Remember Me

One of my all-time favorite episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was an episode where Doctor Beverly Crusher actually got some good starring time in.  It was an episode with good mystery, where your brain had to do some good thinking, and which also gave Beverly some good, intense action.  We were easily able to put ourselves in her shoes, and it was a bit terrifying to be left wondering at the horror she was presented with.

In the episode Doctor Crusher found herself questioning her sanity as everyone around her began to disappear.  But not only were people disappearing from sight.  It was as though their very existence was being wiped away.  As the crew of the Enterprise slowly dwindled away everyone except Doctor Crusher forgot that they had ever existed.  Even the starship computer had no records of the missing individuals.  Eventually the doctor was left alone with Captain Picard, who saw nothing unusual in that they were the sole crew of a starship built to house a thousand.

Eventually the universe itself began to disappear.  Star systems were no longer visible and the map of the galaxy in the Enterprise computer showed a shrinking universe with an empty void of nothing quickly growing around them.  Soon the Enterprise itself was being absorbed by the void and Beverly realized with horror that she was all that was left of the entire universe, and even her own time was limited.

Turns out that SHE was actually the one caught in a "static warp bubble", a space-time anomaly type thing that was basically a science experiment of her son, Wesley's, that had gone all wrong.  As she frantically worked to stop the universe from shrinking, the Enterprise crew worked on the outside of the bubble to get her out of it.  Of course everything was all right in the end as Doctor Crusher was rescued by her own son, with the help of his mentors, the Enterprise officers, and a strange alien.

This was a classic sort of Star Trek episode with action and make-you-think science-y stuff.  But ultimately what made it classic Star Trek was that it reminded you that you care for these characters.  You could feel the paralyzing fear Doctor Crusher was experiencing, and the heartbreak as the people around her that she cared about disappeared; most heart-wrenching of all was that they simply ceased to have ever existed at all!  She began questioning her own sanity as she grieved the loss of individuals who were only to be remembered by her alone.

If I were to categorize or narrow down a single source, a single root cause, for all of the problems we face in the world, all the issues and division that occupy so much of our attention, it would be this:

We have forgotten the value of LIFE itself.

We have lost reverence and awe for our very existence.  We have forgotten how special it is that we exist, that it really is a grand miracle that our existence is possible.  From the Earth itself to the creatures who live here with us, to our fellow human beings, we have forgotten how precious LIFE itself is.

This is also what Doctor Crusher experienced: That every individual does matter.

There has never been, and never will be, another YOU.

YOU are special.  YOU matter.  YOU make a difference.

Your presence, your absence, your contribution, are all important.

And if this is true of YOU, then it is also true of everyone else, too.

If we could get back to remembering this simple truth then perhaps it could help us keep things in perspective when we are frustrated, angry, hurting.  And perhaps we could then get along with others a bit better and we could get around to being more compassionate, understanding, caring, patient.  And since attitudes--both positive and negative--are contagious, perhaps as we remember these things then just maybe, one person at a time, maybe we could each start making a difference in this world.  But it is going to require every-one giving up some soap-boxes, some prejudices, grudges, and pride.

Ultimately, it is a heart problem that is the root of all the junk in this world, a heart problem that has forgotten the value of LIFE.  And that is only going to change one person at a time.  And if that heart problem isn't changed then we really are all doomed.  I am reminded of the words of another television doctor, Doctor Jack Shephard from my other favorite show, "LOST": "We have to learn to live together, or we're going to die alone."