Jedi's

My four year old grand son has discovered Star Wars.  So far he's only seen episodes 4, 5 & 6 (the first 3 movies).  He's already so hooked though that he has his sister whining "Noooooo" when it's his turn to pick a movie...which will be Star Wars...again.  She doesn't even wait to hear which one.

The first Star Wars movie came out before Christy and I were dating.  I saw it at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.  The second movie premiered when we were together; we just can't remember if we were married or engaged at the time.  I don't remember where or when exactly we saw the third movie.  We were probably the parents of kids about the same age or younger than our grand kids are now.  There's a couple lost decades there where specific memories require pictures, video and possibly an affidavit. 

Visiting the grand kids over Christmas, I had the opportunity to watch Star Wars a few more times.  This movie series has been a family staple over the years.  At one point our children decided that all life situations could be addressed by a line or two of Star Wars dialog.  If you doubt this, just try give it a try.  Oh, wait a minute, "There is no try.  Only do or do not." 

As I watched the fourth episode for the 3,233rd time (probably) it suddenly hit me that all the characters with light sabers both good and bad, always travel a similar path in their battles with each other. Obe Wan always comes perilously close to losing, but somehow ekes out the win in a sudden reversal of fortune.  Darth, Annakin or whoever he is, always imagines himself the biggest gun in the room and always loses the big battles with the other side.  Luke's fiercest fights end with him encountering some kind of defeat, only to transcend the defeat of battle with a triumph of soul and relationship.

Star Wars as a morality play doesn't hit me like it used to.  That's probably due to my subliminally resenting the years of my life that have evaporated while I was watching it. However, it is still interesting to see the character of the characters unfold over years of development, in every phase as they move from dialog to decision to conflict to conflicted decision.  The characters tell their own stories, even if they're 8 foot tall parodies of Siberian Huskies (Lucas' model for Chew Bakka was his dog) or a 3 foot tall something-or-other modeled after Castaneda's Don Juan.  The character's personalities remain interesting and can surprise, even after years of repetition.  Of course, this is true to a much greater degree for real people. 

We all revert to form when we go into battle and pull out our light sabers...I mean, encounter crisis.  If our life theme has had fear in it, we'll express fear.  If we've had anger issues, we'll embrace the anger (gratuitous thinly veiled Star Wars line happening now).  Have you noticed how you almost never see someone encounter a crisis and respond with an immediate and profound reaction of peace and centeredness?  No, our first, second and generally all subsequent reactions run in a less positive direction.

We don't seem to be living in a time that values training for crisis.  It's a lot more popular these days to deny the very possibility of crisis, let alone train for it.   We approach the issue of crisis, almost with a degree of superstition imagining that if we talk about the possibility, somehow we'll make it come true.  Another  approach is to pile a bunch of stuff up between us and the perceived line of attack.  This latter typically is crisis specific.  If we fear that a financial crisis is looming, we pile up money.  If we are fearful of a health issue, we eat disgusting green grainy things and run ourselves stupid; that is, we try to pile up health.  These things aren't necessarily bad, although they can quite easily become a target for our ability to obsesses.  More importantly, they don't really help us deal with crisis.  At best, they just help us delay it for a little while. 

Training for crisis takes a lot different forms.  Physical training is helpful.  Mental training is good. There's really only one thing that prepares you for crisis.  Here it is:  spirituality. 

Here in the midst of the reality of planet earth, where Siberian Huskies are considerably less than 8 feet tall (I can't begin to explain how important that is) good and evil are personified.  Our choices are about who we identify and associate with, not about whether "light" or "dark" is behind the swing of the light saber.  And regardless of our perception of the reality of it, our choices have consequences far beyond ourselves, touching the lives of people we know as well as people yet to come.  

Choose well you must.  The present and future really do depend on it.  "The peace that passes understanding" is a quote from a different and better source.  That source is road map and enabler of the best possible responses to all crises.  No need for a light saber.