By G.P. Avants

 

In Star Trek Beyond we see another pivotal point in the Star Trek crew. Smack dab in the middle of their peaceful five-year mission, all hell breaks loose. Their home in space, the intrepid Starship Enterprise, is lured into a trap and is systematically destroyed.

 

 

Captain Kirk in many ways is in a mid-life crisis. He is wondering where he is meant to be. Just when boredom and routine have begun to settle in, he and his whole crew become homeless and isolated on a mysterious planet. It’s kind of wild that everyone they met is lost, forgotten, or displaced. Enter Jayla who is the sole survivor of her family. She offers Kirk , Chekov and Scotty a place to stay in her home. Jayla’s home is an old crashed starship, the USS Franklin. When they pull their resources of people and technology, they bring the USS Franklin back to life. Captain Kirk is reminded that home is not necessarily the name of the starship you man, but the people who you call more than your crew, your family.

One side note is that trial and trouble can turn friends into family. My case in point is Montgomery “Scotty” Scott. We get to sadly, see him mourn the loss of the Enterprise and survive being photon-torpedoed into isolation. He and the surviving members of the crew are marooned on a broken world. Scotty is the one who befriends Jayla. He is not only well-adept at understand the inner workings of any starship, but he also is a very good counsellor. When Jayla is looking for courage within herself, Scotty tells her about some of his wee Granny’s words. . “that a stick is weak on its own, but there is strength in a bundle of them”. Jayla is lead from an outsider mourning the loss of her family, to being brought into the Enterprise family, by Scotty’s brand of quick humor and steadfast loyalty.

 

Trouble and change come to help us grow. Help, not hinder, in God’s design.

It also brings us closer to others and strengthens our faith. I think some of the reasons why I like hiking in the wilderness is that people have time to get to know each other. The old routine of busyness and business is interrupted by real life.

When you have to depend on others and they on you, the struggle makes you more than friends. Family is more than blood, add in the sweat and tears, and you might have the beginnings of that mixture.