It was fun to
re-connect with the old characters: Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, “Bones” McCoy, Scotty,
Mr. Sulu, Lieutenant Uhura and their nemesis, Khan. Of course the original actors are gone,
except for a cameo appearance by Leonard Nimoy as the aged Spock. Through the magic of cinema and imagination
we were transported back to their youth and the beginning of the five-year
voyage to “go where no man has gone before.”
I didn’t grow up with Star Trek. But Gene Roddenberry’s Original
Series, launched in 1966, caught my imagination. My son did grow up with Star Trek, the Next
Generation, and taped every episode on VHS (If you wonder what VHS is, look in a
museum). When he was twelve, we gave him
a book detailing the schematics of the Starship Enterprise.
In the Original Series most episodes had underlying moral
and social themes exposing racism, bigotry, greed and blind ambition; promoting
friendship, loyalty and self-sacrifice.
Invariably the age-old conflict of good and evil was played out among
the stars. Often, the plot sought to reveal the conflicts resident within each
of us.
Except for vastly improved special effects, this newest Star
Trek movie stayed true to the original pattern.
After two hours of violence and vengeance, woven with the interplay of
logic and emotion, the young Captain Kirk draws the final conclusion in his
address to an assembly of Star Trek Cadets: “Our first instinct is to seek
revenge when those we love are taken from us. But that’s not who we are.”
His conclusion echoes lessons passed down to us from
centuries past, lessons lodged in history and reality. Jesus said, “Do not resist him who is evil;
but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if
anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And
whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two.” “Blessed are you when men cast
insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you
falsely, on account of Me.”
These are hard lessons in a world where senseless murder and
the slaughter of innocent men, women and children has become commonplace. Indeed, our first instinct is vengeance. But
there must be a better way. There must be a higher road.
Jesus showed us the
way by how he lived, what he said, and the way he died. When He was cursed,
slapped and ridiculed with a crown of thorns, he refused to fight back. When He
was nailed to the cross, He refused to curse his tormentors and, instead,
prayed for their forgiveness.
Inspired by His example and empowered by His resurrection,
His followers transformed the Roman Empire within three centuries. Jesus’
life and teachings inspired such social reformers as Abraham Lincoln,
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Mother
Teresa. Most movements to free the
oppressed, relieve the poor, heal the sick and care for the outcast, the widow
and the orphan can trace their origins to Jesus.
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