The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The universe is big, really big! You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is!” And when a Vogon Constructor Fleet is about to demolish your home planet to make way for a hyperspatial express route you need to have your trusty copy of the Guide handy with its friendly message on the cover—”Don’t panic.” Having a friend who’s an alien who knows how to hitchhike across the galaxy is also very useful. Oh, and don’t forget your towel!

Arthur Dent finds himself in this very situation. His home is destroyed, his life is becoming increasingly confusing and to top it all off, the girl he likes has fallen for the two-headed president of the galaxy who has his own rather impressive spaceship. The morbid comments of Marvin the paranoid android don’t help much either!

Arthur’s journey around the universe leads him to some very improbable places where he meets some equally unlikely creatures. He has no time to make sense of his circumstances before they change yet again in some unexpected way.

If this isn’t enough Arthur discovers that his home planet—Earth—was in fact a vast super-computer designed to discover the ultimate question for life, the universe and everything. The answer—“42”—has previously been discovered but doesn’t make much sense without the question. Unfortunately, Earth is destroyed by the Vogons shortly before the ultimate question is discovered.

Arthur eventually finds himself standing outside his very own home with house and planet rebuilt and restored to its original condition. Don’t panic (the caravan cops it though!).

“Don’t panic” seems to be a recurring theme with aliens and extraterrestrials. Some extraterrestrials introducing themselves to a group of sheep farmers open with this same line—“Don’t panic.” The main point of their message is that there’s another alien arrived on the planet in human form who’s going to make a big impact on the course of history. Apparently it’s all for the best (Luke 2).

A few years later this same alien is freaking out his followers by defying the laws of gravity and meteorology. Traversing the surface of a largish body of water and dealing sternly with the weather, his simple message to them is “Don’t panic—it’s me!” (Mark 4 and 6)

When his followers ask about the future, he admits there’s going to be some concerning stuff going down—wars, with talk of more wars to come, as well as all kinds of natural disasters. But in the middle of all this he says, “Don’t panic. This is routine history” (Mark 13:5-8, The Message).

And before this new alien friend of ours shoots off into the sky, he again repeats this message. “Don’t panic—I’ll be back to get you; I’ll be rebuilding your home as it should be; I’ll send you backup for your mission of Earth.”

Being a hitchhiker in this part of the galaxy can be a stressful experience, especially dealing with some of the weird life forms we meet along the way. As well as telling us about the extraterrestrial interest in our planet, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Christian Edition) provides plenty of other useful information for successful intergalactic and Earth-based relations. It also has some really helpful hints for unexpected and stressful situations. Maybe the Christian Edition should have the same friendly message on the cover—”Don’t panic!”

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:1-4