And While We're on the Subject of Star Wars

This is the 2nd in a 5 part series on Star Wars.  I know in most cases I will be preaching to the choir here but I thought I'd post this anyway just because.  Read at your own risk!

Still--for my Dad.

So, why did a cute and talented little boy like Anakin Skywalker grow 

up to be the evil Darth Vader?  I can imagine his teachers (if he'd had them) saying, "but he was such a nice little boy with such a saintly mother--where did he go wrong?"  I think a big part of the responsibility lies with his only father figure, Qui-Gon Jinn.  Qui-Gon meets Anakin, is impressed with his special abilities and starts to think he might be "the chosen one".  He does something reckless when he wagers Queen Amidala's spaceship on Anakin's Podracer.  Anakin had not only never won a race--he'd never even finished.  Qui-Gon risks everything on the gut feeling that Anakin can save them.  His gamble turns out to be a good one and he leaves Tatooine, Anakin in tow to save Queen Amidala's planet and train Anakin to be a Jedi.  Of course, Yoda and the Jedi council do not see Anakin in the same way Qui-Gon does.  Yoda tells Qui-Gon that they will not train Anakin because his future is uncertain and he senses danger.  Qui-Gon again is so sure that he is right about Anakin that he ignores the council, promises Anakin that he will train him and with his dying breath, passes on that task to his apprentice Obi-Wan.  This second gamble turns out to be a bad one.  If Anakin's downfall can be traced to his disrespect for authority and law, it is clear where he learned it.  There is no doubt that Qui-Gon's intentions were good but he led his young apprentice astray in teaching him that he was so special, he could go above the wise and experienced Jedis on the council.  This made Anakin easy prey for Chancellor Palpatine/ Darth Sidious who pumped up his ego with the lies he wanted to hear.

Laws matter.  God Himself in the person of Jesus obeyed the law.  I can't imagine how tempted Jesus must have been to end His suffering and come down from the cross.  After all, He was a man, He felt it all.  He was also God and could have saved Himself and also humanity in a different way--or not.  He obeyed His father and fulfilled scripture.

The law of God is for our protection and our happiness.  We have His law in both the ten commandments and the teaching of the Catholic Church which continues to interpret God's Law even as we are faced with our modern, more complicated issues.  Cautionary tales like Anakin Skywalker's show us how things end when we put ourselves above the Law or convince ourselves that Jesus would make an exception for our particular case because...well, he was such a nice guy.  Jesus put Himself under the authority of His Father.  He asks no less of us*.

*I was reading a book recently that said it like this , "God's not in heaven saying 'let's make a deal'.  He's saying, 'this is the deal' ".