Second Thoughts – To Boldly Go

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

I was six years old and the summer heat had not yet broken in Atlanta.   The Braves were having a losing season.   School was already a torture under the tutelage of Mrs. Methuselah Mars.  And then the Great Bird of the Galaxy flew into the heart of my small black and white TV and into the soul of a six-year-old fatherless boy.

Forty-nine years ago today Star Trek premiered.  The show was in danger of cancelation from the outset.  Still over three years the work of the cast and crew of this ground breaking, envelope pushing show changed my life.   I learned so much about life during these weekly forty-four minute adventures. 

The challenges Kirk and crew faced taught me values and judgment.   They taught me to see the good in everyone.  I learned to honor the differences between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.  Later in life I had the honor to meet and thank each of them.  Today as I ponder the long life and deep success of this venture I am reminded of the good it has done in so many lives.

This entertainment transcended simple fun and dared to teach us along the way.  Thank you Gene Roddenberry and company for all that you have given me.  I continue to learn from reruns and movies.  Hailing frequencies open Captain. 

All that I Needed to Know About Life I learned from Star Trek:

• Seek out new life and new civilizations.
• Non-interference is the Prime Directive.
• Keep your phaser set on stun.
• Humans are highly illogical.
• There's no such thing as a Vulcan death grip.
• Live long and prosper.
• Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting; it is not logical but it is often true.
• Infinite diversity in infinite combinations (IDIC).
• Tribbles hate Klingons (and Klingons hate Tribbles).
• Enemies are often invisible - like Klingons, they can be cloaked.
• Don't put all your ranking officers in one shuttle craft.
• When your logic fails, trust a hunch.
• Insufficient data does not compute.
• If it can't be fixed, just ask Scotty.
• Even in our own world, sometimes we are aliens.
• When going out into the Universe, remember: "Boldly go where no man has gone before!"

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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