Monday, January 4, 2016
477 - Forcing the Issue
Spirituality Column #477
January 5, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
“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 …” – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars
Congratulations to the Star Wars entertainment juggernaut for its continuing commercial success and cultural omnipresence.
It’s coming up on 40 years. The Force has definitely re-Awakened.
My first encounter with Star Wars was a long time ago and far, far away … well, 1977 and just up the road in my home town of Kokomo, Indiana. For me it was a guy’s movie, not a date movie. As Ron, Chuck and I, in our early 20s, watched the closing credits roll (Star Wars was the first movie not to have the credits at the beginning), I remember Chuck, like it was yesterday, sitting two seats over reflexively letting out a stunned, low but audible, “Wow ….”
It was that kind of movie.
In the years since, Ron and Chuck forged successful careers, respectively, as a physician (Dallas) and attorney (Minneapolis). To my knowledge neither of them has ever dressed up as Darth Vader at a GenCon convention. Nor have I.
But I have to admit that I pretty much memorized the first three movies (Episodes IV, V and VI), and that I actually liked the fourth one (1999’s much-maligned “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” with Jar Jar Binks, etc.). Did you know that Jake Lloyd, the child actor who played Anakin Skywalker (later “Darth Vader) in “The Phantom Menace”, attended Carmel (Ind.) High School? His photo was in my son’s 2005 yearbook.
But, I digress. Let’s talk about the “Force” – what it is and what it’s not.
The Force is a wonderfully made-up fantasy device that animates a fictional cosmology – i.e., how things work – for a fictional universe in a fictional story. Interesting thing about fiction, whether Dickens, Hemingway, Tolkien, Rowling or George Lucas, is how fiction generally reflects real truths and conflicts of human existence. Without that humanizing familiarity, a story isn’t interesting; in fact, it’s not even a story. So, fine; if it makes a good story, let the Force be with us.
What the Force is not, of course, is a salvation invitation. “Hokie religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid” says cynical smuggler Han Solo to light-saber wielding and budding Jedi “Force” learner Luke Skywalker in the original movie.
While portrayed as a religion having a good side and a “dark” (evil) side, the Force lacks components Christians should perceive as missing, but secularists won’t.
Here’s a Bible hint: read John 1:1-18. More next week.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) owns all six prior Star Wars movies.
January 5, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Forcing the Issue, Episode I
By Bob Walters“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 …” – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars
Congratulations to the Star Wars entertainment juggernaut for its continuing commercial success and cultural omnipresence.
It’s coming up on 40 years. The Force has definitely re-Awakened.
My first encounter with Star Wars was a long time ago and far, far away … well, 1977 and just up the road in my home town of Kokomo, Indiana. For me it was a guy’s movie, not a date movie. As Ron, Chuck and I, in our early 20s, watched the closing credits roll (Star Wars was the first movie not to have the credits at the beginning), I remember Chuck, like it was yesterday, sitting two seats over reflexively letting out a stunned, low but audible, “Wow ….”
It was that kind of movie.
In the years since, Ron and Chuck forged successful careers, respectively, as a physician (Dallas) and attorney (Minneapolis). To my knowledge neither of them has ever dressed up as Darth Vader at a GenCon convention. Nor have I.
But I have to admit that I pretty much memorized the first three movies (Episodes IV, V and VI), and that I actually liked the fourth one (1999’s much-maligned “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” with Jar Jar Binks, etc.). Did you know that Jake Lloyd, the child actor who played Anakin Skywalker (later “Darth Vader) in “The Phantom Menace”, attended Carmel (Ind.) High School? His photo was in my son’s 2005 yearbook.
But, I digress. Let’s talk about the “Force” – what it is and what it’s not.
The Force is a wonderfully made-up fantasy device that animates a fictional cosmology – i.e., how things work – for a fictional universe in a fictional story. Interesting thing about fiction, whether Dickens, Hemingway, Tolkien, Rowling or George Lucas, is how fiction generally reflects real truths and conflicts of human existence. Without that humanizing familiarity, a story isn’t interesting; in fact, it’s not even a story. So, fine; if it makes a good story, let the Force be with us.
What the Force is not, of course, is a salvation invitation. “Hokie religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid” says cynical smuggler Han Solo to light-saber wielding and budding Jedi “Force” learner Luke Skywalker in the original movie.
While portrayed as a religion having a good side and a “dark” (evil) side, the Force lacks components Christians should perceive as missing, but secularists won’t.
Here’s a Bible hint: read John 1:1-18. More next week.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) owns all six prior Star Wars movies.
© 2016 North Faith
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