Can We Be Human Again
Project Hail Mary Should Not Be Better News than Our Claims
I have not seen the movie Project Hail Mary yet. But I have read the book and I have a few thoughts about the theology of humanity within the story. Yes, this is not an explicit purpose of Project Hail Mary but preveniently, we might take the deeper truth with grace.
If you have not seen or read the story here’s a quick and very light summary. The earth’s sun is dying because of a parasitic, biological “swarm” named Astrophage. Scientists and others are gathered to solve this problem ultimately leading to plan to send a crewed space craft to the star system of Tau Ceti to determine why that system is not dying even with the Astrophage present. This is understood to be a one way trip with probes sent back to earth with any solutions. Our protagonist is Ryland Grace, a disgraced scientist who has been teaching biology in high school. Ryland eventually is forced to go on the space craft Hail Mary with two other crew members.
Like any good space movie, Ryalnd awakens from a suspended state and finds the rest of the crew dead. He is determined to continue the mission. In investigation, he realizes he is not alone in the system and eventually another craft comes to him. This we learn in a craft from the star system 40 Eridani. Eventually, Ryland meets “Rocky” from the other ship. Rocky is very different from humanity, but whose own system faces the same threat as earth. He appears to be composed of stone and is arachnoid in appearance. Rocky is very different from Ryland.
Rocky whom we learn has the name best translated as Evaltas and has also lost the rest of his crew experiences the environment differently. communicates differently, breathes different atmosphere, and has a very different world than earth. But he is an incredibly good engineer. Ryland and Rocky work together to find ways to combine their tasks and skills. They find the solution to their shared problem and also determine that they can both return to their worlds. Ryland’s one way mission suddenly becomes a return trip. Ryalnd goes ahead and launches his probes after he and Rocky say goodbye.
But this isn’t the end. Ryland realizes he has a problem with his Astrophage fuel dying. he resolves that and is about to head home when he realizes that Rocky may not be able to resolve his issue. Ryland has a choice to make and he chooses to turn back and head to Rocky’s ship. When he arrives, Rocky’s ship is dead. Rocky is both surprised and elated when Ryland comes for him. But they are friends and of course Ryland would come for his friend.
When Ryland turns around, he has no chance for returning to earth. He must get Rocky onboard and go to Rocky’s planet Erid to save that world. Ryland trusts that earth will be saved by his probes, but Rocky has no other way to save his world. They make it to Erid, btu I won’t spoil the very end.
Now that you have been caught up, we can get to the theology. Humanity, when we are being truly human has a tremendous capacity for compassion and grace. When we see past differences like Ryalnd does with Rocky, we can see a shared “humanity” in each and every person we meet. When we are willing to see someone so very different from us as human, we can treat them as we would want to ne treated.
I believe that human beings can be good even though we often choose to follow evil. This is a deeply theological belief for me. But Brandon, aren’t we depraved? In most of protestant theology, yes. BUT, Wesleyans have a caveat. We have the doctrine of prevenient grace in whcih we have the capacity to do good through the work of the Holy Spirit. Even if we do not believe in God. That grace goes before us and enables us to avoid chaos.
Ironically (if we believe fundamentalists), while I do not see the opening chapters as factual (they have a specific genre), I believe that the truths within Genesis are very true. So, when I consider humanity, I remember that God calls humans very good. True there is the Fall in Genesis chapter three. But, once again I have a question. As my friend Terry likes to ask, “Was Adam’s sin more efficacious than Christ’s acts?” I believe that Christ’s action is far superior to Adam’s sin. I also believe that God is working to make all things new. This began when Jesus ascended and has been an ongoing work of grace in the world.
We once could interact with those who are very different from us. But along the way fear, those who wish to wield power, and our own selfishness has made us think that differences are evil. NT Wright when speaking on Love being greater than certainty states that love is our primary mode of knowing God. “Love means affirming the reality of something outside yourself, delighting in it, and engaging with it relationally, rather than reducing it to a data point.” (Wright) As my friend Daron says “it is better to be rightly related than beingright.” When did we lose that truth? When did trying to vanquish those we have differences with become the default for human beings?
We dehumanize, we cheer dehumanization, we pray for destruction, and we foment hatred wrapped in a wet blanket of holiness. I wish we could drop our selfish ways of looking at others, but we just can’t seem to help ourselves. But I know we are capable of goodness. When a story like Project Hail Mary feels like better news than some of our holiness claims, maybe we need to examine our claims. Can we love our “enemies” as we have been commanded? Or are we too worldly to see enemy as a friend we have not won over yet?