Tuesday, July 3, 2007

In The Zone

There'll be a Twilight Zone marathon on TV this week.

Twice a year, at July 4th and New Year's, the Sci-Fi channel shows back-to-back episodes of this old classic series for a couple of days.

I'm always hooked. I become a couch potato. I sit there and watch these reruns, hour after hour.

What's the attraction?

Well, I like that antiquated black-and-white feel every now and then. I sorta enjoy Rod Serling's cigarette smoke-laced introductions to each story. I delight in seeing how some of today's popular actors looked back then, when they were just getting started. These tales of time travel and UFO's and life on other planets fascinate me. They make me think. They get my imagination cranked up into high gear.

The sets were spartan and cheap, and the plots fanciful and outlandish, but I'm always not only entertained but intellectually stimulated by this TV drama from decades ago.

Maybe what it is that resonates with me is that the themes touch on some of the deepest questions and longings of the human heart. The narratives track some of the great aspirations and dreams of the spirit. Watching these episodes as a Christian adds to the thrill factor, because I realize that there will one day be a fulfilment of some of these hopes and yearnings that are portrayed on the screen.

One day we will have the privilege of living forever without dying. One day we will be perennially young, in both body and spirit. We will possess a constant future-orientation. I think the Bible implies that we'll have the challenging, exhilirating opportunity to visit and perhaps develop and rule over other worlds to the glory of God. The age-old quest for peace will finally be satisfied. Maybe we'll even have the chance to go back in time occasionally, to study history and to have God show us why things happened as they did. Wow!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us that God has put eternity in our hearts. We were created for more than just a few short years here. We were made for much more than simply gratifying our physical selves. God fashioned us for Himself, to live for age after age after age in ever-deepening awareness and learning and growth and experiences. We will travel and create and worship and love and work throughout the eons to come because of the reconciling ministry of Jesus(Colossians 1:15-20). Regrettably, unbelievers only have now, but Christ-followers have an awesome destiny ahead.

Okay. Sofa reserved, snacks ready, remote close at hand, all family rights to TV programming ceded over to me. I'm gonna love this marathon! What I really love is the certainty that one day the twilight will break into full, glorious morning.

2 comments:

Bridget Moschler said...

Wouldn't it be incredible to go back in time and see the hand of God operate and move situations at will for His glory. We could then understand why our situations in life turned out the way they did, we would be able to clearly see God's hand in each and every decision that effected our lives. What an awesome experience that would be if He would allow us to experience that.

Marcus Pittman said...

Imagine for eternity asking God questions and always getting answers. The more answers you receive the more questions that would develop. Not because God is giving tricky answers or speaking in riddles, but because his depth of knowledge is infinite that answers will reveal more knowledge and thus pose more questions forever, for eternity...We will never be able to exhaust the knowledge of God.

I would travel back in time to several places. One would be Creation, Second would Be The Flood and third would be along the road where Christ opened the eyes of the disciples to Himself through the scriptures. Imagine having Christ point himself out on every page, imagine the Joy on the disciples faces and the laughter as one disciple claimed "I Knew it all along!" and the other disciples say no Thomas you didn't you goof ball.