“A Jedi Like My Father”

“I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”

What are you talking about, Luke? You learned about the Force like five minutes ago. You saw a lightsaber for the first time right after that. You didn’t even know what Jedi were until Ben Kenobi sat you down to talk about those guardians of peace. You have no idea what you’re saying.

But as I watch this movie as an adult, I think I understand a little bit more.

OK, sure, as far as motivations for Luke to leave, it’s to get the movie going and give us a good young hero to cheer for. But in-universe, there’s something more going on.

Luke never knew his father. When he’s talking with his aunt and uncle earlier in the movie, he’s genuinely excited to learn that Old Ben might have known his father. He doesn’t know anything about the man. There’s this huge gaping hole in his life, and it’s aching to be filled.

And when Ben tells Luke just a little bit about his father, that’s enough. Luke’s caught. He needs to know more. It’s not enough to make him go with Ben… at least not right away.

And then stormtroopers kill Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Luke’s next line is, “There’s nothing here for me now.”

Really, Luke? Really?

I realize the scenes are on the cutting room floor, but he had friends in Anchorhead. He had a life on Tatooine. (If you want to know more about that, check out the radio play based on Star Wars that included many of the original actors in it.)

On top of that, he’s seeing how deadly the Empire really is. These Jawas weren’t friends, exactly, but he knew them. It seemed like they stopped by the moisture farm relatively often; often enough they had a relationship. And now they’re all dead. The Empire killed them to get these droids.

And there, surrounded by the dead, having just left his dead aunt and uncle behind, Luke says, “I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”

That’s…. that’s kind of crazy, Luke.

Luke has this hunger to know his father. He aches to know where he came from. And now that he has that chance, even though he really has no idea what it means, and no reason to trust what Old Ben is saying, he says he wants to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi.

He wants to become like the father he never knew. And after just a little bit of exploration, now he’s ready to abandon his world, everyone and everything he’s ever known, and just… go out there. Something like Ed Parker’s style, or the Tracey Brothers, or maybe even a bit of modified kenpo! After all, if you want to have a dose of that medicine, you viagra sales in india http://www.donssite.com/liftright/Forklift-Safety-Basics.htm have to take care of the company of the product is an US company Pfizer. Ginseng herbs consist of light-colored, forked-shaped root, a relatively long stalk, wholesale generic cialis and oval-shaped green leaves. The condition is extremely common in men with diabetes. discount priced viagra As pain affects 50-70% of all individuals with multiple sclerosis, cannabis is an important buying levitra from canada option to consider.

It kinda reminds me of Kanye West.

No. Really.

He’s left the world he’s known. Suddenly he’s all about Jesus. He’s public with it. Everything has changed. Thankfully it didn’t take a bunch of death to do it and no stormtroopers (at least not that I know of), but that whole idea of jumping in with both feet – because he wants to know more about his Father.

And when I look at how much Luke wants to know about his father and how far he’s willing to go to learn about him, how much he’s willing to be transformed – just look at the end of his journey in Return of the Jedi when he returns home. He’s become like his father: a Jedi hero. (Of course his father succumbed to the dark side, but I suspect that’s for another day on the Advent calendar!) When I look at how far he’s willing to go, I’m a little ashamed.

In the same way I’m a little ashamed when I look at Kanye.

My heavenly Father is so much cooler than Anakin Skywalker. He’s done so much more.

Am I willing to jump in like that? Am I hungry to know my Father better, like Luke is? Am I blown away by how cool he is, like Luke is fascinated by the Force and Jedi?

Geez, Star Wars, why you gotta be like this? Why you gotta make me want to be more like Luke Skywalker, the kid who leaves everything to be more like his father?

It’s a good thing there’s another big difference between Star Wars and my life.

Luke finds out his father is, you know, evil. (Spoilers!)

My Father sent Jesus to take my evil from me.

And when I see how cool my Father is to do that – well, it lets me be more like Luke.

“I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”

Cool, Luke. Go chase your dad.

I’m gonna go chase mine. He’s even cooler.

Graphic illustration by JB Casacop.