Symbols on Sunday

It allows us to live. It provides heat, light, and even vitamins. It is integral to photosynthesis, to the seasons, to our system of time. It creates beautiful skies as it rises and sets. It allows us to rest when our minds and bodies are tired. It is our star, the sun.

Since I am a nerd, let me share a brief story from Star Trek, the original series. In the episode called "Breads and Circuses," Kirk, Spock, and Bones beam down to a planet that has developed parallel to Earth. Nearly everything about the two planets is the same, except that on this planet the Roman Empire never fell. When Kirk, Spock, and Bones arrive, they discover a group of runaway slaves who worship the sun. "I lived the life of a brutal gladiator until I heard the words of the sun," says one man. Spock is particularly confused, since Earth-Rome never had such sun-worshipers. When the team accomplishes their exciting, swash-buckling mission, they return to the Enterprise and share their findings. Uhura corrects Spock: "They weren't talking about the sun in the sky; they were talking about the Son of God." The crew ponders this for a moment, wondering if they should return to the planet to watch the wondrous life of Christ unfold all over again.

Obviously, there a lot of parallels between the sun and the Son, besides their English name. As the sun provides us with mortal life, Christ provides us with eternal life: He suffered and died so that we can be made clean enough to enter God's presence. As the sun sets each night to rise in the morning, Christ died and rose again so that we can have a resurrection and a hope. The sun is consistent and dependable; so, too, can we depend on Christ. He is the light and life of the world, and we have the gift of this lovely symbol of Him every day.