So how does Rey develop her skills in the force without a teacher? How are these other young students to develop? What she seeks to know is very old. How will she learn an ancient way in her modern day? Do we not face a similar challenge?
Was Luke the last teacher? And was he even a fit trainer, after the condition he fell into? I’d say any training she has gotten so far has been very haphazard. Now Luke is gone but the student still wants to learn…to know…and to grow in this ancient way.
Rey somehow saved the Jedi Books! My mind is a bit foggy on that part. I don’t remember how she did it, but we catch a quick glimpse of them in the drawer on the Millennium Falcon. They have been hidden away and are in her possession. Is this how she will learn, through a slow page by page study of ancient manuscripts?
But there is this “inner heart” thing, too. Yoda explains to Luke that the true Jedi knowledge is in the Jedi themselves. It is not just contained in the Books. And therein lies my subject matter for this article, because I know this path Hollywood is alluding to. Many of us have felt something has been terribly wrong in the modern house of God, for Jesus himself warned you cannot serve two masters, and you cannot be the slave to money and serve God!
Not only have preachers and congregations become enslaved to money, but also pride, lust, pleasure, and almost every sort of wickedness creeping around in the house of God while hidden behind smiling faces boasting their blessings. The king has no clothes.
Some of us have left the modern church in order to save our faith, and now we’re seeking a “heart thing”. We know in every generation there are always those who see through the smoke and mirrors to find the true heart of God, and we seek that way even if we have to launch out on our own.
Since embarking on this spiritual quest, my constant thought has been how did the early church fathers live their Christianity, and what hath God actually said in our Jesus Covenant? In other words, what were the old paths? Not as far as living under the Law again, but what made a person a Godwalker? An Enoch type. What is the life that gets God’s attention and draws that powerful Presence?
“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah 6:16
Ask for the old paths…where is the good way…
I find I’m not the only one being drawn to such simple places, and there are others ahead of me, who are helping point the way. There are also those in the past who knew this way and lived it. Many of them wrote of it. And we have God’s word itself. In all of this I feel like a kid anxiously on a trail of discovering, knowing a great treasure is growing nearer every day! And we will be one of those places people can come, to find this living water.
Yoda was perhaps the oldest Jedi. (If this were true and not fiction, but as an analogy.) He likely had greater knowledge of the “old ways” than most. Many of us are searching books and reading teachers who have sought out these old ways, and oh the need for every true “Yoda” we can find to reconnect us to the ways Jesus and the Apostles first established, and we have somehow drifted away from. For some it has not even been a drifting, but it has been a headlong rush to see how modern they can be.
For all the “Reys” in this current church culture seeking to find the “old ways”, perhaps living as outcast in spiritual desert places while we pray; be encouraged. The God who sees all and is ever present will be our guiding star to this great light we seek. It is enough to know it is there, our heart tells us so, and we shall not be disappointed. It is enough to walk with Him, and day by day learn His ways, and see His power moving in the earth as in days of old. For in this modern time we seek to know a power very old, even the Ancient of Days!
Perhaps we have a drought of present day teachers able to lead us in these ways. But for some of us, we simply will not settle for less. Prayer is a mighty key to the heart of God. If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways... (The path is actually very plain.)
Jesus says, Walk with me. God says, Learn my ways. Holy Spirit says, I will teach you.
The power we seek is very old, but it does not age. A life of humility and prayer will open that door, but pride locks us out forever. There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death. This way we seek will not look right to man. Not the kingdom of man. But the humble heart does not notice as he falls over himself in his rush to a greater love than he has known. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
God’s word shines a bright light on the door of the way we seek. The bright light on “this door” is not stage lights. It’s another kind of light. It is not a question of whether we can find it, or whether we can know it. It’s just a question of whether we will enter it?
Rey tried to run from the Light Sabre in the beginning, but this old way kept calling to her, until she was fully committed, and “all in”. Jesus said no man comes except the Father call them. May we all hear the call, and enter in.
So where do we go from here? Will Rey find new fellowship in others who are hearing that same call? Will she succeed in learning ancient ways, or become distracted, give up, perhaps join the dark side?
You say, “No,”. She is our hero, you say. Rey is not the type to turn. No matter what the dark side, or the world, offers her, she would not give up. She must succeed. She has tasted something she simply must fulfill! But what of us? Can we say the same of us? Why are we so sure Rey will not be distracted, or defeated, but she will press through to the full knowledge of the force and defeat darkness? Are we so sure of ourself also?
You see, the fight between light and darkness is about all of us. It may be fiction, but it is not “simple fiction” because it is also real. It’s real when we put ourself in the shoes of these characters, and we ask ourself…where do I fit in this story? And how am I doing? Am I just a background character of no real consequence? Have I sold out to the Empire? Have I said it’s all too big for me? I will not make such sacrifices…I want no part of that sword? Or are you an upcoming Rey, who must not fail to find your way, in this modern maze of smoke and mirrors?
Path Without End 