"Houston We Have a Problem"..or.."The Easy Button"

A long time ago in galaxy far far away a proud race built for itself a mighty star ship, the likes of which had never been seen, and staffed it with their best officers.

Captain N. E. Way was beloved by all who served with him. Captain Way was a "the ends justifies the means" type of guy who didn't care what those below him did, confident that they were all on the same mission, with the same goal, and if they each followed a different action plan, so much the better, they'd still get there and morale would be high when they did.

A gifted woman was assigned as the mighty ship's first mate. Bygude Werkz had, since her first day at Star Fleet Academy, demonstrated an ability to always be in the right place at the right time to lend a helping hand. Even more impressive, she never seemed to tire. Everyone marvelled and envied her for her confidence that hard work, especially when it helped others, would always win the day.

The ship's engineer was a brilliant man. Dr. I. B. Smart had graduated at the top of every class he had ever taken. He had dedicated years to the study of such things as rocket design, jet propulsion, spacecraft systems, physics and mathematics, not to mention any number of obscure sciences which he had learned and applied to the solve the most perplexing of problems and questions.

While the reputation and exploits of the crew were well documented, the ship and and one of its systems was another story all together. You see what made this ship radically different from those that proceeded it, was its life support system, or more accurately, its life saving system.

The system was intriguing in its simplicity and amazing in its ability to save a ship. The system didn't guarantee that the ship wouldn't be damaged, but it did guarantee the ship's survival, sparing it from complete and total destruction. All of this at the touch of the "button".

The crew was told about the life saving system, shown the "button", supplies were loaded, engines were lit, and the great ship rocketed into space on its maiden voyage.

As is likely to happen on such an epic journey, trouble befell the ship. Not too far into the mission, the crew found itself faced by its first challenge, a meteor shower. The meteors proved to be not very large, and the damage to the craft was light, repairs were made, and proud and confident in their own abilities and skills, the crew pressed on. Now what you may, or may not know about space is that the deeper you go, the more serious the dangers and daunting the challenges. The crew's orders called for them to travel to the furthest reaches of the universe.

Deep into the mission, far away from the space dock where the mighty vessel was first dreamed up and built, she found herself battered and damaged by the ravages of space travel, but Captain Way and his officers remained confident and proud of their skills and abilities. Time and again the captain had applied his approach to command. Happy with this freedom to deal with things however they saw fit, First Mate Werkz had, through hard work, been able to make any repairs necessary to save the ship, and everyone marvelled at Dr. Smart's ability to think and reason through any problem and provide the right answers. Well even if they weren't right, at least they seemed to work and no one dared to question them.

In this manner the mission continued until that fateful day or night, who can tell in space, when the ship and her crew found themselves locked in the ultimate battle for survival. Systems were failing, despair gripped the crew and all appeared lost. That's when the ship's leaders remembered the "button".

Captain N. E. Way considered giving the order to push the "button", but wavered, "How could he? If he gave the order to push the button, wouldn't he be admitting that it was the only way to save the ship, and might that upset his officers?" First Mate Werkz efforts had save them up until now, "Could he now say that her hard work wasn't sufficient?" Likewise, Dr. Smart had reasoned and researched and eventually solved tough issues in the past, "Who was he to say he wouldn't this time, or that they didn't have enough time for the Doctor to think things through?"

Now one thing you have to give First Mate Bygude Werkz credit for, she was a worker. She remembered the "button", but didn't have time to stop and press it. She had work to do. "Let someone else push the "button", I'll save the ship through sheer will power.", she thought to herself. Besides, pushing the button would have been much too easy and would not have impressed anyone, given her a sense of accomplishments, and earned her another "at-a-boy" on her service record.

Dr. I. B. Smart didn't forget anything. He could still remember and recite the first ten words he had ever been required to spell, on his very first spelling test, in his very first year in school. There is no doubt that he remembered the "button". Dr. Smart remembered the "button" alright, but the thought of its very existence angered him. The concept was much too simple. "Push the "button", save the ship. Where was the enlightenment in that?" No that wouldn't do. Not for I. B Smart, PhD. Given time he knew he could reason out the processes and procedures by which the ship could and would be saved.

As the Captain waited, as the First Mate worked, and as the Doctor pondered, the mighty ship met her fate. All the while the "button" sat in front of them, waiting to be pushed, in its own mechanized way, wanting to be pushed. As the once proud ship was destroyed it disintegrated, vaporized, and all record of its existence disappeared. All except for one. The Captain would not have believed that only one of the ships systems was capable of surviving. First Mate Werkz would never have allowed herself to consider that her handiwork wouldn't hold up and Dr. Smart would have never rationalized that all evidence of the systems he had studied and understood so well would disappear. You see, the solution he deemed "simple and unenlightened", the system that Werkz considered "too easy" and the Captain refused to define as their "only chance" would survive unscathed waiting to be found. That's right, when the mighty ship and her magnificent crew were gone. The "button" remained.

John 14:6 (NIV)
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.