Star Trek

I love Star Trek.  I appreciate the adventure, the clean modern aesthetic, the effortless technology, the battles - whether fist or phaser and, of course the occasional romance.  Being St. Patrick’s Day, I can’t go on without also mentioning the dancing green-skinned alien…  which is a perfect segue to my beautiful wife.  I must admit that Taya is the true “Trekkie” of the family and that my appreciation has grown over time by association.  While our basement boasts a couple cardboard cut-outs of the show’s characters and a few shelves of various Trek paraphernalia, our biggest public testimony of affection is found in our son’s first name, Riker.  I figured his peers would not likely know the reference and he would be spared that brand of harassment and Taya and I were willing to accept any such from our peers as a sort of Klingon badge of honor.

Like most things, our active commitment varies with the exposure to the material.  While still appreciated, the original series grew tired as each episode was rerun and rerun.  The Next Generation series brought a number of questions to us Trekkies;  was it authentic?  Were you “cheating on” the original series by watching the new? Could a true Trekkie enjoy both and would this divide “the faithful”?  While it took some time to work through these issues and get to know the new characters, my answer to these questions was an acceptance of the new series and subsequent movies because they supported the key fundamentals that fed my delight. 

What does this have to do with a tumor?  Nothing and everything I suppose.  While everyone loves a good story or movie to escape and distract for a time, I’m especially attracted to Star Trek because it shows a fulfillment of some very attractive ideas.  Through technology, wit and a little physical strength, everything can be neatly solved in either a 60 minute episode or a most a 2 hour movie.  There are no mysteries that can’t be solved and there is little dependence on anything outside of one’s control.  I love all of those ideas, but they are sadly far from the truth.  While Star Trek boasts that through human effort we will have a future of greater independence and freedom, my experience is pointing to just the opposite.  Human effort does some good, but plenty of bad as well and that I am largely dependent on things out of my control.  It’s not comfortable to admit, but I have to look no farther than the beating of my heart and each breath I take – humbly dependent in this world. 

I do love technology, wit and strength, but trying to learn to shift my trust and acknowledge some greater powers.  “Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.”