Please note, The Book of Boba Fett is rated TV-14. We are often used to making parallels with the Jedi and our Faith as Christians. They listen and try to follow the will of the Force, as we try to listen and follow the Holy Spirit in our lives. They are a monastic order, just as Christianity has had monastic orders from our early days. The parallels are not perfect, but they do exist and can be helpful. However, the Jedi may be less like us as Christians than we think. For example, in The Book of Boba Fett, the Mandalorian Armorer states that: In order to master the ways of the Force, Jedi must forgo all attachment. Forgoing attachments has more to do with Buddhism, or even Gnosticism, than with Christianity. Buddhists try to move beyond their attachments in order to get beyond the cycle of reincarnation and become enlightened. This is one attempt to deal with the problem of sin in the world. As Christians we also examine the problem of sin, which is solved not by our action but through our Lord Jesus Christ. One could argue that Christianity and Buddhism are opposite sides of the same coin in trying to deal with sin in the world. Din Djarin replies to the Armorer with what should be an interesting response for us as Christians: That is the opposite of our creed. Loyalty and solidarity are the way. The same is true for us as Christians. We do not come closer to God by forgoing attachments, but by emulating God’s love for us. Our emotions and connection to others plays a huge role in our salvation. In a sense, the Mandalorian Way is really what we should gravitate to in Star Wars as Christians. As with the Jedi, this comparison is not perfect. We don’t see the same pull to follow the Spirit with the Mandalorians as we do with the Jedi, although perhaps as we learn more about the history of the Darksaber, we may hopefully see an understanding of the Spirit in the Mandalorian culture. We also can’t forget about Death Watch, a terrorist group of Mandalorians who eventually followed the evil Dark Side User Maul. Even more problematic is that the Children of the Watch, Din’s tribe, are heirs to Death Watch. However, we also can’t forget that we as Christians have had our own struggles with violence and power, starting with the Romans and extending to some Christian groups still in existence today. I think, though, that there’s great potential to see the connection between Mandalorians and us as Christians as The Mandalorian continues, especially now that Grogu and Din are back together. Grogu can help lead Din with the ways of the Force. Din will be going on a quest for forgiveness and, one hopes, to unite the different factions of his people together. Hopefully we will be able to learn more about ourselves and our relationship with God as their story continues.
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At the end of the last chapter, Lucy caught a glimpse of Aslan taking them down a different path. Unfortunately only Edmund believed her, and they paid the price by going down the much more difficult path. At the end of their journey, Lucy receives a call again. She gets woken from her dream in much the same way Samuel was by God in 1 Samuel 3. In following the voice, she finds herself face-to-face with Aslan again. She is told that much time has been wasted, so she must hurry. At first, Lucy blames the others, but comes to realize that even if it meant going alone, she still should have followed Aslan. Succumbing to peer pressure is a fair to easy trap for all of us to fall into. However, our Faith teaches us that we are called to follow God’s way, and God’s way alone. The Israelites were called to live in a way that would have appeared odd to those around them, yet it marked them off as different in being God’s own. Jesus also tells the Disciples “you are not of the world” in John 15:19. We are responsibly for following God’s ways instead of the world’s, and we can blame no one but ourselves for the choice we make in which way to follow. If it means we have to go alone to follow God, then that is what we do. Lucy, like all of us, has to learn that the hard way. What is admirable about Lucy is she doesn’t need Aslan to tell her where she went wrong. She only needs His silences. It is for this reason that she is the one who can see Aslan when no one else could. It says a great deal about her perceptiveness and openness to Aslan. We should all strive to be the same way in our Faith. Lucy then is called on to do the most difficult thing any of us as evangelists have to face. She must tell her siblings she has seen Aslan again, even if they do not believe her. It can be hard to preach God’s Word when it feels like no one is listening. We are called to proclaim that Word anyway and to continue to follow God even if no one else around us will. For this purpose, Aslan gives Lucy power to be “a lioness”, though not literally. This is similar to those ordained in the church, no matter the tradition. We are called to be representatives of Christ Jesus in this world. In this way we take on some of the power of Jesus Christ, just as Lucy takes on some of the power of the lion. At the same time, we are not, nor will we ever be, Christ, just as Lucy does not become a true lioness in the literal sense. It is interesting that once again only Edmund believes Lucy. This is due to the sacrifice Aslan made for him. Having a true sense of the gift of Grace Christ Jesus offers us grants a quick path to giving ourselves completely to the Lord. Edmund’s own journey with forgiveness has made him more receptive to Aslan, just as it has made him an overall different and better person. Unfortunately Edmund cannot see Aslan for himself. This happens with us sometimes in our own Faith. Sometimes our connection with God is lacking. In these moments, we need someone else to guide us. Whoever we turn to has to be someone we trust. Edmund has that in Lucy. It is why he is willing to move forward with her even when he can’t yet see Aslan for himself. There are many call backs in this chapter to other portions of Prince Caspian as well as to other books within the series. We see this in the dance of the trees harkening back to Caspian’s dance with the Fauns in Chapter 6. We also see it in the song that emanates from Aslan, recalling the song Aslan sings at the beginning of Narnia in The Magician’s Nephew. There are call backs to Scripture as well. Aslan tells Lucy that “things never happen the same way twice.” It is hard to know why, yet it is what we see throughout Scripture. In Judges, whenever God raises someone up to save Israel, God never has a Judge protect Israel in the same way as before. God even calls on Moses to use different methods to get water for the rocks in the desert. God does so in order that the people will worship the Lord and not a particular method of doing things. Unfortunately Moses, in his case, does not listen. The dance of the trees, at the end of the chapter, is described as bowing to the Lion. This is a sign of respect and worship even. There is a liturgical sense in this action, i.e. it is a ritual. In worship and in liturgy, we not only listen to God, we also praise our Lord with word and song. There is a movement to the liturgy as there is with a dance. In the end, like the trees, our movement is not in-and-for-itself, but it is a sign of our reverence to our God.
Please note, The Book of Boba Fett is rated TV-14. There’s a scene in The Book of Boba Fett when Luke makes Grogu choose between the beskar chain mail Din Djarin has made for him or Yoda’s lightsaber. When I saw this scene, I was concerned there would be an outrage over Luke giving Grogu this choice.
Those of us who have taken religious vows will understand this scene very well. That is true whether those vows are for ordination, monastic orders, or even other lay ministries such as those who give their life to prayer in the Daughters of the King (D.O.K.). Making a religious vow means taking something on and often means obedience to certain rules and/or leaders. Taking these vows should never be done lightly. Nor should breaking those vows, as we saw with Din showing his face. There are consequences for breaking those vows, as we saw with Din when he reunites with the other Children of the Watch. However, there may be times where we need to re-examine our vows. For monastics, this may mean leaving the order, if only for a period of time. For the ordained, this may mean taking a break or leaving ordained ministry all together. For all re-examining their vows, doing so should be done with an ear to what God is calling us to now. It may be the Lord has a different path in mind for us, just as Jesus calls the first Disciples from being fishermen to becoming “fishers of men.” We should only step away from our vows to pursue another calling God has for us. We should also be willing to accept the consequences of our actions. Both Din and Grogu do so, and it will be exciting to see what will be the next step in their journey. My hope is that we will be able to learn ways to find the next steps God has in store for us in some way, shape, or form from their examples. In the previous chapter, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy proved themselves to the dwarf Trumpkin and got ready to join Caspian’s crew. Now, after all the changes Narnia has endured over time, they find themselves lost. It is in their moment of moving forward that Lucy catches a glimpse of Aslan, telling them to go a different way. The problem is that Peter, Susan, and Trumpkin don’t quite believe her. In our own lives, it can be tempting to choose the way we have been going instead of following the path God is laying out before us. That is because our way is the way we know. It takes courage to follow God, especially when we only catch a glimpse of God’s presence. The interesting occurrence here is that Edmund votes to follow Lucy. He remembers back on how Lucy was the first to spot Aslan. He remembers how much he himself has changed. He has learned from his experience to trust, to have faith, in Aslan. He knows that if any of them will see the Lion, it will be Lucy. We are called to be like Edmund too and realize where we have had a lack of Faith in the past and use it to have the Faith we need now. It is only through God we can find the right path for us to travel again. On seeing so many of the animals in Narnia losing their intelligence, Lucy asks an interesting question: “Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day, in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which?” When we look through the great course of history, Scripture, and even our experience, our reason has no other path than to ask Lucy’s question about ourselves seriously, whether it is about ourselves or the age we live in. Susan disregards the question in an attempt to focus on the practical, immediate concerns. We do not have that same luxury, for if we fail to ask ourselves that question now, whatever time we find ourselves in, then it may be too late before we can ask the question again. Last time we saw how the modern Narnians are in great need of learning. Now we see one of their number, Trumpkin, face-to-face with some of the greatest legends of their past.
There is one issue, though. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are now children instead of the adult kingly forms they had before leaving Narnia at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Trumpkin the dwarf is concerned about how much help they can provide. The children soon prove him wrong. They show their strength, in spite of their age, through the use of their various gifts. Edmund shows his skill with a sword. Susan demonstrates her archery once again. Lucy gives a taste of her healing practice. Peter reveals his intellect by setting up the various contests with Trumpkin. In the end the dwarf shows his wisdom and openness by accepting he has been foolish and that they do in fact know what they are doing. What Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy face from Trumpkin is unfortunately what we often see in the church today. It is hard for people to accept that the young may have something to offer. This not only forgets that we all have gifts of the Spirit to offer, something we have already seen from the start of Prince Caspian, it fails to recall that some of the greatest prophets, such as Samuel, were called when they were very young. Jesus Himself lasted in earthly ministry only from age 30 to 33 according to tradition, although admittedly typical life spans in His day and age are not what they are now. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy also, interestingly enough, provide the knowledge the modern Narnians lack and need. They know parts of the land unknown to modern Narnia. They know the significance of the old places the current Narnians don’t. In their case, they know these things through experience. Yet experience is not the only teacher of such ancient things. If we are to do the work God has given us to do, we must recognize that we cannot judge by age alone. We must instead look at gifts and skill. There is experience to be had, even in youth. God’s gifts come to those of all ages, whether very young or very old. Please note, The Mandalorian is rated TV-14. Throughout The Mandalorian series, we have come to understand that Din Djarin's coven of Mandalorians, the Children of the Watch, hold firm to a creed that they shall never show their faces to anyone. Din, in the first season, went so far as to almost refuse medical aid when he tries to prevent his mask from being taken off (fortunately there was a work-around as IG-11 is a droid and therefore, according to the droid, "not living"). However, in the second season, Din in his quest to return Grogu, the Child, to his kind, finds himself in the position of having to save Grogu from the Imperials. He enlists the help of Mig Mayfield, who worked with him before, to break into the Imperial base and find the location of Grogu. Unfortunately Migs runs into his old superior officer and is worried that the previous plan to use him to access the data they need will get their covers blown. Din now has to do the unthinkable and remove his helmet in order to access the machine with the information. This is a real sacrifice. Din's actions go against everything he has been taught to believe. It is on par with giving his life for Grogu's. Giving one's life for another, of course, is what Jesus did for us. It is the ultimate mark of Jesus' love for us. We also hear in Scripture that: "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come." In other words, what we were before has died and a new life, a life in Jesus Christ, has come forth. We see this passage to a new life in Din throughout his journey in The Mandalorian. It all stems from his love for the Child. He shows this again by revealing his face to Grogu before saying goodbye. Din has become a new person thanks to his love. Our call is to do the same in our love for Christ Jesus who first showed His love for us. Previously we saw the Narnians gathering together behind Caspian. It took some of the creatures time to accept him, while others did not need much time at all. What we see in their gathering is something new, or at least something that has not happened for a long time.
Because it has been so long since they gathered together, we also see that the Narnians are in desperate need of teaching in who they are. They aren’t aware of Aslan’s How, a revered place in the area where Aslan sacrificed Himself for Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This would be the same as a Christian who did not know Jesus’ Empty Tomb could be found in The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This goes to show how important it is to understand the teachings of our Faith. Without them, we do not know who we are, and we may fail to possess the knowledge we will need for the future. We see this as the young Narnians struggle to work together and use their gifts effectively against Miraz’s forces. There’s one person who shows us hope, even in this lack of knowledge. It is the Dwarf Trumpkin. Even though he lacks Faith, he knows his role is to show duty and obedience to his king. This is what leads him on the adventure to find Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. This is what will ultimately lead him to witness the Truth and believe. When we find ourselves lacking in the knowledge of Faith, our hope is that we will find the right people around us to teach us. These are the ones who lead not to themselves, but to God. Our hope then is that if we can be like Trumpkin and follow those people, our unbelief will turn to Faith, and our ignorance will turn not only into tried and true experience, but knowledge of our Lord. Please note, Star Wars Rebels is rated TV-Y7 and The Book of Boba Fett is rated TV-14. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Word of God is a wonderful and beautiful thing. There is also some danger to it because it means relinquishing control. It also means change in the transformative and restorative work of Jesus Christ's Resurrection. In the Star Wars universe there is an item we can use to understand the Word of God as a "two-edged sword" better. That item is the Darksaber, the lightsaber once forged by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian inducted into the Jedi Order. The Darksaber pops up at various points in time within Star Wars history. When used by non-force adepts, a great deal of training is needed to wield it. During the Imperial Era, Rebel and Mandalorian Sabine finds herself needing training with the Darksaber. Fellow teammate and Jedi Kanan helps her with this task. Sabine finds the blade much heavier than she could have expected. Kanan tells her: You're not fighting with a simple blade as much as you are directing a current of power. The Word of God is similar. It is not simply a tool we wield. It contains the power of God within it. We cannot direct it on our own. Instead we have to let the Word of God guide us. To proper wield the Darksaber, you have to let it guide you too. Din Djarin struggles in fighting against the power of the Darksaber during his own training with it in the New Republic Era. He does so to the point that he ends up getting cut in the leg while trying to use it, similar to a double-edged sword. To properly use the Word of God, we have to open to it guiding us. Otherwise we can't take advantage of the wonderful gifts it has to offer us. Unlike the Darksaber, the Word of God doesn't let us rule Mandalore. Instead, it grants us something greater than we can possibly imagine: the gift of God's love and experience, and life eternal with our Lord when this life is done. In the previous chapter, we learned more about Miraz’s plot to gain full control of Narnia. Now we see Caspian and the Narnians gathering to do something about his uncle's tyranny.
For many of the animals and creatures, it takes some time and explanation before Caspian is accepted, yet they do eventually. The slowest group to accept him are the dwarfs. The dwarfs appear to be somewhat agnostic. Nikabrik even states that he’d take “Aslan or the White Witch” in driving out the Telmarines. When Trufflehunter the badger points out that the White Witch “was a worse enemy than Miraz and all his race”, Nikabrik responses back, “Not to Dwarfs, she wasn’t.” There are a lot of similarities between dwarfs and people so far. One common trait is the ability of both races to serve good or evil. Perhaps this is what leads to their agnosticism. At the same time, there is a practical nature to the dwarfs. They are the ones who provide Caspian weapons and armor after all. The ones who accept Caspian the quickest are the creatures with a more spiritual leaning. Centaur Glenstorm accepts Caspian on the spot, while also recognizing the importance of the dwarfs’ craftsmanship for him. Centaurs are creatures that gaze at the stars and see what the future has to bring. The fauns too accept Caspian rather quickly. Their dance afterwards has a almost spiritual dream-like quality to it, as Caspian himself notes in the following morning. Again, this is not to say the dwarfs’ practical nature isn’t important or needed. We all have our gifts, as we have seen before, and we are all called to use them for the glory of God. However, to be open to Aslan, or even God, one must be willing to be open to that which is beyond us. This openness is not only needed to see the importance of one like Caspian, it is also needed to believe. |
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The Rev. Trey KennedyHere is my take on how Superheroes and other characters can help us know God better. Categories
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