What in the world does STAR TREK have to do with REAL LIFE?
Those of you who have for the past 50 years enjoyed STAR TREK as entertainment need to consider the Analogyman perspective. There is no such thing as neutral entertainment. The very reason we select certain movies or books is because they contain something that enriches our lives. Our careers and our daily responsibilities are a duty we must fulfill— but what about excitement, adventure, romance, intrigue and discovery? Who can live without these?
Life is more than just working to make money. We don’t just live to eat and eat to live. Existence is simply not good enough. “Survival of the fittest” — survival for the sake of survival— isn’t enough. I know because I lived the first 30 years of my life as an atheist and I loathed real life. Driving to work, doing my job, then driving home again…and doing it faithfully for 40 years? You’ve got to be kidding.
It was only the challenges and the problems and the people which made life bearable. And when there wasn’t enough of this in my “real life” I added books, and music, and art, and movies. These fulfilled the NEED I had for something more than raw existence.
But where in the world does this NEED come from, anyway? Why do we humans need adventure, excitement, challenge, romance —and the dozens of other things which chickens and monkeys seem to do without? Because the NEEDS were built into us by the Creator. He made us “in his own image.” (Genesis 1:26,27)
Those of you who have NEEDED to watch a weekly episode of STAR TREK have watched it to fulfil that need.
Realizing all this, I’ve been writing these Analogyman episodes to take you to the next level.
Dear reader, your love of adventure was given to you by the Creator. But because you’ve never met the Creator— because you’ve never opened up and read His book (the Bible) you have no way of knowing that He wants you to go beyond Star Trek— beyond Star Wars, beyond The Lord of the Rings, beyond The Chronicles of Riddick, beyond The Princess Bride, beyond whatever earthly entertainment you find so fascinating and fulfilling— to find the Archetype of the Type.
What do I mean?
One definition of Archetype is “an original that has been imitated”. So if your favourite genre is Westerns, you might have liked Bonanza, or Wagon Train, or Have Gun, Will Travel, or The Rifleman, or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly— and these are all types. The archetype of these types is the real American Old West. There really was an Old West. That was the REAL THING. All the Westerns ever written, all the Western movies ever made, were based on something real.
So the idea of exploring Outer Space— of going where no man has gone before— whether it’s Star Wars, or Battlestar Galactica or StarTrek— these are the TYPES…the Archetype is the REAL UNIVERSE created by God, who created it to be INHABITED. [2]
So if you have always had a thirst for adventure, you need to meet the Captain of all adventure. Who is this Captain? The Bible in the book of Hebrews gives us a hint: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” [3]
The whole purpose of Analogyman is to lead you from your needs, to the ultimate fulfillment of your needs— from your fantasies, to the actualities on which they are based.
The Universe is the final frontier, and God wants to prepare you for the next step. So if you really want to know more, dig in and follow the links…. let your thirst for adventure lead you to the REAL THING…and don’t stop until you find it.
[2] EXAMPLE: Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else.