Day 64 - May the Force be with you

Happy Star Wars Day everybody!

This is something I say every year without fail despite never having watched a single minute of any of the 12 Star Wars franchise films! Trouble is, Star Wars isn’t my kind of film. It’s a bit like Marmite, you either love Star Wars or it does nothing for you.

However, I do know the main catch phrase. I don’t mean “Luke, I am your father!” No, it’s the other most famous line, “May the Force be with you.” It’s because this sounds like a date in our calendar – today! – that it has internationally become a thing to say to friends and family.

In the Star Wars series… “The Force is a mysterious energy field created by life that binds the galaxy together. Harnessing the power of the Force gives the Jedi, the Sith, and others sensitive to this spiritual energy extraordinary abilities, such as levitating objects, tricking minds, and seeing things before they happen.” I discovered that little nugget of information from starwars.com.

Whilst I was doing that search I discovered that there were a few websites that looked at the parallels between Star Wars and the Christian faith. One such article was called “10 Christian messages found in Star Wars” and contained some very interesting thoughts on “Extraordinary things can come from unlikely places”, “We are all part of something bigger”, “We all need a wise mentor”, and “It’s never too late for redemption”. But my favourite one of the ten was “Be the hope your world needs”. It spoke about how each movie episode portrays a galaxy at war, with evil in power and heroes rising up to defend the weak, and when all hope seems lost they show that evil can be defeated.

It concluded by saying:

“God calls his followers to be lights in a very dark world. Where there is hatred, we should bring love. Where there is fear, we should bring courage. Where others would take vengeance, we must offer forgiveness, and when the world needs hope, our actions should supply it. No matter how far the darkness falls, there is still hope in the love and power of Jesus Christ. If the Lord is for us, who can be against us?”

A prayer for hope

Loving and compassionate God,

Help us to see hope in the most desperate of situations.

Help us to uphold the value of others in our words and actions.

Help us to see the potential you see in each of your children.

Help us to know and to respond to your guiding hand in our lives.

Amen

www.allyoucan.com

Luke Skywalker