S1E2 "Everything has its time, and everything dies."

     When I first began watching Doctor Who several years ago, this second episode was the clincher. I was honestly not impressed with the first corny episode, and I nearly gave it up altogether: what a travesty that would have been! However, I continued, and I was struck by the depth and wonder of the show. I guess, like Rose, the TARDIS got inside my head! The mystery of time, the enormity of eternity, the magnitude of the universe,  and the preciousness of Earth were all themes and realities that challenged my shallow, self-absorbed, and very safe ideas. My view of God (the most important thing about me, according to A. W. Tozer) was small because I had no appreciation for the wonderful, expansive Creation that I lived in and was part of! And when one sees what a tiny piece this planet is of the universe one can't help but marvel at the role its Creator chose to play upon it. And when one sees what a tiny bit of time one has upon said planet, the desire to make every moment count for eternity becomes consuming!

"The End of the World"

     This episode, "The End of the World," in particular develops the theme of everything having it's time that I found startling. I remember reveling at Rose's phone-call to her mother. I don't know why that brief conversation resonated so with me, but I think I realized at the same moment as Rose that life is short:"that was 5 billion years ago: she's dead now." 

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass." 1 Peter 1:24

"5 billion years later, my mum's dead."

"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold You have made my days a few hand breaths and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Surely a man goes about as a shadow!"Psalm 39:4-6

"Hello, Mum."

     The idea of everything having an end continues in the Doctor's conversations and ethics. He says he's not there to save the Earth because "its time is up." He alludes to his planet, Gallifrey, as having been destroyed "before its time." He refuses to moisturize Cassandra because "everything has its time; everything dies." He sounds a great deal like King Solomon with his human wisdom in Ecclesiastes: 

 "Vanity, vanity [...] what does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes. [...] For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die."

The author of Hebrews says much the same but with a startling reality: "It is appointed for man to die once and after that the judgment."

      In summary, life is short! In less than 5 billion years you'll be dead - that's a guarantee! 

Then what? Are you prepared for the judgment? 

And for the time that remains...: "Who knows whether you have not come [...] for such a time as this?"  Esther 4:14