Space: the Final Frontier
Monday, October 23, 2023
“Risk. Risk is our business.” – Capt. James T. Kirk
Like a lot of boys growing up in the 1960s, I was a big fan of the original Star Trek TV series. The exploits of Capt. James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise fascinated me to no end.
In my young and imaginative mind, I pictured myself adopting their mission to “explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Of course, at the same time I was busy exploring, I would be battling the evil Klingon and Romulan empires!
If I watched those 80 episodes today, I am sure that I could tell you their plot – and recite much of the dialog – from memory. As different as they were… from The Trouble with Tribbles to The Balance of Terror to The Omega Glory… each 60-minute episode had a common theme: R-I-S-K. Capt. Kirk and his crew were willing to go anywhere and do anything for the sake of science.
My friend, if I could separate people I know into two overly simplified categories, it would be these: risk avoiders and risk takers. The former often live longer whereas the latter tend to flame out a bit earlier. But the risk takers are intent on living life to its fullest and they are usually the ones who make a bigger and more profound impact.
Paging through the Bible, I can’t think of a single person whom God used who wasn’t willing to take risks. Abram left Ur of the Chaldees… Moses faced down Pharoah and led millions of Jews out of captivity in Egypt… David took on a giant named Goliath and defeated him in short order… and the list goes on and on. Perhaps the greatest risk taker of all time was the Apostle Paul. Despite being beaten, stoned, and shipwrecked multiple times, he kept coming back for more.
I don’t know about you, my friend, but I am determined to follow in Paul’s footsteps… and Capt. Kirk’s, too!
“Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1 (NKJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
