Going Solo

I’m thinking about changing my religion. I’m gonna become a Jedi.

Okay, not really.

But there really is a Jedi religion. Did you know that? Here’s what it says at JediChurch.org:

“The Jedi Church believes that there is one all powerful force that binds all things in the universe together. The Jedi religion is something innate inside everyone of us, the Jedi Church believes that our sense of morality is innate. So quiet your mind and listen to the force within you!”

People have taken George Lucas’s ideas about The Force, and turned it into something to really believe in.

That’s kind of tempting. Even as a child, I was fascinated by the Force, and I knew that the Dark Side could never win against the Light.

At the climax of The Return of the Jedi, when Darth Vader takes off his scary mask and becomes, for just a moment, human again, I felt triumphant. Good has conquered Evil once again!

So, it’s been fun, Christianity, but I’m jumping over to the Force.

It’s just nice to have things so…black and white. Just like Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi.

Of course, when I look at my life, I can’t say I’ve always fit neatly into one category or the other. Most of the times, I haven’t been all Light side, or all Dark.

Most of the time, I’ve kind of gone Solo.

I mean, Han Solo, of course. Free spirit, maverick, answers to no one but himself. Friends with a Sasquatch.

Morally…ambiguous, but seems to drift all over the place. Shows up on the Light side when it really counts.

Yeah, that more describes the journey I’ve been on. I’ve swerved back and forth from the Light to the Dark to the Light so many times that my world is more of a…dingy gray.

And while I’d like my life to be pristine, I’m not exactly a Jedi. I can’t seem to respond to the Force the way I’d always like to. Not on my own.

I need some help.

Who’s gonna help me and guide me along the way? Who’s gonna offer me grace when I’m ready to stop Going Solo?