Adventures in Odyssey Home Page

The Potential in Elliot

Album: 19: Passport To Adventure

Episode: 259

Lesson/Theme: Encouragement

Bible Verse: Romans 12:10,15

Characters: Sam, Whit, Rodney

Writer: Marshal Younger

Sound Designer: Bob Luttrell

Original Air Date: February 12, 1994

Last Air Date: January 16, 2009

Description:
Sam is on his way to study with his brainy friend Elliot when he runs into Rodney and Rusty, who are looking for trouble. Suddenly, they all see an explosion come from Elliot's backyard laboratory shed. They rush to the site and find Elliot clearing smoke from the shed. Elliot says that everything is all right. Sam wants to know what happened, but Elliot is hesitant to tell his secret with Rodney and Rusty standing there. Rodney finally coaxes the truth out of Elliot. Apparently, Elliot is working on a cure for cancer. Rodney and Rusty laugh hysterically at that concept. They leave the future mad scientist to his experiments. Even Sam is skeptical, after all, Elliot is just a kid. At least, that's what he tells Whit later at Whit's End. Whit says that Sam should be more supportive. Then Whit invites Sam to take a ride in the Imagination Station to prove his point. Sam journeys back to Port Huron, Michigan, in the year 1856. There, he meets another young experimenter named Thomas. Sam helps him with several failed experiments. Sam ends up convincing Thomas that he should give up experimentation and just enjoy being a kid. But he discovers too late that he has just talked Thomas A. Edison out of becoming an inventor! Suddenly, everything goes dark. Sam realizes that without Edison's youthful precociousness, there would be no light bulb, no phonograph, no telegraph. His many inventions make our lives easier. Sam learns about history and the importance of encouragement.

Questions:
Why were Rodney, Rusty, and even Sam skeptical about Elliot's attempt to find a cure for cancer? How could Sam have encouraged Elliot more? Who can you encourage today? How?