What I learned from an Episode of Star Trek

If you look hard enough, there’s wisdom to be found in much of life’s experiences, even a TV series. One Star Trek episode had some wisdom that I never forgot. The storyline went like this-

There was an asteroid on a collision course with a planet. But, it was really a space ship, filled with people who thought they were on their home planet. Everything was artificial, the ground, the sky, the atmosphere, but the inhabitants believed with all their hearts that they were on their home planet. Upon being told of the impending collision with another planet, the high priestess tried to reconcile what she believed to be true about her world with the actual truth that had just been revealed to her. She uttered this phrase — is truth not truth for all? What she believed to be true, was an illusion. In fact, the real truth about her universe wasn’t even close to her false knowledge about her world.

We find a similar theme in our study of Christian Science. Everything we have been taught to believe about the material world is false because it has its foundation in matter. It is but the counterfeit of the spiritual truth about the universe. And if we hold on to the misconceptions of materiality, we are on a collision course with sin, disease, and death. However, through the study of Christian Science, we learn that God, Spirit, is the only power in the universe, and we reflect His perfection in all aspects of our lives. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Human logic is awry when it attempts to draw correct spiritual conclusions regarding life from matter. Finite sense has no true appreciation of infinite Principle, God, or of His infinite image or reflection, man. The mirage, which makes trees and cities seem to be where they are not, illustrates the illusion of material man, who cannot be the image of God.” (page 300:1)

Yes, truth is truth for all mankind. Not one of God’s children is outside of His ever-loving, ever-tender care, not even for a moment. And when we feel like He has forgotten us, or even worse, rejected us, we need but to remind ourselves that God’s laws hold true for all of us, and as St. Peter wrote, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” (Acts 10:34) Another quote from Jeremiah 31:3 is very comforting — “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” With lovingkindness, God draws us all closer; He doesn’t push us away or ignore us. And He is not selective about who He loves either. He loves all mankind. Now that is a truth worth telling!