Review of Star Wars Rebels: The Rebellion Begins by Michael Kogge

When the Star Wars fans sat down last October to see the dawning of the age of the Rebellion, we knew that we would be immersed in that galaxy far, far away in all of its splendor. We were not disappointed. All of the classical elements were there – a lived-in universe, Force-sensitive beings, and so on. And in that distressed universe, a new literary world began, immersing us in the Dark Times.  We met a group of rebels – the outcasts, the disaffected and the oppressed.

Thankful for Family & Friends, Skywalker Style

 In this week before Thanksgiving in the United States, I sit back with a cup of caff and get to thinking about all of the things for which I am grateful. I am married to the love of my life and have three great kids. My work is amazingly satisfying, and every month I get to share my thoughts with the Coffee with Kenobi family. It seems to me that gratitude is the basic function of humanity. We are grateful because, let’s face it, on our own we are weak and wanting.

CWK: Luke Returns Home as a Man and a Jedi

For your reading enjoyment, here is my post from Coffee With Kenobi that was published a few weeks ago.  

In my first regular post, let’s just get this out there.  My favorite character is Luke.  In an age where many are rooting for the underdog and cheering for the peripheral characters, I am a fan of the New Hope to the bitter end.  There is just something about his life, his journey and his lineage that calls to me.  And there is something that calls me out of myself – out of my comfortable world to something greater.
This calling is innate in all of us.  It calls us from our childish states to a greater maturity.  Luke heard this call and left his home in order to fulfill his greater purpose as the emerging heir to the Jedi.

The Reliquary of an Old Jedi Master

There was a familiar motif in the expanded universe novels that often frustrated me:  the long journey to an uncertain destination.  There are quite a few examples.  In The Approaching Storm, Obi-wan and Anakin meet up with Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee to trek across a desolate planet for many days.  Come to think of it, the same story element appears in the movies as well.  Why did the AT-ATs land so far from Echo Base?  Seriously, if they had landed a few kilometers closer far fewer transports would have been able to escape.

Freedom, For the Good of the Order

Get it!  Read it!

This post will have limited quotes from the recently released A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller.  There are just a few words form the book, and they are in no way a spoiler to the story (which I myself haven't even finished yet).  However, if you want to finish the book first, remember to come back to this post immediately afterwards.

If there is anything that strikes your fancy within the Star Wars universe, it does not take much time to find an answer.  You can check out the venerable and precise Wookiepedia, ask your local aficionado with geek cred, or many questions can be answered by a simple man on the street interview due to the saturation of our society by the great mythology.

Guest Blog on Coffee With Kenobi

One of the deepest and nicest podcasts out there is Coffee With Kenobi.  I eagerly await each new episode.  And they also host a ton of other good material at their website.  Book reviews, blogs and great discussion.  Last week they hosted a guest blog from me, and I hope that it turns into a long term relationship.  Check out the post after the jump.

On Suicide and Our Love for Its Victims

When there is a death in the public sphere, society and social media tend to center around it and feel a personal sense of loss.  And that sense is very much real.  I have spent more time with Robin Williams' work in my life than with some of my extended family.  I have spent more time reading Star Wars books than biology books.  This shows us that there is some real loss in our lives, even if we have never met the deceased in their lifetime.

            Also, I work hard to not get excited about celebrities.  I had a very short stint in the theatre as a kid and worked with a few people who are notable.  I saw the chinks in their armor and how they had to take one day at a time. 

Are the Sith Admirable?

Here is a conversation I had recently on Facebook with a friend.  It was a lot of fun, and I hope you find some benefit in it.  These Sith lovers, sheesh. 

Darth Jersey:  The Sith Empire has a lot of good to it.
1. Structure
2. Discipline
3. The ability to feel.
4. Jedi deny human emotion and the ability to love.
5.Respect for Authority
6.All teachings out of Sith Teachings are anathema
7. There is a judgment day for those who are loyal and unloyal.
8. Love of Empire above all else.
9. Master/Apprentice relationship. One must learn while finding his/her own path. The ways of the teacher at times are always not correct, so the student must come to realization on his own to become his master and to excel beyond.

Luke Skywalker: From Farmboy to Student to Hero of the Rebel Alliance, Part II

            In Empire Strikes Back, we find our heroes on the run.  Having found a base on Hoth, they are now living solely for the opportunity to survive and spread their message.  Luke receives the message that he needs to leave his friends for a little while to receive training in the Jedi arts.  After the evacuation of Hoth, he leaves for Dagobah without any reservation.  It is there that he is given knowledge that he never even knew to ask for before.  He is illuminated with a knowledge that was kept safe from all harm.  It is a knowledge of the deeper mysteries of the universe.  For the Church, " Only in the state of illumination does divine grace makes possible the contemplation of the divine light. The hidden truths of Holy Scripture are not revealed to everyone, since illumination comes through the special divine gift of revelation. For this reason in the early Church, the holy Bible was read only in the Church and only by a charismatic person. In the Orthodox Church, we have never experienced "bibliolatry" or "worship of the Book," as in some sects. The Church holds fast to the unadulterated spirit of the Bible as it was delivered to the Saints, and through them, to us (An Introduction to Orthodox Spirituality at www.goarch.com)."

Luke Skywalker: From Farmboy to Student to Hero of the Rebel Alliance, Part I

This post has to be written in the next 499 days, in order for it to make sense (assuming the saga of Luke will continue in Episode VIII).  In the life of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, we see a growth from farmboy to hero; from innocent child to mature adult.  The unspoken thing in each of those phrases is the path in between.  Luke went from moisture farmer to student to hero pilot.  He went from his innocence, through an awakening of cause which resulted in a mature Jedi.  This progression is a good way for us to talk about the Christian teaching of theosis. 

Good Morning! Nice of You to Drop By!

Some things have an odor from the outside - and you find out that the stink even more on the inside.  Every relationship has ups and downs.  If you think that any relationship - marriage, family or friendships - is all fun and games, you are kidding yourself.  True and lasting relationships are built on hard work and the willingness to stick with the other through the worst of times.  Through this, the best of times are even better.  

There is Another

Oh Luke, one more thing...

Pilgrimage is a virtuous activity, and I see many extra benefits to it in our North American context.  Ever see one of those pictures from an old country where there are thousands of people gathered?  Or the really long pilgrimage done every year in Kursk.  A pilgrimage also reminds us that we are part of a large group that has been called together for the salvific purposes of Christ's Holy Church.  In a group, we find support and we find camaraderie.  Fellow Star Wars fans, I have found a group that  shares our interests. 

Losing Hands

During today's service, I read the Gospel of Matthew 5.29-30:  

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Father's Day gift for your favorite blogger?

            Hands.  What an iconic image within our favorite franchise.  Lots of people lose their hands.  Anakin and Luke - but also Mace Windu in the magnificent showdown between the Jedi and Sith Orders.  There are also the losses suffered by Count Dooku, Panda Baba, Grievous and other beings.  Now that you have all of those images brought back to mind, let's move on.  They can lose power when a hand is cut off, or lose a bar fight, or lose an identity.  In all times, this loss has the potential to lead to a deeper understanding of the universe.

From Tatooine to the Force; From Earth to Heaven

Last Thursday was 40 days since Pascha, called Easter by most of our neighbors in the English speaking world.  On the 40th day, we celebrate the Ascension of Christ, from earth to Heaven.  Here is the account in the Acts of the Apostles.

     The work that Jesus had to do was completed, and it was time for the next step in salvation history.  When it was finished, as he had mentioned on the cross, he ascended back to sit at the right hand of the Father.  He went back from whence he came.  This was done for many reasons, among them being the salvation of all humankind.

Standing at the Feet of Your Master

Bring up these images in your head:  Anakin standing before the Jedi Council.  Luke standing before the Emperor on Death Star II.  The icon of the Samaritan Woman at the Well (this is the image included here, in case you don't know it). 

Fr Andrew 

My dear friend, Fr Andrew, was giving a lecture one time and noted that in the classical era, the teacher would sit and the people would stand to hear his words.  How much things have changed.  If a student stands in class now, you can bet his afternoon dance card will be full.  When I give a sermon, I stand at the front of the congregation and watch everyone else take a rest.  My parish is good, but in other places I see people go right for the bulletin, the bottom of the purse for the much-needed linty hard candy, or just plain doze off.  The sermon is there for illumination and to make clear the words of the Gospel lesson to today's challenges. 

Seduced by Idols of Our Own Design

It is easy to be seduced by anything. Sometimes seduction can come from something neutral or good.  When the Jedi became too secure in their power, it stultified and became the object of their veneration.  The Force is theoretically neutral.  Neither good nor bad.  And they came to worship the good side, the Light Side, to their own detriment.  By the time of Order 66 they were not fully in step with the Force because they had made it over in their own image.

            When we worship something, we give it utmost value and control over our lives.  When we worship ourselves or the next American Idol, they become our gods and drive us to their ultimate inherent end.  If I were to worship me, as Mrs Darth Father says, I would be 400 pounds, covered in Dorito dust, suffering from Nintendo thumb and living in my mother's basement.  Since my mom lives in a second floor condo, I have to reevaluate this option.  My god would be gross. 

A Villian Redeemed, Part II

Freedom From Himself

Anakin needs to find freedom from himself.  He needs to find freedom from his own selfish impulses.  In fact, when he realizes that he can give great benefit to himself through his Force-blessed powers, his slide to the dark side seems almost inevitable.  It didn't have to be, but he was manipulated from the outside - and from a trusted friend and mentor no less!  To explore this idea, let's take a short walk through a Psalm that has some wild imagery and surprise ending (No, I am your Psalter!).  Psalm 136 is used in the Orthodox Church throughout the year, but most notably on the Sundays leading up to the beginning of Great Lent. 

A Villain Redeemed, Part I

Perhaps one of the complaints about the Prequel Trilogy is that it makes Anakin, and therefore Darth Vader, a sympathetic victim and not the galaxy's most evil villain.  On this blog, you will not hear any PT trashing, so that is not where I am going here.  I will posit in these first few postings that we see the fall of someone to the uttermost depths of despair, hatred, self loathing and narcissism.  Darth Vader becomes the one who needs to be saved not only from his oppressor, but from himself.  In Part I we will deal with the former proposition.  

A New Blog

Binary Sunset - A beginning for redemption

There are a lot of thoughts in my mind, and I have wanted to share them with similar minded folks for quite some time now.  We are always told, find something you love and then find someone to pay you to do it.  Well, so far in my life that has worked out.  I am a priest of the Orthodox Church, and nothing can make me happier.  When I was ordained to the priesthood, I brought with me a beautiful young family and lots of other interests and hobbies.  Among these interests was a love for the Star Wars universe.  Well, it is only a galaxy really.  One very early child hood memory is being taken to see Return of the Jedi in Yeadon, PA.  I was only 5 when it came out, and I can still remember the Star Destroyer entering from the top of the screen and the rumble in the theater.