-by James DonVIto
Many have proudly declared Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace as one of the worst sci-fi films they have seen in recent history, and still hold this notion today. This may be so, however there is a great spiritual principal that was mentioned so subtly that it’s easy to overlook; “Your focus determines your reality”, quietly quoted by Jedi Knight Qui-Gon-Jinn. He tells this to young Anakin Skywalker just before he competes in the podrace which could save their skins if he wins.
“Your focus determines your reality”
This is also an important concept that was echoed in Episode IV: A New Hope as his son Luke Skywalker was barreling down the trench of the Death Star in hopes of destroying the evil Galactic Empire. This time by Obi-wan Kenobi as he was asking Luke to let go of his physical world and tap into the spiritual world of The Force to make the shot.
Indeed our focus does determine our reality in more ways than we would probably like to realize. Back here on Earth, this important principal can easily be engulfed by the world, it’s problems, and it’s plan for our lives. Just turn to the media, and a host of bad news, questionable values and practices will be made available to fill your mind and life with. We all know that the Star Wars films definitely have a spiritual theme to them, and rightly so.
The bible often tells us to fill our mind with the correct focus to guide our lives. Philippians 4:8 states, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. … And the God of peace will be with you.” Not something you hear at the end of the nightly news, and quite contrary to what the world’s attention grabbing problems are about. It sounds more like Obi-Wan!
Luke was the last hope the Alliance had of making that critical shot that would destroy the Death Star and save billions of lives on Alderan. And he dealt with it as any good pilot would have using his self taught piloting skills, X-Wing Fighter, and it’s targeting computer to the best of his ability. He used what the world gave him, but we all know this wasn’t enough. It took a decision to turn off his targeting computer, and instead choose to live by faith by using The Force. No doubt Luke had faith to reach his goals, and how often do we need it as well.
In other words, the bible has the power to look at life from afar, away from society’s views and opinions and give you a clear perspective. If you choose to put what the bible is saying into action you will know for yourself if the bible is truly from God, and what his will is for your life.
I can tell you that before I became a follower of God, I simply wasn’t fulfilled or as happy as I am now. Like Luke, I was focused on the world and used what the world offered me to reach my goal of happiness: money, materialism, and a self-focused life. I was in essence trying to destroy the Death Star with my targeting computer, instead of thinking spiritually. (And we all know how that worked out for that pilot who tried to make the shot before Luke, it just impacted on the surface). Throughout the years after becoming a Christian, I’ve had the joy of seeing my goals accomplished through faith in God. This has lead me to true happiness because I am not following the distorted values of society, or even my best thinking, but of God in the bible who designed us to be fulfilled through faith and life in him! Like Luke, I needed to turn off the world’s targeting computer and see the world through spiritual eyes.
Mat 6:22-23 quotes, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
I think everybody wants to see those with hope help those who have none. Whether you believe in following the bible or not, we can all do better with letting hope and faith in good things fill our mind and become be the reality in which we live. Let’s instead focus on the things that will make a positive difference in our lives and the lives of others, and how we can take action.
And let’s not forget, sometimes we need a little help from friends like Wedge or Hutch in our lives to help us stay on target – just don’t get Porkins involved and we should all be fine! =)
If you’d like to hear more from me personally on this topic, feel free to post a reply to this entry or email me at this address:
james (at) fusionfilter (dot) com
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If you liked this, more spiritual truth is available from my amazing church in video and audio podcasts:
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James,
A great and interesting article.
For me I like Phantom Menace the best of the 1st Trilogy. There is so much back story revealed about the Jedi, plus Liam Neeson was awesome in the role.
In fact your article made me want to see it again.
~John
Thanks for the comment John! If you liked this article you’ll love my upcoming FusionFilter Faithcast starting soon. This article touches on just a few principals that sci-fi often reflects, sometimes without even intending to. Glad to hear someone likes Episode I.