Guard your heart

for it is the wellspring of life.

That was the sermon today, made all the more powerful because after church I went to see the new Star Wars. It's almost like the movie was a continuation of today's theme. Regarding the following, I'm just thinking here; don't judge. This is what I like to do when I have nothing else to do. Brain exercise.

We are tugged in two directions. We desire things that may be good and may be bad. The challenge is to choose. Choose life. Choose love. Choose goodness. Choose nobilitiy. But there are forces (not just The Force) fighting for your heart. Choices shape your heart. Or does your heart shape your choices?

*I'm a bit of a geek - surprise, surprise - so here goes my SPOILER ALERT - I doubt you have been living in a whole and have never seen any of the Star Wars "episodes", but just in case you are like my lovely, but young and un-cultured, roommate and have NEVER SEEN STAR WARS IN HER ENTIRE LIFE AND KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT IT, then don't read on.

Anakin Skywalker chose the dark side. He was aware of his choice, that his choice IS the DARK side, which makes his "fate" all the more tragic and his character more complex. People are born with tendencies, personality traits, etc. all the things that are innate. Then there are things around you. And then, there is that thing called free will that enables you to make choices. My friend had trouble with Anakin's sudden change of heart (how he in one moment submitted to the Sith Lord). He didn't buy it. But I think Anakin's choice wasn't a sudden change of heart - his path to the dark side was a slippery slope. Consider the lies fed to him that he, one by one, chose to believe. Luckily for us all, one is also always just a choice away from turning around - to do good - just like Vader did at the end of the saga. "There is good in him."

Mind you, I don't think Star Wars has the answers - or even remotely close to being the answer. But it's just so highly entertaining and quite thought-provoking.

And I do love it when Yoda kicks butt.

The problem is when someone doesn't know which way is good, or doesn't believe there is good, that it's all just a matter of perspective, a matter of who is in power and who wants what. I believe there is good and evil forces working in the world; if there isn't, what happens to the notion of justice? What happens to charity?

See? Thought-provoking!