In a galaxy where hurt is met with hurt and hate with hate. We see it everywhere – retaliation escalating into chaos. You know what I’m talking about, we all see it, just watch the evening news, listen to the news feeds on social media, FaceBook-Instagram-Tic Tok-etc. We see the hate to our neighbor, our City, State, Federal Government, car lots and buildings being set afire. It weighs on all of us.

But what if there's a better way?

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." - 1 Peter 3:9

Jesus himself taught, "Eye for eye only ends in blindness; instead, choose love – bless those who curse you." (My paraphrase of Matthew 5:38-42)

God's nature is really beautiful - He's incredibly patient, loving, and faithful, and He wants us to be like Him, showing kindness and humility everywhere. Actually, blessing others when they wrong us brings huge rewards – try it! God's mercy is always stronger than anger or judgment, and He never gives up on us. We can approach Him anytime without fear, because He offers grace and mercy constantly.

In a galaxy far, far away… there are characters that live out God's mercy principle from 1 Peter 3:9 and Matthew 5:38-42.

Obi-Wan, for instance, has every reason to kill his former apprentice Anakin on the planet Mustafar. Anakin had just turned to the dark side and tried to destroy him and his pregnant wife! Yet, Obi-Wan spares his life, leaving him alive. This mercy temporarily saves Anakin, setting the stage for his later redemption as Darth Vader.

Then Luke faces the same evil Darth Vader, his father Anakin. Instead of seeking revenge, Luke chooses love and mercy, ultimately redeeming his father. Vader sacrifices himself to save Luke.

Because of these acts of mercy from Obi-Won and Luke, Vader would never have had the opportunity to repent and be redeemed thus striking a critical blow to the corruption of the Sith.

We also see glimpses of mercy through other characters like Leia showing kindness to captured Stormtroopers and Chewbacca sparing Imperial officers.

Now let's beam over to the Star Trek universe avoiding the complexities of alternate universes.

You see mercy in action through leaders like Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Data, Captain James T. Kirk, all the Captains for that matter, and Odo. I'm going to show you the mercy of Captain Picard and Janeway saving time for this blog.

The Borg Queen is captured by Captain Picard when The Borg attacks Earth, seeking to assimilate all life into their cybernetic collective. Given Captain Picard’s past trauma of being previously assimilated by the Borg as Locutus, he could've sought revenge. Instead, he chose mercy, sparing her life and destroying the Borg cube remotely.

Picard explained his choice to his crew by saying: "She's no longer relevant... The Borg Collective will rebuild, but I will not be party to her execution."

Captain Janeway even showed mercy to the Borg Queen by sparing her life twice.  This I believe led to the self-inflicted destruction of the Borg.

Years later, a stunning twist revealed the reborn Borg Queen was Dr. Agnes Jurati, a former friend of Picard's before her assimilation into the Borg Collective. Agnes' friendship with Picard and the mercy given to the former Queen creates full circle redemption that helps prevent a Romulan attack on Earth and the Federation.

In case you wander “full circle redemption” is Biblical (Luke 6:37-38). It’s not easy and requires mercy from two parties but it is a pleasant miracle.

A similar theme emerged in our earlier exploration of the Planet of the Apes franchise, where we discovered powerful lessons on Revenge, Forgiveness, and Mercy: Lessons from War for the Planet of the Apes – From Galaxies to Genesis ' Caesar's choice to spare the life of Colonel McCullough, his enemy, illustrated mercy's transformative power, displaying the same principle we are discussing in this blog.

As we navigate our own galaxy filled with conflict and division, let us embrace the mercy principle embodied by Obi-Wan, Luke, Captain Picard, Ceasar and other sci-fi heroes. By choosing love over retaliation and blessing over insult, we may just inherit the blessings in 1 Peter 3:9.

Our heroes' examples inspire us to reflect God's nature of patient, love, faithfulness, and mercy. Together, let’s create a galaxy where mercy triumphs over judgment and love conquers hate. In God’s plan of mercy, we can use this Force to Live Long and Prosper.