That Which Transcends Time and Space

On New Year's Eve, I finally got to see the science fiction adventure film, Interstellar.  It was definitely worth the wait, and a marvelous way to end out the year...even if it caused my mind to blow.

As is my bent, I couldn't help but see the gospel intertwined in the story (albeit unintentional).  If you've seen the move, read on.  If not, there could be some spoilers below, so be warned.

The story is set some time in the future.  Matthew McConaughy (swoon!) stars as Cooper, a former NASA pilot that now lives life as a farmer, raising food in a blighted world called Earth.  The government has shut down many agencies, rewritten textbooks to claim the moon landings were a farce, and experiencing death of the human race at a rapid pace.  Through an intricate set of clues, his daughter, Murphy, uncovers a code that leads them to the hidden location of NASA, still operating to find another galaxy and planet(s) for humankind to exist.  There is a Plan A and a Plan B.  Plan A is to move human race to one of the three possible planet locations found to save their lives.  If that plan fails, Plan B is to raise the embryos they have frozen to salvage the human race if those on the Earth are obliterated due to death.  The twists and turns of this movie that lasts almost three hours is so much more than I can encapsulate here.  This complex story line is definitely worth a watch, so get to the theater before it's gone, or put it on your Netflix/RedBox list.  

Cooper was used to save mankind, and although he was not a perfect man, like Jesus, he did make his decisions based on all of humankind, not just his family.  While physicists, astronauts and engineers mathematically argued what should be done based on numbers, Cooper argued that there was only one option...save mankind.  When God sent His Son, He didn't have to, and He made that sacrifice for all the generations to come. Nothing made sense logically to the way Jesus came, lived or died (and rose again), but it was all part of the plan.  I will say that humankind was spared in the movie.  You'll have to watch it to see how.

One of my favorite lines from the movie was spoken by Brand.  She was played by Anne Hathaway and was the daughter of the physicist solving the equation for gravity.  Without going into detail regarding the genesis of this quote (because it would take too long), Brand defends why she believes the team should choose to return to one of the three planets.  Love.  The astronaut supposedly there was her true love.  With little to no evidence about the status of the three planets' astronauts, other than a blip that that were alive, she felt drawn to that planet.  Her quote was "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."  Powerful.  

Scripture teaches us that God is love.  And although our finite minds can't perceive the fullness of who He is, He has made a way for us to experience that love through His Love through us in Jesus Christ.  This quote stuck with me...."that transcends time and space."  God is bigger than time or space.  He never slumbers.  He is omniscient.  He is love.  As a new year begins, it is good to know that the Creator of this universe is concerned with loving me.