Doctor Who: The Beast Below, and Musing Over Responsibilty & Love vs Fear

Another cracking episode which helps to further cement Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor, and brings Amy Pond more into the limelight as a character in her own right.

I'm glad that one thing Moffat has retained from previous "New Who", is the practice of tipping the hat to other science fiction creations. Amongst the more obvious nods were a tribute to the garbage compactor/space slug scenes in Star Wars from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Arthur Dent/Amy Pond travelling the universe in nightclothes), and Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (the featured starship is a self contained world travelling on the back of a star whale... in a manner not unlike Pratchett's Great A'Tuin).

Amy's first adventure with the Doctor lands her in the far future onboard the Starship UK, a vast vessel that carries all the citizens of Britain onwards towards a new home among the stars (well, apart from Scotland which demanded its own starship... *sigh*).

However all is not as it seems.

There is a dark secret concerning the ship's existence. The Doctor realises this when noting that a ship the size of Starship UK should have engines so big, that the decks vibrate. He's not alone in this realisation... the mysterious Liz 10, who turns out to be no less than Queen Elizabeth X of Great Britain also has suspicions that something is amiss. In actual fact the dark truth behind Starship UK is available to everyone above voting age, it's just that when they decide to learn the truth... they find the knowledge so disturbing that instead of protesting (or in the case of the Queen, abdicating), they choose to have their memory of being educated, erased. Those few who do protest are cast into a pit of food waste and digested as The Doctor and Amy discover, when after having her memory erased... they decide to investigate the booth again (although as the booth doesn't recognise the Doctor as human he can only trigger the protest/forget mechanism).

It is at this point that they realise that far from being in a conventional rubbish dump... they are actually inside the maw of the titular "Beast Below".

Ever inventive, The Doctor forms an undignified exit strategy (stimulating the creature to vomit and hence flushing him and Amy out through another orifice). Upon their escape, they are met by Liz 10 and the whole party find themselves taken into custody and escorted to The Tower of London.

It's at this point that we as the viewers learn the truth behind Starship UK. It was built upon the back of the last Star Whale which was thought to be drifting aimlessly around the Earth as it entered its last days. The Government of the day captured the beast, built a self contained world on its back and attached pain giving implants that tortured it into being subservient. The Doctor is incensed and angry at humanity for putting him in the position of making a terrible choice of his own. Even Amy doesn't escape his anger because even though she is not involved, she still decided to conveniently lose her knowledge and left herself a message to try and dissuade the Doctor from learning the truth.

"Nobody human has anything to say to me today!"

Believing that if he frees the star whale the migrating Britons will die and if he doesn't, the beast will continue to suffer in agony; The Doctor reasons that the only choice left open to him, is to overload the pain giving equipment and send the star whale into a persistent vegetative state... where it will continue in slavery but be unable to feel its pain.

However as he is about to carry out his plan, Amy has a sudden epiphany. She realises that the star whale is like the Doctor... being the last of its kind, it cannot bear to see the children of another species suffer, and so far from drifting into the vicinity of Earth by chance... had actually chosen to come to offer itself freely. She grabs the Queen's hand and slams it down on the "Abdicate" button. The clamps and implants are retracted from the star whale... but it does not fight free, instead it chooses to continue on its journey as willing saviour of the British people.

For me, the two most important themes explored by the episode were responsibility (the importance of the choices we make when we can no longer claim innocence from the truth), and the contrast between fear and love as motivational forces.

When I think on the subject of responsibility, it is clear to me that the human race has an amazing knack for going into denial... by either shifting responsibility, or simply finding new and ever more elaborate ways of perfecting the *shrug* gesture.

Biblically you can see this trait from the outset... it starts with Adam "What fruit? Oh this fruit? Oh... I didn't know... it's the woman's fault!" and then Eve "Me? Oh I only ate it because I was tricked so even though you told me not to eat it in the first place... it's not my fault".

Historically we've been the same ever since. One might argue that the current troubles engulfing the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, stem from this very same attitude... but although that's a rather extreme example, let's not forget we are all capable in our own way of covering up things we should not have done in the first place..

I guess we find it easier to get on with something if we bury our heads in the sand and hope that it will go away. None of us likes to admit to our own fallibility.

I think that's because when we are confronted with our fallibility, we are equally confronted with the truth that we are not safe drivers when it comes to life... and there is a fundamental problem when we put ourselves at the centre of our universe (it's a place we as human individuals are not meant to occupy).

As for fear and love, I'm always reminded of the following passage written by the apostle John:

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

1 John 4:18

It's a favourite passage of mine admittedly, and I'm sure I've quoted it here before... but it seems relevant here. The Government of Starship UK were so governed by fear that it didn't once enter their mind to consider that the star whale had come to Earth to help... they just saw it as something to take advantage of. They substituted their fear of death for a fear of consequence.

What would happen if they ever did the right thing by the star whale? It would save itself and destroy them wouldn't it?

Wouldn't it?

However... the star whale was not ruled or motivated by fear. The star whale was motivated by love. It came to Earth because it heard the cries of children... and it came to lend whatever help it could to aid them in their plight. It didn't expect to my enslaved and tortured... but do you know what the wonderful thing was? It never stopped loving. Sure, it lashed out at its persecutors...  but in the end when they let go of the fear that motivated them... it continued to bear them across the stars.

For me, the love of Jesus goes beyond even that. He didn't even lash out at the people who conspired to kill him. His love extended even to those who punished him... "Father forgive them".

One of the major difficulties I have with various religious institutions is that they can become so wrapped up in their own fear that they don't give God's love, breathing room. For some it's a fear of looking stupid if asked to step out and do something radical for God - like praying for healing and "what if nothing happens?" For others it's a fear that the mistakes/sins of individuals will reflect badly on the Church as a whole, and so a conspiracy of silence is embraced. For still others there is a fear of losing the traditions and patterns of worship they are most comfortable with, and so a rod of iron and inflexibility is embraced in services.

But God is not like us, not in that respect. He is not bound by fear (even though in Jesus he experienced our fears).

So what would happen if we took the courage to let go of our fear... and embrace his love? What if we took the courage to stand up and take healing to the people despite our fear? Or if we stood up and said... "PR isn't as important as doing the right thing by God and his people"? Or if we allowed worship to be directed by God instead of our timetable/sense of order?

Maybe some of our fears might be realised temporarily... but we have this reassurance:

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:29-30

Even in the midst of our fears, God's love is working. Even when things go wrong... especially when they go wrong. We have a greater power, a greater force to cling to in the midst of our fears... God's immeasurable grace and boundless love.

And just as the star whale continued to carry the people of Britain to a new home... Jesus Christ will bear us through our journey... both now and into eternity.

Promised Land

It's been nearly a month since my return from Israel... and I'm still reflecting over many of the things I experienced while I was out there.

One thing that strikes me particularly at the moment, is the number of different names we have for the area - Israel, Palestine, Canaan, The Promised Land, The Holy Land...

Of all these, the one that resonates most powerfully with me is The Promised Land. It is a name that holds reassurance for the wanderer, the one who has eked out an existence in the desert whilst every other dog has seemingly repeatedly had his day. It is a name that holds hope for the future.

One thing that has played a lot on my mind since I've got back, are the events described in the book of Numbers, chapters 13 and 14:

After their God engineered miraculous escape from Egypt, the Israelites had been wandering the Sinai Peninsula and had reached a place called Kadesh in the desert of Paran. God commanded Moses to despatch a leader from each of the 12 tribes, to carry out a covert operation in the land.

40 days later, the band of spies return successfully, bearing the mother of all fruit baskets from their little adventure.

The good news - "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit."

The not so good news - "But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."

All around the camp came the loud murmur of a nation grumbling at the prospect of entering such a land... they were a real "glass half empty" lot.

In response to this, Caleb then pipes up "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

But the Israelites weren't having that... as quick as a flash, all the other spies with the exception of Joshua suddenly embellish the story and transform the inhabitants of Canaan into superhuman warriors (the Nephilim they refer to had such a reputation); they came up with the following cop outs...

"We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."

"The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Isn't it amazing? How quick we are to forget God's promises... and how easily we forget his deeds for our own convenience?

They should have known better... not long before these events, the whole nation had witnessed God work through Moses - turning the sea to dry land and sweeping away the armies of Pharaoh as those waters returned to their rightful place.

The same God who performed such a feat... and who had led them safe through the desert thus far, was now calling them into the receipt of his divine promise. Would he really have done that if he wasn't prepared to back them up as had previously done?

Let's not be too harsh on Israel. We can be exactly the same... in fact for most of my adult life... yes even my Christian life, I have been. I have committed the sin of choosing safety over promises... and I have missed out. That's one major reason why I went to Israel. I didn't want to be subject to the naysaying of my own doubting heart. I didn't want to be ruled by fear... dread cannot be our sovereign, God must be.

Even now though,I am acutely aware that heading to Israel is actually only the first step... it is the equivalent of heading into the promised land to spy if the risk is worth it.

The challenge for me now is the same as it was for the Israelites. Now that I have seen that taking a risk with God does indeed yield rewards... am I prepared to continue along that path? Or shall I pass it off as a silly flirtation with adventure... and return back to the spiritual desert for another generation?

The thing is... and I can't recall what television programme I heard this sentiment expressed on recently - when one of your dreams comes true... you begin to take the other ones a little more seriously.

The things I hope for, I am now entrusting to God a lot less reluctantly than before. I choose to go forward... because it's new and because the land ahead is good. Yes there will be troubles, trials and struggles... but they will be new ones, not the same old tired ones that have dragged me down into despair and lethargy in the past. Furthermore, pressing on ahead... unknown as that journey may as yet be, is the path God wishes me to walk... and remaining in step with him, I can be assured of having him right there beside me.

I think the main point I want to make... the one that is as much for you as it is for me, is that we have to question the counsel we heed when we are presented with a new and potentially difficult venture on our journey in Christ.

Are we listening to the voices of suspicion, doubt an despair that say it cannot be done... or are we listening to the different spirit that God has put inside our hearts that says "do not be afraid" and "this is the way, walk in it." That different spirit is the Holy Spirit who doesn't just influence us to make the right decisions as in days of old... but instead dwells within us and changes us into the people who can walk in God's ways.

Caleb and Joshua had that different spirit... and so it was that one generation later, when all their contemporaries had passed away in the wilderness... it was they that spearheaded the campaign to claim what God had promised them.

So when the loud clamour of noise tells you that only doom and failure lies ahead, always remember that if God has promised something... it is he who will enable you to attain that promise. Have faith, keep on believing... and you will see God's wonders.

Different

Well I made it back.

But before I post anything about my experiences in the Promised Land, I thought I'd like to share with you the effect my miniature odyssey has had on me.

I feel like my procrastination levels have dropped significantly. Yes I think about things, but in several key circumstances recently I have found myself acting on my thoughts within a relatively short space of time. I don't seem to be afraid of my choices any more. I accept that some of those choices are not always going to pay off how I might like... but I'm not as scared of making those decisions as once I might have been.

What is more I seem more resilient to things that normally would have bothered me no end. Someone said something to me recently which normally would have speared me clean through and left me moping for ages... but I found that while I was initially hurt by the words, in hours they bounced off. I was bruised but not broken by it. I was kind of thinking... "Huh? This isn't supposed to happen!"

I think too much good has happened for me to risk casting it all aside over any one thing.

I set out for Israel in the hope of achieving three personal objectives. All three of those were met by the grace of God.

I flew, there and back again.

I swam in En Gedi and the Dead Sea (if you are a casual reader you are thinking "so what". However, if you know me, you know the reasons why I had hang ups on that front).

I met several Palestinian Christians.

How those things played out are tales in themselves... but the first two were utterly crucial steps in claiming back ground in my heart of hearts... and I simply could not have done it without the grace of God. However, in doing those very things I find myself changed and changed for the better.

The rules of the game have been favourably altered.

Remember an old passage I quoted in a time of sadness?

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Proverbs 13:12

Well...in the past couple of days I've found myself coming back to a passage that was mentioned quite early on in our studies in Israel:

"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints."

Psalm 52:8-9

Perhaps some very important longings (longings I may not have been entirely aware of), have been fulfilled. And with that fulfilment there is perhaps the promise of a new period of personal growth.

I remember very clearly the day I dived into the waters of En Gedi. I remember it especially because earlier that day I had nearly collapsed with heat stroke on the barren slopes of Masada. I somehow made it to the bottom and kept myself going... but it was not until En Gedi that I was restored to a better condition.

That event was a microcosm for so much in my life. Trying to climb down from a desolate fortress in the beating rays of the midday sun, and then discovering that in order to be restored, I needed to commit myself to do doing something I feared and let God have me in a situation I did not wish to consciously go. Plunging into those icy waters was not just restoring to my body but restoring to my soul... something I feel the whole holiday experience has been about. I am determined to see that the lessons and experiences I have taken from my trip, are not lost from memory or time.

But I have a question to ask of you.

Are you on Masada or in the springs of En Gedi? Are you stranded on a mountain and failing fast, or have you learned that there is an answer to your weariness and burdens... albeit a difficult answer that requires you to face something you fear or are uncomfortable with? Sometimes you have to face your Masada's before you can finally be in a place to find the refreshing spring.

But please take it from someone who knows. As awkward, troubling and challenging as that journey may seem to you... you should take it, because restoration is at hand for the one who is willing to surrender to God instead of striving through their sorrows.

May God bless you, grant you courage and above all... restore your soul.

I Minus 7 Days

This is it... the final countdown.

It's been a long road but in seven days, I finally reach that crossroads where I choose adventure or fear. Do I stay here and live according to routine, or do I break the cycle and do something different and a little risky. If everything works out... this time next week I'll be in another country having ridden upon the clouds for the very first time.

Of course, the time for questioning myself is practically speaking... far too late. I've invested too much time, money, effort and hope to abandon my personal quest now. So it's time to spread the wings and let the breeze take me up into the stratosphere, a time to raise the main mast and tack into the wind.

If you had asked me 9 months ago how I would have expected to feel about this trip, I would tell you that it would be something like 85% anxiousness and 15% eager anticipation, so I'm quite surprised to find myself in a position that is somewhat the reverse of that.

It is interesting that in the time I've waited since booking my little holiday, my destination has become more than a little politically unstable... and the average number of aeroplanes dropping out of the sky has also increased. It's almost as if the world doesn't want me to break the chains it has forged for me... but I shall not be bound by a lesser master.

Curiously I've also been dwelling on a dream I had some time ago concerning my destination and wondering if it was as random as I might have thought.

It's also interesting that I caught the end of Vanilla Sky on TV the other night. It's kind of the position I find myself in:

... and I think I'm going to leave you with that thought - that every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around,and that more importantly... if the world around you is becoming a dystopia shaped by your fears and anxieties. You need to surrender to what is greater (Him) in order to wake up to a real life.

God bless

Nick

Evolve or Die

I think it's high time I shared something with you, that I've kept reasonably close to my chest for some time now.

I've been making plans.

Earlier in the year I had some discussions about which way forward I should take my life... and there were a couple of surprises in there for me, I can tell you.

Anyway, suffice it to say... I was advised that I needed to go on a completely unjustifiable adventure (at least in terms of rationalisation). You see, due to a couple things that happened in my distant past, I developed into an individual who shunned risk as much as possible.

For a Christian though, this is something that doesn't add up... and should be faced.

We are told in one of Paul's letters that:

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

2 Timothy 1:6-7

Furthermore, we are we are both encouraged and warned that:

"We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

1 John 4:13-18

So it is clear that fear is an emotion that we must take every opportunity to overcome. It's okay to have fears... but it's not okay to let them have mastery over your decisions. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters... and although he was referring to money on that occasion, the same is true about anything that comes between us and God, for God is love... and you cannot serve both love and fear.

So we come to the crunch. I've always been an expert at self preservation, one severe example is that I won't fly because I'm scared about putting my life in the hands of another human being and a glorified tin can. Recent tragic events both at home and abroad would seem to justify this philosophy... but then:

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."

Matthew 16:24-27

Oh dear!

It kind of leaves me in a pickle doesn't it? What is more, as I said in the previous paragraph... this one is a biggy for me. However I truly believe if I crack this one... it will be a major step in living a liberated life.... unencumbered by worry or fear of failure.

The passage from Matthew sounds a little harsh... it's almost worded like "give me your life or I'll take it from you." The truth as always is a little more deeper than that - does the man drowning in quicksand feel threatened by the man shouting at him to grab his hand if he wants to live? No.

You see the truth is, we are designed for a life with God... not just with him alongside or above us... but actually actively at work within us. Whilst our stubborn desire for independence, interprets Jesus' challenge about losing our life, as restrictive, or a threat; if we paused for a moment and were honest, we'd realise that actually "losing" our life liberates us in so many ways. You might think that without God, you are flying, but sooner or later you'll discover the hard way... that you were actually doing nothing more exhilarating than falling with style.

It's quite a culture shock when you feel like you've been trapped in a prison cell with many locked doors... and after begging and pleading for God to open one of them, you catch a glimpse of your jailer and discover that the person who had kept you locked in all along, was yourself... and God was the one who was pleading with you to wake up and get out of there!

When I talk to people who have been missionaries in a foreign country in service of God, I'm always quick to spot a recurring theme in their testimonies. Nearly always, the person speaking talks of finding themselves in a place of fear and inadequacy. Eventually, that which cripples them... forces them to turn to God... because that's all they have.... but what a resource to have. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians describes God as being able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. He even goes as far as to say that this power is at work in us.

However if we want to receive God's power, we have to recognise that we are actually powerless ourselves.

Last year, I quoted a Spider-Man tale called "The Other", and spoke of how it referenced a Chinese philosopher who posed the question of whether a man was dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly was dreaming of being a man? At first I took my feelings toward that, as just being about calling or vocation... but it's more than that. I felt drawn to buy the graphic novel and go through it... and it has proven a source of inspiration to me. A subtitle to the story is "Evolve or Die." In the plot, Spider-Man is slowly degenerating from a mysterious illness. Nothing works and eventually his impending death is accelerated by a vampire-esque enemy who maims him and pretty much pounds him to death...

... but it is not the end.

Peter Parker finds himself in a dream where he is confronted by a personification of the source of his abilities. This character rebukes Parker for accepting the obvious gifts he was given... without daring to dig deeper and find out just how gifted he was, how much potential he had for more. Parker embraces "The Other" and is returned to life completely healed (he had been in a web cocoon up until this time, as his body was renewing itself), and with exciting new powers (which were foolishly retconned out of existence by Joe Quesada).

Anyway... as Peter Parker (mis)treated his powers, we can be the same with God. We can take what he gives us naturally accepting the odd supernatural kiss... and live our lives with only a deposit of our true potential. We need to embrace the source of our power - the Holy Spirit.

So I'm going.

Boarding a plane will put me in that powerless place (albeit for about six hours a go). I've gone as far as booking a holiday and setting myself an objective while I'm out there. I've even got myself a passport.

Maybe deep down, you feel the same... you've got a fear, a worry or a burden that is holding you down... and you know that you are in the quicksand. You are finally in a place where you need to act... where you either continue as you have always gone about things... and eventually falter, fall and die; or you choose to turn around and embrace God in a new and exciting way. What that means for you personally, I leave to you. It may mean coming to faith in Jesus for the first time... it may mean taking your existing faith to a new level.

Whatever it is don't just leave it.

God bless

Nick