Jedi Life Lessons

I was watching Empire Strikes Back on tv tonight, when Master Yoda taught me some valuable life lessons.



Here's a bit of the relevant dialogue between Yoda & Luke...

Luke is trying to raise his x-wing fighter from the swamp while balancing Yoda on his feet. He gets distracted and Yoda falls as the ship falls back into the water.

Luke: Oh no, we’ll never get it out now.

Yoda: So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say.

Luke: Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.

Yoda: NO! No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

Luke: All right, I’ll give it a try.

Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is not try.

Luke: I can’t, it’s too big.

Luke tries to raise the ship from the swamp and fails. Yoda then waxes poetic on the power of the force which is beautiful but not entirely relevant to tonight's life lesson.

Luke: You want the impossible.

Yoda then gives it a … not a try … Yoda does raise the x-wing from the swamp and places it safely on the ground.

Luke: I don’t, I don’t believe it.

Yoda: THAT is why you fail.

I've been sorting through an unbloggable situation the past week or so. Actually, it's part of a larger recurring unbloggable situation. I'd already come to a place of peace about it, when I caught this jedi lesson on the tv. Yes it's a George Lucas script - not always known for the best writing - but this is what I needed to hear today. It reinforced what I already know. To paraphrase Master Yoda.

Things are only impossible because I think they're impossible. I need to unlearn what I've learned and learn to trust that God is in the mix and that all will be well. Trust or trust not. Do or do not. There is no try.

(Ok, maybe I'm paraphrasing Julian of Norwhich and Master Yoda. I'm sure they would have gotten along!)