The sins (I mean geekiness) of the father

In the Bible it says that the sins of the father will be passed down to the third and fourth generation. From a psychological/family systems point of view, what this is saying is that the bad habits of the parents are passed down to the child. In many ways, one of the goals in life is to break the cycle of that negative behavior.

Yeah, way too heady for me right now so I'm not going much into it. One things for sure though, my son's been picking up on my geekatude. He's heavily into Transformers now. He loves Star Wars, he even knows what a Sarlaac pit is. Yeah, he's cool like that. He is getting his identity from me. He is learning from me what it means to be a man. And I so don't want to fail him on that.

But this got me thinking about another father I grew up watching. Grew up watching and saw how he felt he had failed. Saw how his son felt he had failed. Yes, I'm speaking of Worf and his son Alexander.

Worf son of Mogh, lived a life of failure in many ways. He was a strong Klingon. To tell the truth, he in many ways is more Klingon than Klingons. In my mind (and of fans) he is the epitome of what it means to be a Klingon. Yet he still lived with the shame of being raised by humans. He lived with the shame knowing that his father was blamed for the destruction and massacre of the Kithomer colony outpost.

After the death of his babymamma (that is what Alexander's mother basically was, no offense), Worf attempted to raise his son Alexander. The shame of the father was passed down to his son. His son did not take a Klingon name. Maybe this could protect his son. Maybe. But soon Alexander was sent to live with Worf's adoptive parents and was raised amongst humans, even taking their last name Rozhenko (Row-shank-O). Sadly, we do not see the child Alexander again until the war with the Dominion. And then, he comes in attempting to be a Klingon but keeps the surname Rozhenko. Again, shame for Worf that his son fighting on a Klingon Bird of Prey knows nothing of his own Klingon heritage, the honor, the valor, the philosophy of what it means to be Klingon and Worf is teased because of it.

As a father, I fear failing my son. I fear that I will bring him shame, that I will create in him some wound that will take years of therapy (and in turn tons of money) to deal with. I don't want to pass down my shame to him. I don't want to pass down my own personal demons, my own failures as a man down to him.

Instead, I so want to pass down to him those qualities that are good. Are honorable. What I like about the relationship between Worf and Alexander is that Worf, after some struggles of his own, is able to welcome back his son into his life and Alexander is able to welcome his father back into his life too. Worf is then able to begin passing down the honor, the valor, all that it means to him to be Klingon down to Alexander.

I want to do this for my own son too. I deeply want to teach him what it means to be a man of God. I want him to know the importance and honor it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I want him to know that he is strong in Jesus. I want him to know the honor and valor and responsibilities that are required to be a man of God. I want him to have what I had to learn.

If Worf can do it, so can I, but by the Grace of God go I.

Fighting snacking like a Klingon

Since my last post, I've been working on at not snacking. Now many dietitians and health experts state that having some snacks in between meals is a good thing. Yes, it is when you eat healthy, low calorie food once at a small intervals. On the other hand, you shouldn't graze the cupboards and pantries of your house like a cow escaped from the stockyards.

My last post about gluttony brought some interesting responses on Facebook. There was a reaction that I was connecting being overweight with gluttony. Let me be very direct. I wasn't. There. I said it. But what I should have stated previously is that being overweight isn't the problem, it is a symptom. It is a symptom of a health issue, an emotional issue or a spiritual issue. If you are overweight, please see a doctor and work through this as I did. I've had numerous physicals and each time I've been told that I'm perfectly healthy save for that gigantic Santa sized spare tire around my gut. The culprit? I've narrowed it down to snacking.

On Tuesday, I did something interesting. I fasted. I didn't eat for a chunk of the day. I wanted to see what the problem was. I figured, eliminate the base and see where the craving develop. It was so stinking hard! I so just wanted to snack. I wasn't hungry. I didn't have that rumbly in my tumbly. I just wanted to snack.

And so, I've decided fight against snacking like a Klingon! Yes, that wonderful fictional alien race from Star Trek renowned for their love of battle and honor. I’ve never really fought off snacking before. Back two years ago when I really started dropping weight. I was still snacking. I loved me some beef jerky and peanut butter Twix. Yet, I was also at a different place in my life. My job and responsibilities had me more active. I was moving around more. I didn’t need to fight it off. But now I do.

So, I figured I’d take my example from the Klingons. They fight with honor (or at least supposed to) so should I. For a Klingon, Honor is more important than life. For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. If I'm putting snacking ahead of Jesus, then I'm in trouble. So, if I’m going to fight off snacking, I need to stick to my guns. Not this, well, just this once. I’ve tried that. It backfired. And then I beat myself up. I know for myself that what works is a conscious decisions to move forward in the war against snacking. And so I must do so with honor.

Klingons are also known for their toughness. So, when fighting against snacking like a Klingon, I know I need to be tough. I need to endure. I need to push through it. When others are snacking, I need to hold back. I need to also watch how much I eat and of what. Eating a nice healthy sandwich like that BBQ Turkey Burger (460 calories) from Hardee's is much better than eating their Monster Burger. I mean, who can resist 2 patties of pure meat with each level glued together with bacon. With 1,320 calories I’m gonna need try. (Finding out the calories to one of my favorite sandwiches was like seeing Jar Jar for the first time in Phantom Menace.) I gotta be tough. I gotta be strong.

And so I think of these words

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

And so I pray to God that Christ gives me the strength of a Klingon, the honor and toughness of a Klingon to wage this war against snacking. I didn’t start it, but by golly, with the help of Christ at my side, I’m gonna end this bugger.

Now I just gotta figure out how to stay loyal to my exercise routine like a Wookie.

The Gospel in Klingon--a Lenten Meditation

I was one time asked if I believed in Aliens. My response: I'm looking forward to the day where I could bring the Gospel message to a Klingon. I've stated many a time that the book Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof would be a great evangelism tract for Vulcans (that right there should tell you about the book). And then what about the Klingon concept of Spirituality. Does that even jive with the Gospel. Jesus was about peace, about forgiveness, and most importantly salvation and forgiveness of sins. The Klingons on the other hand revere Kahless, a mighty warrior who said that killing was for battle and to enrich the spirit.

So, if aliens did arrive on planet Earth, many questions would be raised. But those I'm not getting into right now. If the God of all creation could create one planet containing life, couldn't he create more?

But what I do wonder about is how acceptable would a Klingon be to the Gospel message. According to Star Trek.com, the Klingons are a warrior people. To die honorably is held in high esteem. To die at one's own hands instead of being killed by an enemy is held in high esteem as well.

As we come towards Easter, one thing I've always found interesting is that Jesus went willingly to the cross to die a painful death. He willingly allowed himself to be arrested. He willingly allowed himself to be beaten and tortured. He willingly allowed himself to have nails driven into him, nailing him to the cross. And he did so for all who call on his name to find salvation from sin. To a Klingon, to die in such a way shows honor and valor. It is not weakness to die for another or even to die to defend what you hold to be true. This is honor to a Klingon, not weakness.

But I wonder if even greater though is the ultimate victory to a Klingon to defeat death itself, the greatest enemy. The Klingons have a saying "Today is a good day to die." It is not that they are afraid of death, but that it is a part of life and an honor to die. But to die and then come back from even that is seen as an amazing feat. Their revered Kahless was thought to have come back but only turned out to be a clone. Even so, this was seen as a great feat for Kahless to have done.

And so, we have the most powerful words of victory over the greatest enemy of all

Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin...But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Easter isn't about weakness. It is about victory. A victory even a Klingon can appreciate.

I'm starting to wonder if I should start calling these Spiritual Sci-Fi Fridays?