Last month I had the chance to give a talk on religion and science fiction at Pitkin County Senior Services in Aspen, Colorado. I had a lot of wonderful questions from the crowd, and I think my favorite quote from one octogenarian in attendance was this: “I think I might have to give this Star Wars thing a try after all.” I was reminded of my initial position that the craze over Harry Potter was simply a passing fad (oh, how I missed the boat on that one).

More seriously, it was very enjoyable getting to talk about these ideas with some of our elders. My talk addressed how these questions of identity (who are we? where are we from? etc) show up in both religious traditions and science fiction/fantasy literature and film. They had so much to say about how the world has changed in their lifetime. Too often in our society we tend to ignore those with great wisdom gained through so much life experience. When I talk to my undergraduate students I always have to remind myself that at this point I am twice their age, and that my perspective on life has changed year by year with the accrual of my own (limited) wisdom. We ignore this wisdom at our peril.

Many thanks to my colleague and good friend, Chad Federwitz, for inviting me to give this presentation. And check out the awesome flyer they made for the event!

On the other end of the age spectrum, later this month I will be giving a talk to my son’s second grade classroom on religious diversity. I hope to receive a similarly enthusiastic reception…with more wiggles amongst the audience!