Into Darkness...

My sons and I went on a date the other day. Dinner and a movie. We had a relatively healthy dinner at Panera and then went to see the new Star Trek movie "Into Darkness".

Interesting title. 

Could have been any number of movies. But Star Trek's log line (which I noticed was recently changed to become gender neutral) has always sparked my interest. This idea of venturing into the unknown - the discovery of new worlds, new life...it lights a fire in my heart. 

My dad always watched Star Trek when I was growing up - the original series - when Leonard Nimoy really was a young Spock. I can't tell you how many dinners I ate at a tray table while watching the Klingons battle it out with the Federation star ships. 

I didn't like it then, but I wonder sometimes how much the things we are exposed to as kids inform and affect our adult lives.

For some of us this journey into darkness is not a warp speed jump to the outer reaches of the known universe, but rather an inward journey that brings us to the edge of ourselves.

A long time ago I started out on what should have been a five-year mission that's  taken several unexpected turns. This journey has brought me deeper into darkness than anything I originally signed up for, if in fact we ever knowingly sign up for such a mission. 

It's not that I regret it. If we're all honest with ourselves, no one really wants to live a quiet life full of comfortable predictability - most of us are just afraid of the unknown. 

Still, space isn't the final frontier - we are. And once we've conquered that, the real adventure begins. Our eyes adjust, and we forge ahead.

Into darkness...