Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Space-Time Continuum

It seems to come up a lot in writing that every action affects the future. In Star Trek they have wormholes that take you to a parallel universe that is mostly like ours, but one different choice made somewhere along the way dramatically changed the outcome. In DC Comics they similarly have alternate universes that you can access through a "Boom Tube" or other means, & when the universes overlap there is a "crisis." On Back to the Future whenever something Marty or Doc does leads to someone from that time period doing something differently, when they come back to the future there's evidence of that change; sometimes dramatically as in the case of George McFly's success & confidence, & other times minimal, like the "Twin Pine Mall" being the "Lone Pine Mall" or "Clayton Ravine" being "Eastwood Ravine." The same thing happens on Heroes with everybody bouncing around through the space-time continuum willy-nilly.
Ironically, with all this emphasis on actions having consequences, many people live in total disregard for the consequences of their own actions, but that's not the point I'm trying to make today.
I won't say that time travel is impossible, for nothing is impossible with God, but I don't think it's anything we can figure out how to do as humans. It's true that actions have consequences, & our choices don't always please God. However, if we fear we'll mess up God's plan by making wrong choices, that's kind of arrogant on our part! God knows what choices we'll make, & even though it is never His will that we make wrong choices, He can use even our wrong choices to carry out His good plan! We are not powerful enough to mess up what God is going to do.

"And do not forget the things I have done throughout history. For I am God--I alone! I am God, and there is no one else like me. Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish." Isaiah 46:9-10 (NLT)