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. 

            Consider this exchange from the Phantom Menace:

Yoda:  Blind we are, of creation of this clone army we could not see.
Mace Windu:  I think it is time we inform the senate that our ability to use the force has diminished.
Yoda:  Only a Dark Lord of the Sith knows of our weakness.  If informed the senate is, multiply our adversaries will.

            Why has their ability to use the force diminished?  It is indeed true that the Sith were working hard to diminish the capacities of the Jedi.  Plagueis and Sidious worked to make this so.  But the Jedi themselves gave the opening.  All of the accusations by Sidious are true - they are arrogant and blind to what does not fit into their own tiny box.

            The evil ones took advantage of this chink in the armor, the one scale on the underbelly of the dragon, and exploited it.  This is where we see the warning to our own spiritual lives.  See the Sith as the demonic realm.  When we turn our attention from the good and the beautiful, and instead worship objects of our own understanding and creation, we are making an idol in our own image.  To be clear, this is not good.  If we meditate on and contemplate God in all of His glory, there is an unfathomable depth.  But when we place a hedge around Him and make His box smaller, we are only kidding ourselves.  It is in that moment that the demonic realm have their opportunity.  They exploit our weakness or blindness.  If, as the Gospel says, Christ is standing at the door knocking, and waiting to be welcomed into the home of our hearts, the opposite is true of the evil ones.  They look for any window with a slight crack, a blemish in the foundation and then stream in to make a formerly good heart their own home. 

            Who is your god?  Who is your idol?  Can you be open to the unfathomable riches that God offers?  Or are you happy when you worship a self-made talisman?