icourtland!

It might come as no big surprise to anyone that I am a big comic book geek. I make no apologies about it, and in fact embrace it as much as I am able to do so.

Well, once in a while there is something that happens to be pretty darn profound that can alter the way that I think about things in general, and one happened to pop in the other day that did just that. Funny enough it was in one of the recent issues of a Star Trek comic, one not normally know for any big philosophical insights – however this one page really made me stop and take notice.

This happens between big scenes in a conversation between Jean-Luc Picard and Guinan as Picard asks about a particularly dangerous mission and the chances that they could possibly succeed. for those of you not up on Star Trek mythology, Guinan is from a race that perceives time differently than humans and so is always full of insights and perspectives that are of interest to those who know of her gifts.

the following is from a page that made me stop – and I knew that I had read something profound and important that I needed to share.

—–
Picard
No games, no riddles, just tell me. Can we possibly succeed?

Guinan
Jean-Luc. So logical, so linear. Sometimes you’re practically a Vulcan. Something either will happen, or it won’t. There is no “possibly”

Picard
I don’t understand.

Guinan
Ask yourself: have you even been caught in a thunderstorm?

Picard
Guinan, I said no riddles.

Guinan
This isn’t. It’s just a question. In fact, it’s your question. What were the chances? Of getting hit by a single drop of rain.

And I don’t mean apart from the rest of the rain. I mean that the clouds above would burst at exactly that moment.

You look at the sky every morning, and never calculate that something so common as a cloud results from countless uncharted variables.

Infinite possibilities, all drifting into line, one after the other converging on that single instant.

The chance of even a single drop of rain falling on you is so small, so fleeting, that it hardly exists at all. And yet, in a thunderstorm, you’re hit by thousands. It’s unavoidable.

You ask what your chances are?

Time isn’t a possibility Jean-Luc. It’s inevitability.

And the only question… is whether you head into the storm.
——

and so I ask of you now – what storm are you heading into? Are you ready for the rain?