Live Long And Prosper

Actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for the role of Spock on “Star Trek,” died last Friday at the age of 83.

Several days before his death, Nimoy who announced last year that he had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - COPD — shared these words with his million-plus Twitter followers. “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP”

The actor almost always ended his tweets with “LLAP,” shorthand for “Live Long And Prosper,” the Vulcan saying that became Spock’s — and, thus, Nimoy’s own — catchphrase. “Live long and prosper”

In his autobiography “I Am Not Spock”, Nimoy wrote that he came up with the Vulcan greeting based upon an experience he had growing up Jewish in Boston. Going to temple with his father and uncle he would hear the Rabbis offer the blessing in Yiddish in the midst of Orthodox Jewish services. The rabbis would raise both hands extended to heaven, fingers spread between the middle and ring fingers representing the Hebrew letter Shin. The letter Shin begins the words El Shaddai, meaning "Almighty, as well as Shekinah, the glorious dwelling presence of our awesome God. No one was to look up while this blessing was being given because the glory of the Lord was too intense for anyone to for one to see.

In the New Testament were are told that Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of God’s glory. Colossians 2:9 says “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,” causing Jesus to exclaim to Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” John 14:9. In Christ, we see the visible manifestation of God Himself in the second person of the Trinity who offers us “life abundant and life to the fullest” John 10:10.

In other words Jesus is saying he came so we could live long and prosper,

Kyle

Tonight is the last night to enroll in Financial Peace University. Come to C3 at 6pm