Back to the Future Reflection

Back to the Future is a fun science fiction movie which tells the story of teenager Marty McFly.  He is your typical American teenager attending highschool in the Eighties.  However, he accidentally gets sent back to 1955 in a converted plutonium powered DeLorean – time machine.  This machine was the brainstorm of Marty’s scientist friend – Dr. Emmett Brown.  Referred to as “Doc” by Marty.

Throughout the movie, Doc continuously warns Marty not to change anything, because it could cause an alternate timeline for both the past and present.  Marty does make some mistakes which affect not just the people in the story, but the whole town of Hill Valley.

This of course is a fiction movie. However, there is a realistic takeaway to consider.  The Back to the Future movie emphasizes how choices can have a significant impact on the trajectory of our life.

As we journey through life, reflections of the past often linger, sometimes haunting us with memories of mistakes.  Choices made, roads taken, and moments etched forever, can sometimes leave us in a state of regret. If only we could hop into a time machine, correct those missteps, and rewrite our history. Alas, in 2024, plutonium remains elusive, as well as not having access to a flux capacitor that will fling us into a time period when we reach 1.21 gigawatts, at the speed of 88mph.

Yet, amid the tapestry of our lives, there exists an unwavering truth: God’s love and forgiveness.  While we may yearn for a time machine to rewrite our own history, we can find solace awaits in the words of God’s handiwork – The Bible.  Ephesians 1:7 (NLT) reveals grace’s essence: “He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.”  This means that Grace – the unmerited favor of God – awaits us!  Our part?  To surrender regrets, allowing forgiveness to manifest itself.  As wonderful as that sounds there is one pitfall we must watch out for.  Memories may still resurface, but NOW there is comfort in knowing that we do not have to live with those regrets.  Jesus paid for them, so we don’t own them anymore, He does.  Which means that we now walk in complete freedom, unburdened by past mistakes.

While our dream of having our own DeLorean remains grounded without plutonium-fueled time-travel capabilities, there’s solace in knowing that our past need not haunt us anymore.  As believers, we possess something far more profound - a loving God who heals our wounds, walks with us today, and unveils a future beyond Doc Brown’s wildest DeLorean adventures. So, let’s embrace this divine journey, knowing that our future, guided by grace, surpasses any DeLorean destination.

Note:  Christopher Lloyd encourages students in these two YouTube videos thanks to Kurt Messick – Ivy Tech teacher of Astronomy and Earth Science.

Another fun YouTube video to watch is Jimmy Kimmel Live, where Doc Brown and Marty are on his show in 2015, with Huey Lewis as well.