Today is Good Friday, when Christians around the world mark the suffering and death of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For centuries, Christianity has inspired countless works of art tribute, across all genres and forms of human creativity. This day, on which Christians recall what Christ endured, is a particularly rich vein for tribute.
So rich that even time-travel science fiction has gotten in on the act. I’ve written before about time travel, and how even a genre known more for its paradoxes and complications can reveal deeper truths about reality and humanity. In this vein, and on this Good Friday, it’s worth recalling Garry Kilworth’s short story “Let’s Go to Golgotha!”
The story involves a time-travel trip under the charmingly retro aegis of “Pan Time-Tours” (sometimes even science fiction, which imagines things far beyond the comprehension of humans today, misses things just a few years off). The company offers visits to all sorts of times and places, but the one the reader gets to go on is — you guessed it — a trip to the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Pan Time-Tours takes some precautions to help its tourists blend in — they will be physically present at the time and place of the Crucifixion — and to prevent any historical accidents. But, as often happens with time-travel stories, complications ensue nonetheless. At the risk of antagonizing the Kilworth estate, I won’t provide a link to the story. And at the risk of ruining its brilliant concluding twist, I won’t describe any further. Just find a way to read it yourself, It will certainly provide another thing to think about this Good Friday.