As I have mentioned before, we all have a childhood hero. Dr. David Banner will always be a character that has inspired me in one way or another. But lots of people have adolescent heroes as well. They all possess the qualities of the childhood heroes. However, in my case, there is one difference in the two. My adolescent hero had a sidekick. A sidekick is a close friend or follower who accompanies another on adventures. It is a person closely associated with another as a subordinate or partner. Heroes invariably have a trusty sidekick, who often provides comic relief. My adolescent hero's sidekick definitely provided comic relief to my favorite television show in high school, which was "Quantum Leap" (from March 26, 1989 to May 5, 1993). It was a science fiction show dealing with time travel and having one man make the world a better place. And due to "Back To The Future" being my favorite movie, it was hard for me not to get hooked on this show. So, every Wednesday evening @ 10:00 p.m., you can bet my television was on NBC and I was sitting on the floor watching the program. For those who do not know the premise of the show, let me give you the basic story.
Doctor Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) led a group of top scientists into the desert of Stallion's Gate, New Mexico (an above ground structure which is supposedly a building from the University of New Mexico, a public research university located in Albuquerque, which does have a have a Subatomic Physics research area of study) on a Top Secret project to research his theory that a man could time travel within his own lifetime. It was called: "Project Quantum Leap." with Sam possessing a Department of Defense UMBRA Clearance Number: 004-002-02-016. Unfortunately, in order to save his funding, he was forced to enter the Quantum Leap Accelerator prematurely and vanished into the space-time continuum. Thereafter, he found himself trapped in the past (anywhere from the 1950's to the 1980's) inside the body of other people from another space age, with partial amnesia (i.e. he found his memories to be incomplete, particularly about himself and the project; later referred to as a "Swiss-cheesed memory"), facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown comic or supernatural force (e.g. God, or Fate, or Time) to change history for the better. His only contact from his own time and guide on his journey is Rear Admiral-Upper Half Albert "Al" Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) (his best friend), a government liaison for Project Quantum Leap, who appears in the form of a hologram (with some exceptions to the rule) that only Sam can see and hear. Once Sam puts right what once went wrong in one person's life, he "leaps" in to another place, another time (or date), and another person to do the same thing. While leaping from life to life, he hopes that each leap will be his final leap home. Sadly, Sam never leaped home, but he was able to make a wrong put right for Al.
At this point, it is easy to deduce that Al is Sam's sidekick. Although it is Sam working hard to change history for the better, Al is able to appear to him as a hologram, so that he can tell Sam the possibilities of what life needs to be changed, improved, or saved. Al is able to do this because the project is centered around Sam and Al's brainwaves. And their self-aware artificial intelligent parallel super hybrid computer: Ziggy (with a million gigabyte capacity), by looking up articles (and such) from the time period Sam is in is able to make probabilities and predictions to why Sam "leaped into that life." In which case, Al is able to contact Sam and tell him what Ziggy would presage about the future by using a Handlink to keep contact with Ziggy while in the Imaging Chamber (i.e. a huge, cavern-like chamber with only one door, which leads to the Control Room and has a radium accelerator ring surrounding it used to send the holographic image of the Observer back in time). So, without Al, it would have been difficult for Sam to change history for the better, because he would not have an observer from his own time foretelling what needed to be changed. He would have to go by educated guesses and conjectures. You see, it is the sidekick (the assistant) that helps the hero along. Although by definition, they are not as important as the hero, in reality they are JUST AS important as the hero. In my opinion, Al helped Sam "carry his cross." Like any true friend or faithful spouse, one of the important roles we can portray is: one that helps the other person "carry their cross."
Now, our Lord Jesus did not have a sidekick per sé. But one thing is for certain.... Although He led a sinless life and was carrying for full burden of sin: after being flogged, being hit, spat on, thrown rocks at, He got to a point were he could no longer carry the cross on His own. He needed help. He needed someone to help Him carry his cross. "As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross." -- Matthew 27:32. "A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross." -- Mark 15:21. "As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus." -- Luke 23:26. That man, Simon of Cyrene, helped Jesus carry His cross. Now, I'm sure that when he woke up that morning, he had ot idea that he would be an important figure in that part of history. And when one of the Romans forced him to help Jesus carry His cross, he was hesitant. Maybe even frightened. But he became one of many important figures of mankind. If he did not help Jesus carry HIS cross, there's a possibility that Jesus would not have been able to bear OURS. Just like Sam needed Al, Jesus needed Simon of Cyrene. Sidekick of a hero? Maybe not. But Simon of Cyrene was uniquely important. Not subordinate but special. Helping Jesus "carry His cross" made him not ordinary but extraordinary. If there is anyone in YOUR life who is willing to help you "carry YOUR cross", thank them and thank God for them. For they are in your life by the grace of God. And being selective about it, if there is an important person in your life who is losing hope and losing heart, say: "Don't fret, (my friend, my wife/husband, child) I am here. I will help you carry your cross". You never know what a blessing and inspiration you could be to someone else.
