptian oppressor to death; Elijah was diverted to Mount Horeb after pronouncing judgement on the prophets of Baal; Jonah diverted himself when God called on him to preach to the Assyrians in Nineveh... and the apostle Paul was diverted to Macedonia by the Holy Spirit, when he tried to get to Bithynia.
In each of the situations listed above, God uses the traveller's change of direction to bring about a change in their character or their calling... or to directly benefit the lives of the new people he encounters. Joseph ascended to position of power where he became an instrument of salvation both for Egypt and his own people. Moses was brought to a place where his fugitive self would dwindle as he learned how to become a shepherd... first merely with sheep... but later a shepherd of Israel. many generations later, Elijah found himself at the exact same spot - both geographically and emotionally. Elijah had just witnessed the might and power of God manifested in an awesome public display, he had every reason to feel confident; yet he found himself fleeing in terror at the threat of repercussions to his ministry. How many of us have experienced that very same emotion? How many of us have ridden the crest of a spiritual wave and felt overexposed, naked and vulnerable when the momentum has ebbed away? I would wager it happens to a great many people.
Jonah's notorious disobedience resulted in an arguable enhancement of his prophetic ministry. When God called him to account and caused him to end up inside the belly of a great fish, Jonah found himself stewed in its gastric juices. He repented, was delivered and became the inheritor of a literal "big fish" story. The city he was being sent to (Nineveh), was a centre of Dagon worship at the time. Dagon was to all intents and purposes a manfish god. Imagine how much his gastric bleached appearance coupled with his bizarre account would have amplified his message and ministry.
When Paul tried to travel from Mysia to Bithynia, we are told the Holy Spirit would not allow him to cross the river Rhyndacus (which served as the border). We are not told quite how that worked... but the subsequent vision that Paul received led him in the direction of Macedonia instead... which led to a series of eventful stories from his ministry... not least of which was his miraculous "non-escape" from jail.
However, my favourite diversionary story comes from the ministry of Jesus:
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains
apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to
subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus,
Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”
He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into
the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep
bank into the lake and were drowned.
Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and
countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.
When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the
legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and
they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 4:35-5:19
Most people treat these two stories above as separate isolated incidents. I find this strange as the narrative clearly indicates that the stories flow into one another. I have long held the belief that Jesus got in the boat and faced the fierce squall because he was travelling to meet and release the Gerasenes demoniac. Not only that, but it appears this was also the one and only reason he did it... because no sooner had he driven Legion out of his victim, he was back off in the boat again to raise Jairus' daughter on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
I think this is fantastic because it demonstrates that there are no mathematics, numbers or equations in God's compassion. Everything Jesus does is motivated by love - amor propter caritatem (love for love's sake). Whether the cause is one person... or the entire human race, the cost is never too high. Jesus put himself and his apostles in harm's way, for the benefit of one individual (at least I'm sure that's how the apostles saw it at the time).
The needs of the many...
In Star Trek, there is a wonderful philosophical revolving door that mirrors this concept. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock lays down his life to save everybody aboard the Enterprise. As his body begins to fail due to being saturated with radiation poisoning, he presses himself up against the glass partition that separates him from Captain Kirk and points out that he did it because "the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few... or the one". It's a touching and very sad scene and the philosophy behind it has caused the line to be quoted frequently ever since.
The needs of the one...
However in the very next film in the series - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, this very concept is turned completely on its head as Captain Kirk and the rest of the main characters risk their careers, the USS Enterprise and their very lives in a desperate bid to recover Spock's body and reintegrate it with his katra (soul), which is residing inside Doctor McCoy. When the resurrected Spock asks Kirk why he did it, Kirk replies "Because the needs of the one, outweigh the needs of the many".
One of the great traps religions often fall into is a focus on the collective at the expense of the individual; this leads to a bureaucratic form of management that is more suited to machinery. On the other hand, other religions fall into the other pitfall of focusing on personal enlightenment and development which can become a form of isolationism if done out of context.
Neither of these concepts really match the one that the Church was modelled on. As a Christian, I believe the great thing about a relationship with
Christ is that value is place on the individual as well as the
collective. The model the Church is supposed to follow is that of the body. As Paul so eloquently demonstrated in his first letter to the Corinthians, though we make up one body we equally have our place and have our own value. If one part suffers or has a need, the rest of the body suffers or shares that need. If you injure your leg,you will shift the weight of your entire body to ease the burden on that leg.
We are not machines and we are not amoebas. If we are truly serious about being a body... a family, then we need to accept that we too will sometimes have to "shift weight". We can't always go our own way and do our own thing. Yes, we may have a certain calling or way of doing things... but being a Christian means accepting that we can be diverted from these things for the sake of Christ.
I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have... specifically with regard to (but not restricted to) the following questions:
Have you ever been significantly diverted by God in your Christian life?
Do you have any personal examples of "The needs of the many are greater than the needs of the few"?
Do you have any personal examples of "The needs of the few are greater than the needs of the many"?
In the past couple of weeks I've decided to take up running as a bit of a pastime. My current tactics are to run for approximately 30 minutes - one day on, one day off.
It's not something I've really done before and it already feels like it is taking some time to make any progress whatsoever. It is something that isn't helped by my stubborn attitude and disregard for regimens that are there to help build me up slow and steady. In my first week I was supposed to be walking for 90 seconds and running for 60... but I was literally deciding to run before I could walk and doing it the other way round... something I wasn't supposed to be doing until this second week.
I'm also being aided and hindered in equal spades by my iPhone and its random music selection. I find myself running/jogging to the pace dictated by the music rather than setting something that is comfortable for the length of time I'm engaging in the activity. It gets worse if a track pops up that spurs me on.... because I abandon any timing discipline and then just throw myself into pushing through the entire song at pace.
All this aside, I have noticed some benefit. I'm able to push myself for slightly longer for those songs for a start; I'm also shaving off the time it takes me to get round the course I've plotted out for myself. This is forcing me to look at ways to expand the distance I run because I'm in danger of coming in from my runs too quickly... I need to keep to that 30 minute window.
So what on Earth has spurred me into this formerly uncharacteristic course of action? Is it just a desire to lose a bit of weight and get fit... or is there more to it than that?
I have several reasons and yes, fitness and wellbeing are among them. However at the heart of my actions lies a far more fundamentally important reason. Ever since I have returned from Italy, I have felt a spiritual energy that has kept me buoyant and forward thinking. I don't want to lose or forget that... I need to remember. There are beacons in the distance that I need to be aiming for, beacons that at the moment I have no idea how to to reach... but at some point in the not to distant future I'm going to have to punch the core and make a break for them. However, I live in a quiet corner of the galaxy that has a habit of putting dreams and ideas to sleep... of subjecting you to a kind of spiritual oppression and putting you in your place... even if it's not the place you need to be.
More than this, I feel I've returned to a land of pessimism that needs to remember its own hopes and promises. There was a baptism in my church the other week and several people commented that "we'll not see them again". Furthermore, I also caught myself feeling quite glum at the prospect of worshipping in what felt like a godless environment... until I realised the magnitude of what those feelings do to you and fought back hard with a renewed sense of zeal and evangelistic vigour.
If you've ever seen the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Unforgettable", then you'll have seen a parallel of what I'm talking about. In the episode, the first officer Chakotay falls in love with a woman from a species who fade out of a person's living memory when they leave them. At the end of this particular episode, the woman Chakotay has a relationship with leaves... and as she does so, a the ship's computer memory banks and the crew's memories begin to lose the knowledge of who she was. Desperate not to forget the memory of this woman and what the time spent with her meant to him, Chakotay resorts to the most rudimentary of writing implements - pen and paper, in a bid to permanently record the memories before he loses them forever.
That is kind of what I am doing. I don't want to lose the memories of what I have felt, what I have experienced and what I have learned about myself... and until such a time as I find a way to commit to a course of action that honours those sentiments, I am determined to do what I can to hold on to what I have already attained. I also don't want to see what life that remains in my church, choked out of it... I want people to learn once again to look at the Son (sic) and not at the shadows.
And so I run... and I keep on running... pushing myself and reminding myself that every strained breath keeps the other, nobler, higher more distant aims fresh in my mind until an opportunity, a path or a choice appears that I can commit my energy to.
And I'm not just running with my body.
A few of us have been in the habit of praying weekly at church... but different people's commitments are making it hard to stick to the agreed time and day. This I decided was an opportunity and not a difficulty to overcome... and so I now do my best to pop in every work night, even if it's just for a few minutes, to make sure God gets more... not less out of the new set of circumstances.
I run now... to better myself in every way - body, mind and soul, in the hope that I can glorify God by becoming the man he wants to be as and when he chooses and to sustain the momentum that he put in my heart.
Do you hear a call to start running in some way today?
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do
it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that
will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I
have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the
prize."
Sometimes thinking can be like what I imagine fishing to be like. You can be sat there quietly contemplating nothing of significance, when all of a sudden an idea floats down the stream of thoughts that bites on your hook and all of a sudden you get all excited and start reeling it in like mad... eager to land your epiphany before it escapes into the murky waters of obscurity and amnesia.
A thought like this hit me just this afternoon (you can blame the bank holiday). I have no idea where it came from... I just knew that I needed to grab on and hold tight when it hit me. I had been watching a 5 minute summary video of all the Doctor Who episodes that have taken place to date and had been reading an introductory article that had been posted on my Facebook wall, which mentioned the upcoming 50 year anniversary.
Rumour has it that Steven Moffat has something special and massive in the pipeline, when one considers the way that next year's Doctor Who series has been spaced out to overlap with 2013 (presumably making the anniversary year a bumper one), you really get the impression he is making BIG plans. This led me to thinking about what I'd like to see in a 50th anniversary special... and how if it were a multi Doctor story, you'd get past the difficulty of Christopher Eccleston vetoing any further performances as The Doctor. For the 50th anniversary something REALLY special needs to be done. 50 is the one that every generation that has seen Doctor Who... will be around at the same time. If you go as far as 100, hardly anyone who watched at the start with William Hartnell will in probability be alive. So now is the time to pull the stops out.
And that is when... all at once, in a congealed mass.... it hit me.
A multi Doctor story doesn't have to feature all the actors getting together. They could do an 11th Doctor story (possibly a crossover with the Tenth Doctor), where The Doctor has to deal with an enemy who has been interfering in events behind the scenes in his previous adventures. The production team could film the live action segments as per normal and then create sets cleverly dressed up to look like some of those used in classic episodes. They could then green screen Matt Smith (and whoever accompanies him), into the background of several re-edited scenes from classic episodes (ideally one from each of his 10 predecessors). It may sound crazy and if it is executed poorly, it won't come off well and it will be rubbish... but if they get it right, everyone will be ecstatic.
Is it really that much of a stretch? I don't think so... after all, in The Impossible Astronaut, the production team did indeed dabble with the relevant technology in a scene involving Laurel and Hardy. In fact... could this little snippet actually have been an experiment on the part of the production team to see if they could push the envelope for such a project... on a BBC budget? I hope so.
Matt Smith as The Doctor, integrated into vintage footage of Laurel & Hardy
It isn't the first time it has happened either. The first time such a technique was used so seamlessly in the mainstream as far as I can recall, was the film Forrest Gump. Here's an example of it in a famous scene involving Tom Hanks actually interacting with footage of JFK:
The same technique was also used to great effect on television shortly after in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine anniversary tribute episode, Trials and Tribble-ations:
So in conclusion then, it can be done. I don't know if Moffat plans something quite so bold and ambitious with Doctor Who's 50th, but especially in the still relatively recent passing of Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen, wouldn't it be a wonderful way to pay tribute to ALL the people who have contributed to the legend of The Doctor (on and off screen), since 1963?
That's quite a daunting prospect for me... afraid as I am of the whole idea of flying.
However, as I prepare to head out into the skies above Europe, one thought occupies my mind. It is the memory of a vision I had many years ago whilst praying. I've shared it here before, but I have special reason for raising it again now.
In my vision, I saw an eagle hovering over a cliff top and stripping the nest of it's young.
I felt very strongly that God was saying to me, that this was his desire for me - that he was going to take away the things that forced me to stay on the ledge, he was calling me to fly with him. This image remained with me and was bolstered by a two friends independently telling me the same story (but crucially ending it differently).
The story concerned a man who had stolen an eagle's egg and had taken it home to his farm to hatch it among his chickens.
As the eagle grows, it pecks the dirt along with the chickens it has lived among. Then one day, as it reaches adulthood; a great eagle flies over the farm. Looking up, the eagle asks his chicken "siblings" what it is. They tell him that it is an eagle and that it belongs to the sky... but they are chickens and they belong to the ground.
Sadly in one version, the eagle takes heed of the chickens... and lives out it's days believing it was nothing more.
Crucially though, I also heard a version where the eagle listens to an unheard voice... a deeper call. It beats it's wings, takes to the sky and lets the thermals take it up to be with it's own kind.
My fears and anxieties would have me peck in the dirt till the end of my days. The people who have pegged me in a certain light, would have me remain in the mould they have cast for me. Since I booked my holiday last year, a lot of things have been happening to try and discourage me... the political unrest flaring up in Gaza... the increase in the number of planes dropping out of the sky.
This is me saying no to it all. This is me saying, I've got to trust that voice within - the one who calls me from the cliff side... trust him no matter what happens and no matter where he takes me. This is me breaking through the latex barrier that protects me and yet prevents me from exposing myself to situations where I can potentially thrive.
And as I take to the skies literally, in a very real sense my actions will be heralding a far more important flight somewhere deep within my soul.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31
Jesus also said that he who wants to save his life will lose it, but he who is prepared to lose it for him, will live. We often tend to regard that saying as to the physical concept of life and death. I'm not sure that's the only way it should be seen though. Jesus also told the parable of the talents. That's a tale where a man loses everything because he's not prepared to risk what he's been given. Now I'm not advocating gambling here. I'm talking about the willingness to invest in things God tells you to invest in, even though you don't see a potential harvest. That's the kind of living sacrifice I talk about. If we aren't prepared to take those risks, then I truly believe that parts of us begin to die.
As Captain Kirk once said: "risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair."
In fact I'll play you out with the theme song from the much maligned Star Trek series, Enterprise... because it encapsulates a lot of what I am speaking about.
I was watching Enterprise the other day (I have to say I think the souped up version of the theme sounds really naff and US sitcom or Aussie soap-like). There were a couple of points I wanted to make about it.
The first thing is with regard to what has become a running joke with the T4 presenters at the end of each episode. The Enterprise fan's campaign to save the show at a cost of $30,000,000! The fans of Enterprise have lost the plot a bit if you ask me. Although I'm not a humanist, I recognise that some of the Star Trek's ideology has value in the real world... namely: not being materialistic and working together as a race to overcome common problems. What could be more hypocritical than a group of people who like are inspired by a TV programme that preaches those values, clubbing together to raise money for a television programme? Think of the amount of good causes that money could be invested in... think of how such a sum could contribute to tackling some of the world's major problems! They should stop being so materialistic and let the programme die. there have been dozens of programme's I have liked, but when they've gone the way of the dodo, I've accepted it and moved on.
Having said that. I also wanted to make a point about the episode on Sunday. In it, one of the major character's falls in to a coma, and the Captain and Dr make a tough decision with regards to saving him. They take his DNA and inject it into a larvae that will take on the person's DNA and grow from infancy into a carbon copy of the character (in an accelerated life-span of 15 days). However it also acquires the personality and memories of him, as he reaches the approximate age of those memories.
The problem is, that the clone has been bred for one reason and one reason alone... to save the life of the genuine character. As he reaches a level of consciousness and awareness, he develops his own dreams, memories and attachments... he wants to live his life out himself irrespective of the consequences for the original character.
However, in the end he knows what the right thing to do is, and he does it. By losing his own life, he saves the life of a man who could not be saved by any other means.
This really came across to me as a parable of the story of Christ. He too, was born for a single purpose... he could have rejected that purpose and been whoever he wanted. Thank God, he didn't!
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