Starfleet Admiral James T. Kirk confronts a Klingon warrior at gunpoint in the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. "Help us or die," he orders.
The Klingon straightens his shoulders. "I do not deserve to live," he says.
Kirk then orders him sent to the brig, and the Klingon protests. "Wait! You said you would kill me." Today's Old Testament reading, from the book of Numbers, shows Moses so vexed by the people's constant wailing that he asks God to kill him.
What a trial that must have been for Moses! Ordered by God to do the impossible, he tried to decline, but God would have none of that. So now he's got however many hundreds of thousands of people in the desert, and they're all complaining because they have no onions and garlic and leeks. A mission from God; that's worth getting vexed over.
This makes me wonder: What vexes me? The fear of catastrophic failure trying to fulfill a mission from God? I think of these guys who jumped out skyscraper windows because of the stock market, and I guess they felt that way -- failing in their mission, facing their ruin.
But would any failure be worth enough vexation to die over?
posted 3/9
The Klingon straightens his shoulders. "I do not deserve to live," he says.
Kirk then orders him sent to the brig, and the Klingon protests. "Wait! You said you would kill me." Today's Old Testament reading, from the book of Numbers, shows Moses so vexed by the people's constant wailing that he asks God to kill him.
He asked the Lord, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? .... I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now — if I have found favor in your eyes — and do not let me face my own ruin."Now that's vexation. Kill me now, he says.Numbers 11.11-12,14-15
What a trial that must have been for Moses! Ordered by God to do the impossible, he tried to decline, but God would have none of that. So now he's got however many hundreds of thousands of people in the desert, and they're all complaining because they have no onions and garlic and leeks. A mission from God; that's worth getting vexed over.
This makes me wonder: What vexes me? The fear of catastrophic failure trying to fulfill a mission from God? I think of these guys who jumped out skyscraper windows because of the stock market, and I guess they felt that way -- failing in their mission, facing their ruin.
But would any failure be worth enough vexation to die over?
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