Lightsabers and Justice
My son’s Star Wars fandom began at a very young age. I love recalling the story when he was about 18 months old and we were at Sunday Mass. I was carrying him as I exited the pew for Communion. While I was preparing to receive Jesus, he was humming “The Imperial March” the entire way up the aisle.
Blaine loved lightsabers (still does!), and he grew through his toddler and young boy days being fully on board with the plot of good triumphing over evil. Will Anakin Skywalker turn to the dark side? Blaine couldn’t fathom how Anakin could leave the good side, the Jedi order. But wait (spoiler alert)! Darth Vader (formerly Anakin) has a change of heart before his death because love for his son Luke turns him back to the light. Those battles of good vs. evil really resonated with Blaine. To describe Blaine and paraphrase Darth Vader: “The sense of justice is strong with this one.” Since he was little, Blaine exhibited a resolute declaration of right and wrong.
As my young padawan grew into a Jedi, he and I would have conversations about the anger that came when he witnessed injustice. Taking out a lightsaber and cutting off a hand worked in the pretend world, but what about real life? That is when words and appropriate action come into play. When there was an injustice on the playground, Blaine was often there to resolve the issue and stick up for the one who didn’t get a turn on the swing.
And as our children get bigger, we know the issues and concerns also grow. So you can imagine the discussions that we’ve had over the years. I admire his adamant stance on justice. Our own sense of justice is rooted in our beliefs. And that is where Truth enters the scene. Just because two people are standing up for “justice” doesn’t mean they are both right. Truth exists. And Truth will lead and guide us to the right path to justice.
I don’t have enough words to talk about Truth here. Since it’s likely many of us would agree on Jesus being the source of Truth, I’m going to return to the topic of justice.
Or rather, injustice. When injustice occurs in our world…what do we do?
The answer isn’t: Take out our lightsaber and cut off someone’s arm.
Nor is the answer to do nothing. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - (possibly) Edmund Burke
My dad engrained in my head, “Think before you speak.” (Likely due to my mouthy, teenage comments…) But I truly found the wisdom in those words and took them to heart into my adult years. That recurring teenage lesson helped refine and develop my self-control.
I think we can take my dad’s words one step further:
Pray before you speak. Pray before you act.
The answer is not lightsabers.
The answer is not doing nothing.
Not surprisingly, the answer is somewhere in the middle. And when we have met Jesus, we know Truth, and we know we’re in the middle. And that is where justice lies.
May we pray before we speak and pray before we act, and may we be a beacon of light and justice.
