10th February 2024
Life is messy
Yes, I’ve been watching Star Trek again. No, I never get tired of it. There’s just something about space travel that excites my imagination. But life in this imaginary world wasn’t perfect – no matter how far the crew travelled from Earth, they couldn’t get away from human nature and the reality of life.
In an episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled Real Life, the holographic doctor decided to create a family on the holodeck so he could learn to relate to his flesh and blood counterparts. For those of you who live on planet Earth, a holodeck is a ‘simulated reality facility located on starships and star bases in the fictional Star Trek universe’ (Wikipedia).
The doctor programmed an ideal wife, son and daughter and settled down to enjoy family life. One of his crewmates pointed out to him that his ‘father knows best’ 1950s-style family was a far cry from reality, so she made a few changes to the programming. What followed looked a lot closer to what we experience today: stressed, over-scheduled wife and kids, questionable friends, loud music, some backtalk, and a bit of rebellion thrown in for good measure.
The doctor fared rather well until his daughter fell during a sporting event and sustained a serious head injury. When he and another doctor realised she was beyond help and close to death, the doctor decided he’d had enough and ended the program.
Isn’t that what we wish we could do when things get really tough? Life would be so much easier if we could just say, computer end program and all our troubles would disappear. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, like in the doctor’s first program, everyone was always cheerful, well-behaved, happy, healthy and no one had any problems? The doctor thought so, that’s why he left when things became difficult.
Another crew member convinced him to go back to his dying daughter and not run out on his suffering family. In that way, he might learn what being a family is really about. So, he did. The doctor’s wife and estranged son came to the daughter’s bedside, and they were all there with her when she died, holding her hand and helping her not to be afraid.
The holographic doctor couldn’t run away from real life, and neither can we. We can’t say ‘End program’ but we can say, ‘Father, help us’, and the most loving, powerful being alive will be there to give us his strength and help.
Life is messy and difficult, but as the doctor learned, it’s also worth the struggle. His fictional family learned that love is stronger than troubles. What they didn’t know is God is stronger than life or death, and real life is in him. We know, so instead of running away, we run to Jesus, who is our real life.
Study by Tammy Tkach
First published on 7 November 2023, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com
About the writer:
Tammy Tkach is the Assistant Pastor of the Eugene, Oregon, USA, Grace Communion International congregation. She is a speaker and writer, and publishes a blog at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com
Local congregation:
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