So, I asked Terry a question the other day while we were on a road trip. I asked him, “I know I’m probably going to regret asking this. But what’s the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars? I mean, is there really a difference?”
Y’all. My mom has a saying. She says, “Common sense is not common.” These words are so true. I lacked total and complete common sense when I asked this question. Why I thought a quick answer would suffice, I do not know.
I have never seen a full episode of Star Trek and I really don’t remember any of the Star Wars movies since I haven’t seen them since I was a little girl, when they were first released. (Or any of the sequels/prequels, since).
41 minutes later, we were interrupted by a phone call, so the explanation ended. I kid you not. Terry talked for forty-one minutes straight, about the intricacies of Star Trek and Star Wars. And although I had a few questions here and there, most of that conversation was Terry.
Forty one minutes.
That’s right. Forty one minutes of Star Trek and Star Wars. It’s a darned good thing I love him so much and think he’s so good looking to stare at while he talks, because I was kind of ready to tune out with some of the examples he gave me about the ship’s purpose in Star Trek, and what Star Wars did.
To be completely honest, I could not tell anyone the difference if you sat me down and asked me. I know avid fans could elaborate, with great detail (the 41 minute kind of detail until a phone call interrupts you) and passion, the difference.
Quite frankly, I still don’t get it. But I am engaged enough in the dialogue to listen and keep asking questions.
It’s kind of like scripture. There are some verses I read and instantly understand the meaning, or why God allowed it to be in His Word. There are other scriptures, however, that utterly confuse me and leave me baffled.
“Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.” - Psalm 119:98-99 (NIV)
The more time we spend mediating on God’s Word, the more understanding we have. For example, James 1:2-4. I know I am supposed to consider it pure joy when I face troubles of many kind, because it will strengthen my faith. I understand that passage, I really do.
But applying it to my life? Yeah. I’m not that great, yet. Because I gotta tell ya … “considering it pure joy” when something bad happens is not typically my first reaction.
Or my fourth or fifth.
But the more time I spend mediating on God’s love letter to us in His Word, the more I can grasp and understand those verses that stand out as hard to apply in my daily life. If I do not consider it a pure joy to go through trials and heartache knowing Jesus is holding me every step of the way … how can I celebrate the triumphs and restoration side, knowing it was Jesus who delivered me?
Even the passages we do not understand, we need to dig into, study, read, pray over and even ask our friends rich in biblical knowledge, for their take on it. Some passages we might read and they might seem as foreign to you and me as Star Trek still does to me. But with more time spent with Terry explaining it and actually sitting down to watch it, the more I will understand Star Trek and Star Wars.
Even better than Star Trek and Star Wars? (Well, lots and lots of things, but I’m making a point here.)
The more time we spend studying God’s Word and praying over it, His commands are always with us, and they make us wiser than our enemies. We just need to read them and meditate over them, spending time in prayer asking God to explain to us what He wants us to understand. Pastor Steve calls this, “illuminated reading,” which means every morning we ask The Holy Spirit to “highlight” (illuminate) for us what He wants us to read.
Be it 41 minutes or 41 days … the more time we spend with Papa trying to understand Him, the better off we are.
And hey, if we meet on the street somewhere, please don’t ask me to do that Star Trek finger thing greeting. Because I just can’t.