You want success and and you want to avoid failure. We
all do, and a good mentor can make all the difference in the world. A mentor
can help guide us through struggles and joys of life, and when we don’t have
someone to help show us the way, we can become “stuck”.
My favorite guide in fiction is Yoda. When I first saw
“The Empire Strikes Back” (my all-time favorite movie btw), I found the little
green man fascinating. Here’s a Jedi master stronger than nearly every other
character in the Star Wars universe, living on the remote planet of Dagobah in
a swamp. I thought Yoda should have jumped in the X-Wing with Luke and together
they could have fought off the Emperor easily! Yet there Yoda is, eating grubs,
speaking in riddles and refusing to get involved.
When I think back on why Yoda interested me, I think
it was because he wasn’t the normal mentor you find in fiction. He didn’t take
himself seriously like Obi-One or Mace Windu. He had an aura of sacred wisdom
but was flippant and irreverent.
Yoda’s not the only fictional character that exists
between the sacred and profane. Toph in “The Legend of Korra”, Hagrid in Harry
Potter and a little of Haymitch in the Hunger Games. I’ve also seen this
character in the Bible. Side note, I think fiction and fact often are closer
than we’re comfortable admitting. Back to the point... In the Old Testament the
prophets often fit into the Yoda category that I would call the “sacred fool.”
Ezekiel laid on his left side for 390 days ( Ezekiel 4:1-5). Balaam argued with a
donkey and lost ( Numbers 22:28-29). Hosea named his children
“Unloved” and “Not-My-People” ( Hosea 1). John the Baptist dunked
people in water and told them their sins were forgiven ( Mark 1:4). I’m not even mentioning
the absurdity of crying out in the desert done by many of the other prophets.
Back to Star Wars. We see a marked difference between
Yoda in the prequel and original trilogies. In the prequels Yoda acts as a
gatekeeper of knowledge and power towards Anakin Skywalker. He thinks he can
lead from his own superior wisdom, and views everything in black and white
(isn’t that supposed to be a characteristic of the Sith?). Yet in “The Empire
Strikes Back” we see a character that doesn’t let Luke know his past as a Jedi
master and won’t tell Luke what to do next. What happened that caused such a
great change?
Yoda experienced loss; he saw the destruction of
everything he had helped build and held as sacred. The Jedi order failed and
the galaxy was taken over by the Sith. His own strength even failed him when
Palpatine defeated him in a lightsaber duel.
Yoda came to realize his right knowledge was actually
a stumbling block. His piousness kept him from seeing the truth, and his own
answers kept him from asking the right questions.
The sacred fool seems to understand that being able to
admit you own ignorance is a necessary step towards wisdom. It doesn’t mean we
don’t understand and experience the full weight of sin and pain in the world.
It’s just that we recognize the joy of the Lord keeps us from taking ourselves
too seriously and that a few pranks keep us on our toes.
Entering this stream of true wisdom is one of the
hardest things you can do. It can be very unsettling to stop worrying about
your personal legacy, reputation and power to influence others. It’s a strange
feeling when you stop caring what other people think and say about you. Because
of this, most people won’t exit the stream of conventional wisdom until trauma
or life forces them to. But once you realize the freedom that come from living
for what really matters, it will change your whole life. You may even be able
to think of someone specific you’ve seen go through this process.
I believe this is the journey that Christ invites us
into. There’s a humility that comes with enjoying a simple God centered life
and admitting your own need for help. Jean-Pierre de Caussade calls it
“abandonment to divine providence”. John Piper calls it “Christian hedonism”.
You and I can call it Monday of we’ll step out in faith.
Trust the way of Christ to be your guide. It wasn’t
until Yoda stopped striving that he was able to help bring balancing to the
force. It won’t be until you stop trying so hard that you can help to change
the world.
Grace,
peace, and may the force be with you,
