Dear Thurston,
I hope you know what you’re getting into with that time travel machine. I’ve never been one for science fiction, but I have read enough stories to know that time travel is no joking matter. If you truly have discovered the secret to it, I would advise that you keep it secret. Why meddle in the affairs of the past? After all, you already have the immense and frightening power of determining the future, the eternal future – yours and that of those around you. Every step you take closer to Christ translates into a higher degree of glory in heaven; every person you bring closer to Christ translates into another resident of heaven. Isn’t that enough power for you? Or perhaps you don’t believe in this doctrine of our faith? Well, if that’s the case, maybe you should go ahead and use your little trans-temporal gadget. Take a trip back to the Garden of Eden before the Fall, and taste how indescribably wonderful life in communion with God was before sin poisoned it. And then stop off on the hill called Calvary, outside of Jerusalem, at the feast of the Passover around the year 33. There you’ll find our Lord suffering unspeakable agony – that’s a taste of hell. And if you’re still not convinced, drop in on some of the early martyrs, like saint Victorinus, who was thrown into a huge marble mortar (after being racked and scourged, of course) when he refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. They pounded his feet and legs into pulp, inviting him at every stroke: “Save yourself! You can escape this death by renouncing your new god.” But he held firm – because of his love for Christ and his hope in heaven – and so eventually they battered his head…
Yes indeed, if you insist on flattering your pride by going back in time to stir things up, at least go back to worthy events. Then, perhaps, you will be cured of your adolescent, scientific, Mephistophelean fixation and start devoting your energies to projects that have eternal repercussions.
In the meantime, you can still count on my prayers. Sincerely, Uncle Eddy
