To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here.
Do some people take Star Wars a little too seriously?
Let’s put it this way: It’s astonishing how many fans of the pop culture phenomenon, when asked on a form if they would prefer to declare a religious affiliation, write “Jedi.”
May 4 is the unofficial national holiday for devotees of the space opera that director George Lucas launched with the original Star Wars movie in 1977. “May the Fourth be with you,” it must be admitted, is undoubtedly the best pun on the calendar every year – considerably better than tomorrow’s “revenge of the Fifth.” If those words didn’t immediately make you think of the Sith, the cult of the Dark Side in the Star Wars mythology, it means you probably have a lot of screen time ahead of you in order to get caught up.
Lucas never concealed the fact that his grand epic was more than just entertainment.
He delved deeply into various global religious traditions in order to help his viewers embrace new ways of envisioning the cosmos. He told an interviewer, “I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery.” The mystery of life, that is. And the mysteries of meaning, purpose, Good, and Evil.
Lucas borrowed generously from Buddhism. One writer has even described Star Wars as “Zen with lightsabers.” He embraced the notion of the “yin and the yang,” as well as Taoism’s never-ending quest for balance as we seek to follow the Tao, or Way, through this world. The nine feature films and many back-story episodes that comprise the Star Wars saga include echoes of Zoroastrianism (Dark vs. Light) as well as Brahman Hinduism.
Then there are the Messianic associations with Anakin Skywalker, who is mysteriously born of a virgin and declared to be the Chosen One – the long-prophesied figure who will bring balance and peace to the galaxy. Unlike Jesus, however, Anakin yields to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader – definitely not a positive development, seeing he was recently voted the most notorious movie villain of all time.
And what of Lucas himself? He was once described as a “Buddhist-Methodist.” In 1999 he told Time magazine, “Let’s say I’m spiritual.”
The central metaphysical component of Star Wars is the Force. As the Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi puts it, in what amounts to Galactic Theology 101: “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”
As a pervasive field of energy, the Force is everywhere. Yet it’s also subtle. A majority of the Star Wars characters seem to have no clue it even exists. A few beings, however – genetically blessed with an innate sensitivity to the Force – are able to harness its extraordinary power.
Yoda, for instance, can levitate a starfighter out of a swamp just by using his mind to harness the Force’s boundless energy. Jedis use the Force for good, while Siths employ the same Force to create havoc. The Force can help direct your next steps, provide glimpses of future events, and even cloud the minds of law enforcement officials: “These are not the droids you’re looking for.” As a general rule, Jedi mind tricks will not work the next time you’re pulled over for speeding.
While the Force has a “will” – at times seeming to influence where galactic history is heading – it’s not what we would call a personal Being. The Force, in other words, is not God. It’s an energy field. The power of the Force can be used to bless and to curse, to build up and to tear down. It all depends on the one who is accessing it.
Which brings us back to those familiar words: “May the Force be with you.” As the science fiction columnist Emmet Asher-Perrin inquires, “The next time you say ‘may the Force be with you” to a friend, you might want to ask – what exactly are you wishing for them?”
Is proximity to the Force a good thing or a bad thing? Is it both? Or maybe neither? And in what sense can the Force be “with” us?
Observers have long noted that faithful Catholics almost can’t help themselves when they hear, “May the Force be with you.” For generations they’ve heard their priest say, “The Lord be with you,” after which they respond, “And also with you.” They love the joke about the priest who starts tapping on a malfunctioning microphone and asks, “Is this thing on?” After fussing for a few moments he says, “Something is wrong with this mic!” To which the congregation responds, “And also with you!”
What do followers of Jesus mean when they say, “The Lord be with you”?
We can be sure this is not a way of saying, “Well, you know, sometimes God is with you, and sometimes he’s not, so I hope this turns out to be one of the good times.”
Instead, those words are more like a wake-up call – a reminder that even though in our spiritual inattentiveness we often lose track of his presence, he is always with us. “The Lord be with you” is not a sincere wish that God might come through this time, but a stirring call for us to remember that we are in fact never alone.
When exactly is God with you?
God is with you when you stare at the ceiling in the middle of the night and wonder if your life has turned out the way it should. God is with you as you wait to hear from the doctor in the ER. God is with you as you try to figure out how you will pay your mortgage this month. God is with you as you weep over the addiction you cannot beat. God is with you as you wonder if you can ever be reconciled to one of your kids. God is with you in the meeting you dread because you know your job might be on the line. God is with you when you feel utterly alone – when others have said, “I no longer want to be with you.”
Bible scholars have long noted that there is a “with” at both the beginning and the end of the gospel of Matthew. Jesus comes into the world as Immanuel, “God With Us” (Matthew 1:23). And he departs the company of his disciples with the words, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
He is the With-Us God. He is a Force like no other.
And we can be with him – not a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but right here and right now. To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here.
Do some people take Star Wars a little too seriously?
Let’s put it this way: It’s astonishing how many fans of the pop culture phenomenon, when asked on a form if they would prefer to declare a religious affiliation, write “Jedi.”
May 4 is the unofficial national holiday for devotees of the space opera that director George Lucas launched with the original Star Wars movie in 1977. “May the Fourth be with you,” it must be admitted, is undoubtedly the best pun on the calendar every year – considerably better than tomorrow’s “revenge of the Fifth.” If those words didn’t immediately make you think of the Sith, the cult of the Dark Side in the Star Wars mythology, it means you probably have a lot of screen time ahead of you in order to get caught up.
Lucas never concealed the fact that his grand epic was more than just entertainment.
He delved deeply into various global religious traditions in order to help his viewers embrace new ways of envisioning the cosmos. He told an interviewer, “I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery.” The mystery of life, that is. And the mysteries of meaning, purpose, Good, and Evil.
Lucas borrowed generously from Buddhism. One writer has even described Star Wars as “Zen with lightsabers.” He embraced the notion of the “yin and the yang,” as well as Taoism’s never-ending quest for balance as we seek to follow the Tao, or Way, through this world. The nine feature films and many back-story episodes that comprise the Star Wars saga include echoes of Zoroastrianism (Dark vs. Light) as well as Brahman Hinduism.
Then there are the Messianic associations with Anakin Skywalker, who is mysteriously born of a virgin and declared to be the Chosen One – the long-prophesied figure who will bring balance and peace to the galaxy. Unlike Jesus, however, Anakin yields to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader – definitely not a positive development, seeing he was recently voted the most notorious movie villain of all time.
And what of Lucas himself? He was once described as a “Buddhist-Methodist.” In 1999 he told Time magazine, “Let’s say I’m spiritual.”
The central metaphysical component of Star Wars is the Force. As the Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi puts it, in what amounts to Galactic Theology 101: “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”
As a pervasive field of energy, the Force is everywhere. Yet it’s also subtle. A majority of the Star Wars characters seem to have no clue it even exists. A few beings, however – genetically blessed with an innate sensitivity to the Force – are able to harness its extraordinary power.
Yoda, for instance, can levitate a starfighter out of a swamp just by using his mind to harness the Force’s boundless energy. Jedis use the Force for good, while Siths employ the same Force to create havoc. The Force can help direct your next steps, provide glimpses of future events, and even cloud the minds of law enforcement officials: “These are not the droids you’re looking for.” As a general rule, Jedi mind tricks will not work the next time you’re pulled over for speeding.
While the Force has a “will” – at times seeming to influence where galactic history is heading – it’s not what we would call a personal Being. The Force, in other words, is not God. It’s an energy field. The power of the Force can be used to bless and to curse, to build up and to tear down. It all depends on the one who is accessing it.
Which brings us back to those familiar words: “May the Force be with you.” As the science fiction columnist Emmet Asher-Perrin inquires, “The next time you say ‘may the Force be with you” to a friend, you might want to ask – what exactly are you wishing for them?”
Is proximity to the Force a good thing or a bad thing? Is it both? Or maybe neither? And in what sense can the Force be “with” us?
Observers have long noted that faithful Catholics almost can’t help themselves when they hear, “May the Force be with you.” For generations they’ve heard their priest say, “The Lord be with you,” after which they respond, “And also with you.” They love the joke about the priest who starts tapping on a malfunctioning microphone and asks, “Is this thing on?” After fussing for a few moments he says, “Something is wrong with this mic!” To which the congregation responds, “And also with you!”
What do followers of Jesus mean when they say, “The Lord be with you”?
We can be sure this is not a way of saying, “Well, you know, sometimes God is with you, and sometimes he’s not, so I hope this turns out to be one of the good times.”
Instead, those words are more like a wake-up call – a reminder that even though in our spiritual inattentiveness we often lose track of his presence, he is always with us. “The Lord be with you” is not a sincere wish that God might come through this time, but a stirring call for us to remember that we are in fact never alone.
When exactly is God with you?
God is with you when you stare at the ceiling in the middle of the night and wonder if your life has turned out the way it should. God is with you as you wait to hear from the doctor in the ER. God is with you as you try to figure out how you will pay your mortgage this month. God is with you as you weep over the addiction you cannot beat. God is with you as you wonder if you can ever be reconciled to one of your kids. God is with you in the meeting you dread because you know your job might be on the line. God is with you when you feel utterly alone – when others have said, “I no longer want to be with you.”
Bible scholars have long noted that there is a “with” at both the beginning and the end of the gospel of Matthew. Jesus comes into the world as Immanuel, “God With Us” (Matthew 1:23). And he departs the company of his disciples with the words, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
He is the With-Us God. He is a Force like no other.
And we can be with him – not a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but right here and right now.