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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Our Mission Is To Go Boldly Forth"
May 6, 2009
As the movie "Star Trek: Generations" burst onto the scene in the fall of
1994, I was feeling overwhelmed. I was working full time as Pastor of the
church. I had a wife and three children at home. My youngest one was still
in diapers. I was traveling to Boston once a week working on my doctoral
program. I hoped to graduate in May.
I was also weighing two or three offers from different churches. Decisions
had to be made. Stay or go? It was truly the best of times and the worst of
times for me. I was looking for a place to hide. Have you ever felt that
way? Too many things were happening at the same time and I needed a
break.
I went alone to the midnight showing of that movie and lost myself for the
next two hours or so at the Groton Cinemas.
There were two scenes that really spoke to my heart that night. The first
was an exchange between Checkov and Kirk. They had just met Sulu's
daughter. Kirk says aloud to himself, "When did Sulu have time for a
family?" Checkov responds, "If something is important, you make time."
The second scene comes a little later. Kirk is at peace, enjoying life in the
Nexus. Picard shows up and tries to talk to Kirk and enlist his help. Kirk
says, "No. I'm done saving the universe. This is my time now." To that
Picard responds, "You are a Star Fleet Officer. You have a duty!"
In the days that followed, those two scenes kept coming back to me and
they have shaped my life going forward. The first lesson I learned was that
life is short and we need to make time for the important things.
Psalm 90:1 says "Teach us to number our days, O Lord, so we may gain a
heart of wisdom." We only have so much time on this earth and we need to
be focused in what we do. We need to decide what is most important to us
and put our time and energy there. The truth is that I still struggle with this
but I'm working on it.
Second, we need to remember who we are. We may not be Starfleet
officers but we are ambassadors for Christ. That means we have a job to
do. We can't run away and hide if we are to be true to ourselves.
God calls us and sends us into the world to share his love and to offer his
grace to the people we meet. That is our mission and it is who we are. As a
new Star Trek movie becomes the talk of the town this week, I want to
urge you to go boldly where no one has gone before. Go and share the good
news with a hurting world. God loves them.
God Bless! See you in Church. Cal
May 6, 2009
As the movie "Star Trek: Generations" burst onto the scene in the fall of
1994, I was feeling overwhelmed. I was working full time as Pastor of the
church. I had a wife and three children at home. My youngest one was still
in diapers. I was traveling to Boston once a week working on my doctoral
program. I hoped to graduate in May.
I was also weighing two or three offers from different churches. Decisions
had to be made. Stay or go? It was truly the best of times and the worst of
times for me. I was looking for a place to hide. Have you ever felt that
way? Too many things were happening at the same time and I needed a
break.
I went alone to the midnight showing of that movie and lost myself for the
next two hours or so at the Groton Cinemas.
There were two scenes that really spoke to my heart that night. The first
was an exchange between Checkov and Kirk. They had just met Sulu's
daughter. Kirk says aloud to himself, "When did Sulu have time for a
family?" Checkov responds, "If something is important, you make time."
The second scene comes a little later. Kirk is at peace, enjoying life in the
Nexus. Picard shows up and tries to talk to Kirk and enlist his help. Kirk
says, "No. I'm done saving the universe. This is my time now." To that
Picard responds, "You are a Star Fleet Officer. You have a duty!"
In the days that followed, those two scenes kept coming back to me and
they have shaped my life going forward. The first lesson I learned was that
life is short and we need to make time for the important things.
Psalm 90:1 says "Teach us to number our days, O Lord, so we may gain a
heart of wisdom." We only have so much time on this earth and we need to
be focused in what we do. We need to decide what is most important to us
and put our time and energy there. The truth is that I still struggle with this
but I'm working on it.
Second, we need to remember who we are. We may not be Starfleet
officers but we are ambassadors for Christ. That means we have a job to
do. We can't run away and hide if we are to be true to ourselves.
God calls us and sends us into the world to share his love and to offer his
grace to the people we meet. That is our mission and it is who we are. As a
new Star Trek movie becomes the talk of the town this week, I want to
urge you to go boldly where no one has gone before. Go and share the good
news with a hurting world. God loves them.
God Bless! See you in Church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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