CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF STAR TREK/

CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF STAR TREK?

A month ago I would have told you that nothing good can ever come out of Star Trek? I never was a Trekkie, never will be a Trekkie, and never thought anything good could ever come out of Star Trek except just some wasted hours of escapist entertainment. That was my personal opinion.
Steve, my hubby of 54 years, is a died in the wool Trekkie. He's been a regular viewer of the TV series since it was introduced years and years ago.
Myself? I never got it. What was the attraction? I even made myself sit with Hubby and watch a couple of episodes. They had something to do with a Holidome or something. I never got that one for sure. The story went from outer space to the present with lighting speed and left me back there in the third or fourth dimension somewhere. I just never got it, even after trying desperately to understand.
I finally decided that Trekkies are either born that way or they develop into fans after many, many hours of watching the programs. I wasn't born a Trekkie and I'm not willing to spend hours watching a program that confuses me from the opening dialogue to the end when they always say, "To boldly go where no man has gone before." I guess I'm not bold enough.
Now can you understand why I was doubtful that anything good could ever come out of Star Trek? It's kind of like the Jews said about Jesus when He was ministering to people. They said, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Well, were they ever disillusioned. Look at what they were missing, the Son of God. I think some of them changed their opinions when Jesus started healing the sick and speaking wonderful words of wisdom. That should have changed the hardest of hearts, seeing miracles happen before their eyes.
Now, I've seen wonderful miracles, too, in my lifetime, thanks to the God/Man who was from Nazareth, but I still was convinced that nothing good could ever come out of any episode of Star Trek. I ought to know by now not to dig my heels in on anything because I will be proved wrong every time. Sometimes I leave deep crevices in the ground from my heels that won't yield an inch until new, convincing informational facts come my way. Then I easily lift my feet up and take normal steps without dragging my feet to show my resistance.
So, you may ask, what happened to let me know that something good can come out of Star Trek? It was an unusual thing, kind of a God incident. Not a coincident but a God incident.
Hubby was watching an episode of Star Trek and I was finishing dressing so that I could take a trip to the grocery store. I was walking down the hall toward our bedroom and I heard something I never thought I would hear coming from the TV. It was a very wise statement, something that immediately caught my attention. I stopped walking and asked Hubby to replay the last statement made by one of the characters, a weird fellow called a Kleon or Klingon or something out-of-this-world strange, which matched his outer space character looks.
The Klingon said this powerful, insightful statement: "PATIENCE IS A BETTER WEAPON THAN A SWORD."
That statement sounded surprisingly like something the Man from Nazareth would say. Jesus taught a lot about patience. Now here was a fictional character in an outer space TV show saying something that Jesus would have said, a bold statement about the power of patience.
We all know what a sword does. It kills, it maims, it butchers, it fosters fear in the hearts of anyone who is threatened by it. But patience is not like that. Patience is like the personal characteristic of the Man from Nazareth, calmly waiting for the Heavenly Father to do His spiritual works in a trying situation, never yielding to the temptation to use the violence that comes by brandishing a sword. In fact, the principle is that those who live by the sword will die by the sword, meaning if a person wields violence against another person that he will surely reap whatever he has sown, violence.
I was almost bowled over by the wise statement, that patience is a better weapon than a sword. That insightful message was akin to the one that says that all good things come to those who wait. In fact, I remember one scripture says, "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret not yourself because of a man who prospers in his evil ways."
I believe I got the spiritual message that was conveyed on Star Trek, that patience is a better weapon than a sword. Now, would you believe that? I didn't even hear it in church. I heard it out of the mouth of a Klingon on Star Trek.
Maybe I should start watching the program all the time. Am I kidding myself? For sure. That would be torture for me. I'll just listen intently every time I hear the dialogue of Star Trek being broadcast into our home. Maybe the Klingons have more good messages for me. I'm open to hearing good wisdom from any source.
I hope you will remember this every time you hear the name Star Trek mentioned, "Patience is a better weapon than a sword." Also remember it when you're in a trying situation with a loved one or even a stranger. It's worth remembering because it's wisdom, even if it came from a Klingon.
Boy, was he ugly. Whoever came up with the design for his face had a weird sense of imagination. However, the person had a good handle on wisdom. He gave the Klingon the wise lines, " Patience is a better weapon than a sword." I'll never forget it.

JUST IN TIME
T. Wieland Allen
When messages come to us that are definitely from God, we can't miss them and we can't deem them as just coincidences. We call them God-incidences in my family and circle of friends.
My husband Steve had been hospitalized for a hernia repair which turned into a bigger operation than first anticipated. At first there were two hernias, then three, and during the laparoscopy operation the surgeon found two more, for a total of five hernias. Fortunately they were all in close enough proximity to each other that the surgeon could use a large piece of webbing to do the repair work. The operation went smoothly after eight small incisions.
The surgeon cautioned me after the surgery that there are limits to pain endurance that are put by God into humans. He was being cautious because of the fact that my husband had endured two serious operations and very strong chemotherapy during the past year. The surgeon knew that pain had been a big issue in the chemo, as well as the operations. He wanted me to be prepared if Steve ever evidenced that he had reached that pain limit and was ready to just give in to the pain. It was a kind gesture for him to prepare me for such an occasion. Then he set a standard for Steve, he said, "But your husband is bulletproof, so he'll probably do okay." That was a measure of encouragement after the informative warning about a pain limit.
On the second day after surgery, nausea became a real problem. In fact, Steve finally had to give in and yield to the urge to vomit, which he did with retching waves for a full five minutes. Needless to say, that didn't help the eight laparoscopy incisions or the extra large sheet of webbing that was used to repair the large area of the hernias. Pain increased immeasurably, of course, after the retching. The pain meds were welcomed with each push of the button every ten minutes.
The words of the surgeon echoed in my mind all the way home that evening and grew louder as I readied myself for bed, reinforcing the medical information that there is a limit to which a person can endure pain.
I decided to turn on the TV to quiet my mind, possibly zeroing in on a funny sitcom or something similar. Immediately an ad flashed onto the TV screen. In large letters it said, "PAIN IS ONLY TEMPORARY. GIVING UP IS FOREVER."
It couldn't have been more emphatic if it had been written in the sky by an airplane skywriter. It was for Steve and for me, a personal message from God.
I called Steve on his cell phone at the hospital immediately and told him about the heavenly message. It was just what he needed to hear. It took pain out of the perspective of lasting forever, and it put it in the right perspective, as only temporary. It spoke volumes of truth to both of us.
I don't know what ad is responsible for the shock treatment that Steve and I got that night. Actually, God deserves the thanks and I immediately gave full credit to him that night. I'm still giving credit to him by writing this story. No one else could have arranged that situation, the timing and the perfect wisdom that took fear away.
That's the kind of Father that God is, One who takes away all fear by sending a wise message just when we need it.
That wise message applies to emotional pain as well as physical pain, emphasizing the fact that, "This, too, shall pass."
But I like the way God said it to us, "Pain is temporary. Giving up is forever."
He always knows the perfect thing to say in the times of need!