The Step of Faith

I grew up watching Star Trek and I'm still a huge fan. There are six Star Trek television shows. My favorite of the T.V. series is called Star Trek: Voyager. It is a story about a Starfleet crew that was pulled into a distant quadrant of the galaxy, far away from any other Starfleet people. They have to fend for themselves in a foreign, uncharted, and unfriendly place.

There is a specific episode that has often stood out to me; it is called "Sacred Ground." In this episode, the captain and a few members of the crew visited an alien world and one of the crew, a young woman named Kes, accidentally stumbled into an energy field that was surrounding a sacred artifact. The field severely injured her, putting her into a coma. Kes was brought back to their ship, the doctor discovered that Kes was not likely to survive. The crew learns of a legend where a King's son was injured the same way and the King went through a certain ritual as an initiation to awake his son. Hoping this would work for Kes, Captain Janeway asked the monks to allow her to go through the same ritual to awaken Kes. They agreed, but warned her that it will not be easy.

She agreed to proceed regardless of the risk. She went through several physical and mental challenges in order to learn how to help Kes. She had to paint pictures, stare at a stone until it lit up, and at one point she even had to climb a large rock wall free hand. Throughout the rituals, she had a guide who repeatedly told her that her tasks were meaningless, and that she already had the answer that she needed. Captain Janeway continues to push through, but after a long period of time with no success, she returned to the ship. She pondered on the things she went through and what her guide had told her. She realized that her guide was right, she had the answer all along. She told her crew that she would be taking Kes back to the energy field. The doctor told her that it would likely kill them both, but feeling that it was the right thing to do she went. Captain Janeway took a step of faith and walked through the field.

She was right, once she walked through the energy field, Kes woke up. Captain Janeway asked her guide why she had been made to endure so many physical and mental trials when the solution was so simple. Her guide told her quite simply that she put herself through those trials. It turned out that the ritual was based on the participant's expectations; so because Captain Janeway had expected to have to go through such hard trials that she caused it to happen.

I'm not saying that we cause our trials, but sometimes in life we can be really hard on ourselves. We can expect more of ourselves than is necessary. Our Heavenly Father knows us and he knows our hearts. He does not expect us to do everything exactly right all of the time - it simply is not possible! What he expects us to do is turn to him and take a step of faith and trust in Him.

Elder M. Russell Ballard once said, "Recognize limitations; no one can do everything. When you have done the best you can, be satisfied and don’t look back and second-guess, wondering how you could have done more. Be at peace within yourselves. Rather than berate yourself for what you didn’t do, congratulate yourself for what you did."

I can testify that as long as we have faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and we are doing our best, He is pleased with us. He loves us, we are His children and he does not want us to be so hard on ourselves. Remember that the Lord loves you for who you are, not for who you think He wants you to be!

A Body of One

One of my favorite T.V shows growing up was Star Trek: Voyager. My whole family and I love Star Trek. Voyager is the story of two crews thrown together. It started with newly appointed Captain Kathryn Janeway of the, recently constructed, state of the art science vessel, Voyager, and Chakotay, captain of a Maquis vessel. The Maquis are a terrorist group; several Maquis members are former members of Starfleet, including Chakotay. They rejected a certain peace treaty that was formed between the federation and an alien race. Captain Janeway's  security officer was undercover on board Chakotay's vessel. When the Maquis vessel went missing in 'the badlands,' Voyager was sent on a rescue mission to find it.

Once they arrived in the badlands they were pulled by a beam into another quadrant of the galaxy. This was done by a powerful alien being known as the Caretaker. The crew of Voyager discovered that the same thing happened to the Maquis vessel. Chakotay's vessel was destroyed, but Voyager rescued the crew. There were many casualties including several high ranking members of both crews. The technology that was used to bring them there ended up getting destroyed along with the Caretaker. Both crews were stranded together in the Delta Quadrant! Captain Janeway and Chakotay discussed the situation and decided that their only option was to join together in order to survive. They agreed to become, "one crew, a Starfleet crew." Captain Janeway appointed Chakotay as her second in command and the two crews were forced to work together.

In life, often times we are thrown into difficult situations; whether it's being far from home, or being around people who we don't really know or get along with. We have to remember that we are all sons and daughters of God. Most of us are working towards the same goal - to go back home to be with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Once they got their barrings they discovered they were over 70,000 light-years from home; which was at least 75 years at maximum speed. Obviously this meant they were going to be together for a long time.


Even though they all had the same goal - reaching home - neither crew had an easy time adjusting to being together. There were several confrontations that occurred for quite a few months. Eventually after going through many battles and trials together, they all discovered how much they needed each other and both crews became one.

In 1 Corinthians 12: 13-14 it says,
"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

We are many members - but one body; in verses 15-26 it explains the importance each part of a body has. Just because we have a hand, doesn't mean we don't need a foot. Each part is important and they all come together to work as one body. Each part needing the other. It is the same in life, work, church, and home and family - we need one another. Like the crew of the Voyager discovered, we won't get very far if we fight against each other. By no means are we able to be best friends with everyone around us, but Jesus taught, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." - John 13:34

It wasn't until the Voyager and Maquis crews began to have respect for each other and understanding of their differences that they began coming together as one crew. They became like a big family; they learned to love each other and endure together. "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." -1 Corinthians 12:26