The Jedi

You know these posts contain spoilers.

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In the dark mist of the planet Corvus, Ahsoka Tano appears in the flesh. I say, “in the flesh” because before this Ahsoka only appeared in the Star Wars’ cartoon series of The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian is called The Jedi. Mando has been tasked with finding the Child’s kind. Not his species, but the Jedi.

When Mando lands the Razor Crest near the city of Calodan, he is given directions from the city’s magistrate on how to find the Jedi. The magistrate commissions Mando to kill the Jedi because Ahsoka has been working to free the people from their oppressive magistrate.

Mando agrees to find Ahsoka, never intending to kill her. He and the Child set off into the barren woods to find the Jedi they’ve been searching for all season.

Ahsoka communicates with the Child through the Force. Then she drops a bomb: The Child’s name is not Baby Yoda! … It’s Grogu!

Ahsoka tells Mando that Grogu once lived and trained in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, along with the other padawans. Someone (perhaps Mace Windu!) escaped with Grogu before Order 66 was given and the clones turned on their Jedi generals. And before Anakin Skywalker walked into the Temple to slaughter the padawans.

Mando wants to leave Grogu with Ahsoka so she can train him in the Force. But Ahoka refuses. She says that Grogu has created too close of a familial relationship with Mando. This connection makes Grogu vulnerable to the dark side.

Ahsoka knows what she’s talking about. She had once been the padawan of Anakin.

Anakin certainly didn’t want a padawan, but Yoda gave him one anyway. As a padawan, Anakin was resistant, headstrong and refused to listen. So, Yoda gave him a padawan who was exactly the same – resistant, headstrong, and with a penchant for not listening. (You can imagine Mace Windu or Yoda correcting Ahsoka how to hold her lightsaber and Ahsoka refusing and holding not just one, but two lightsabers, upside down in her preferred fighting style.)

Ahsoka was a pretty annoying character early on in The Clone Wars. She was 14 years old when she appeared as Anakin’s padawan. (I’ve raised four teenage daughters in my house. The youngest is now 14. So, I know how “annoying” they can be at that age. ?)

Yet, by the end of The Clone Wars, Ahsoka not only became a favorite of Anakin and Rex (one of the clone troopers), she also became a favorite of the fans. Just like all my girls are my favorites – even in their teen years. (By the way, Ahsoka is approximately 45 years old in The Jedi.)

By the time we meet her in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka is experienced. No longer a padawan, she knows what she’s talking about.

And Ahsoka won’t train Grogu. She has seen what attachments do “to the best of us.”

This is a direct reference to the attachments Anakin felt to his mother and secret wife, Padme. Because of his attachment to his mother, Anakin slaughtered all the Sand People – men, women, and children – who were holding his mother captive on Tatooine. Because of his fear of losing Padme, Anakin went over to the dark side to try to save her from the death he had received a vision of.

When he was expressing his love to Padme, Anakin told her, “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden.” https://youtu.be/bOcH-tBgFCY

Ahsoka is correct. Grogu has created a familial attachment to Mando. He has become like a foster father to the Child.

This attachment can be seen in the way Mando carefully carries Grogu and protects him from danger. Mando carries the metal ball with him for Grogu to play with. Grogu likes hearing his name spoken, especially by Mando.

Ahsoka is also correct in that this attachment may lead to the dark side. Recall what happened in chapter 7 when Grogu held out his hand and used a Force-choke on Cara Dune when she was arm-wrestling Mando. The Force-choke is a favorite move of Darth Vader.

Ahsoka is incorrect that it is wrong to have attachments. Remember that George Lucas created the Jedi around tenets of the Buddhist religion. Part of those tenets is not having attachments.

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This is so unlike the true God. The true God of Christianity allows attachments. Attachments to people, places, objects, and memories.

A great example of this is what Mary, the mother of God’s Son, did with everyone and everything that came into her life at the birth of the Christ Child. “When [the shepherds] had seen him, they told others the message they had been told about this child. And all who heard it were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:17-19)

The day after Thanksgiving, my three youngest daughters put up our Christmas trees in the living room and dining room and then put ornaments on the trees. We have ornaments from ornament exchanges and Christmas presents. My mother likes to give all the grandchildren a special ornament based on something memorable from that year. Our family also makes ornaments based on wherever we go on vacation. So, there were any number of “Do you remember?” conversations that day as we decorated our Christmas trees.

Christians treasure memories. Mary was no exception. She treasured less-tangible things – what the angel Gabriel told her, how Joseph accepted her, the trip to Bethlehem, the shepherds’ visit, and the sights and sounds of Jesus’ birthplace.

Many years later, she would share these stories with other Christian believers like Luke. The Holy Spirit used these first-hand accounts as he inspired his evangelists to write the Gospels.

God does warn us about certain attachments. He does this specifically in the 7^th, 9^th, and 10^th Commandments as he warns us about coveting and stealing people and possessions.

But cherishing these people and memories, these ornaments and knick-knacks won’t cause us to go to the dark side.

God also gives us these objects and memories because they are the only way to hold onto the people we love.

We know that our children will grow up and move out of the house. Our siblings may drift away. Our spouse and parents may die before we do. We suffer loss. And so we treasure the mementos and memories of those God has given us to love.

God, however, doesn’t need memories or mementos. He has written his name on our foreheads in our baptism, marking us as his own (Revelation 14:1). He has inscribed our names on the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16).

He has sent his Son to us in the crib and on the cross to win us back to him. We are his treasured possessions. He is attached to us. He will not forget us.

Grogu and Mando have learned to treasure each other. In terms of the Jedi, this may be a weakness. When it comes to Christianity, though, the memories and mementos we hold on to, and the friends and family we have around us, are treasures from God’s hand. Treasures from a God who treasures us.