One of the things I respect the most about Battlestar Galactica is its ability to maintain such a dour outlook while still being entertaining. It’s almost as if the series is able to bottle the magic of The Empire Strikes Back and partition it out little by little for thirteen episodes every season. In this particular episode it really does start to feel like the crew of the Galactica can’t catch a break. The episode starts with a celebration of one of the pilot’s 1000th landing. As his fellow soldiers parade him around the deck, a deadly missile comes loose and finds its way into the middle of the throng, killing over a dozen of them. Because of this tragedy, Starbuck is given the job of training new pilots to try and make up for their recently depleted numbers. She is, after all, the best pilot in the fleet. But she is also haunted by the past.
In the pilot episode she confessed to Lee that she had used her power as a flight instructor to pass his brother (and the Commander’s other son) because they were engaged and in love. The Commander doesn’t know, and she has not been able to tell him. But when she is placed in the same role that lead to the death of her lover, old wounds arise. She fails all of the students on the first day, and tension mounts with Lee, who insists that she can’t fail them all outright. Eventually the issue leads to Commander Adama finding out about the part she played in the death of his son and their close relationship is brought into question.
As I watched these two characters torn apart by the past, I couldn’t help but think about the necessity of the Church to confess our sins to one another, especially when those sins affect others. In one of Dr. Goldingay’s lectures he called into question David’s words to God, “against you and you only have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). I’ve definitely used that verse as an excuse to not go to others with my sins, particularly those that affect them. While it’s not easy to admit our failures to God, sometimes it can be easier than admitting them to others – after all, we have the assurance of God’s forgiveness in scripture.
But the truth is, as a pilgrim people living for New Creation, we can’t afford to keep our sins against one another a secret. There is a lot of good advice in the New Testament about how we are to be a confessing people, but there is also a lot about how we are to be a forgiving people. I take great comfort in that fact since I have sinned against many people, and although each of these sins is also a sin against God, I cannot let that be an excuse to hurt my relationships even more by keeping it between my heavenly father and me.