Between Tick and Tock
Today is Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, between death and life, despair and hope. And strangely (or maybe not), this morning during breakfast, I happened to watch the episode "Whatever Happened to Mr Garibaldi" in my favourite SF series of all time - Babylon 5.
Now, some of you would probably go "Huh?" Others would have heard me raving (like a madwoman) about this wonderful series....well, I'm not a mad fan, but I do have all 5 seasons AND the movies on dvd....which cost a WHOLE LOT MORE than I'm willing to disclose.... I'm currently watching the series for the 3rd time on DVD (fourth time overall since I watched it when it first aired over a decade ago).
Anyway, in this episode, the main protagonist, a guy called Captain Sheridan, is being challenged by a mysterious being, Lorien, who tells him that he's actually dead, but just refusing to accept it and clinging on to life. Lorien tells him that he's between the moments, between Tick and Tock. Tick, he's alive, Tock, he's dead. And I was struck by the singularity of it, that today in history, Jesus was also between Tick and Tock, between death and life. Lorien asks Sheridan that he's able to give many reasons why he can't die yet, how he's needed still in the battle "out there"...but is he able to think of a reason to live? Finally, Sheridan realises that he does have a reason to live, a woman that he loves.... And Jesus was raised from the dead because of God's love for the whole world.
Now, the writer of B5 is an avowed atheist...so I don't think he was consciously echoing the Easter message in this episode. But he has read the Bible, so it's possible that some of that was in his subconscious when he wrote this episode.
I've being thinking on and off all day about this, and I realise that the message that I'm getting from my third viewing of B5 is that we are given only an finite amount of "moments" in our life, and that we have to make the most of each moment, because once it's gone, it'll never return. In an earlier episode, "The Coming of Shadows", a character says
"So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So much pain, so much blood. And for what, I wonder? The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast terrible inbetween. But there is still time to seize that one last fragile moment. To choose something better, to make a difference, as you say."
Many of us spend much of our time regreting, mourning or wishing for the past, when we should actually be looking to the future and seeing what we can to make a difference, to those around us, to the world, to be part of history. Don't just stand on the sidelines watching, be part of it. Make history.
Now, some of you would probably go "Huh?" Others would have heard me raving (like a madwoman) about this wonderful series....well, I'm not a mad fan, but I do have all 5 seasons AND the movies on dvd....which cost a WHOLE LOT MORE than I'm willing to disclose.... I'm currently watching the series for the 3rd time on DVD (fourth time overall since I watched it when it first aired over a decade ago).
Anyway, in this episode, the main protagonist, a guy called Captain Sheridan, is being challenged by a mysterious being, Lorien, who tells him that he's actually dead, but just refusing to accept it and clinging on to life. Lorien tells him that he's between the moments, between Tick and Tock. Tick, he's alive, Tock, he's dead. And I was struck by the singularity of it, that today in history, Jesus was also between Tick and Tock, between death and life. Lorien asks Sheridan that he's able to give many reasons why he can't die yet, how he's needed still in the battle "out there"...but is he able to think of a reason to live? Finally, Sheridan realises that he does have a reason to live, a woman that he loves.... And Jesus was raised from the dead because of God's love for the whole world.
Now, the writer of B5 is an avowed atheist...so I don't think he was consciously echoing the Easter message in this episode. But he has read the Bible, so it's possible that some of that was in his subconscious when he wrote this episode.
I've being thinking on and off all day about this, and I realise that the message that I'm getting from my third viewing of B5 is that we are given only an finite amount of "moments" in our life, and that we have to make the most of each moment, because once it's gone, it'll never return. In an earlier episode, "The Coming of Shadows", a character says
"So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So much pain, so much blood. And for what, I wonder? The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast terrible inbetween. But there is still time to seize that one last fragile moment. To choose something better, to make a difference, as you say."
Many of us spend much of our time regreting, mourning or wishing for the past, when we should actually be looking to the future and seeing what we can to make a difference, to those around us, to the world, to be part of history. Don't just stand on the sidelines watching, be part of it. Make history.
Labels: Babylon 5
posted by Heather @ 8:12 PM
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