Luke: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!
Darth Vader: No. I am your father.
Luke: No...no. That's not true. That's impossible!
Darth Vader: Search your feelings, you know it to be true!
[Luke cries in anguish]
Luke: No! No!
Oh man! I'll never forget where I was when I first heard those lines from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back. I can STILL remember AND feel the emotion, the empathy I felt for Luke. I don't know if that scene effected you the way it impacted me, but I'll bet there are other men, maybe women too, who can relate. Again, just so we are crystal clear, I'm not endorsing or justifying eastern mysticism of STAR WARS or blending them with my Christian beliefs. Truth is truth. Remember,God creates, man perverts.
That scene is charged with emotion. It strikes a chord with me. Why? Because a man must know where he comes from in order to see where he's going. Think about that, Luke is just told he is the offspring of one of the most evil men in the universe. Luke spends the better part of the next movie, Return of the Jedi, on a quest for his true identity. As he comes to grips with the fact Darth Vader is in fact the man who USED to be his dad, he discovers something. He discovers his father's real name, his true identity! Luke discovers that his dad at one time was a good and caring man. Anakin, like all boys, wants adventure, he wants to be daring and dangerous. He yearns for a battle to fight. And most of all, like all good fairy tales, he has a beauty to win, Padmé Amidala. If you don't remember, as difficult as it may be, watch The Phantom Menace, all these desires are detailed there. (As painful as that movie is to stomach, sorry Mr Lucas).
You may now see why the name of the blog is 'Eddie's rants and ramblings'.............but stay with me.
We are a lot like Luke. Our original father, Adam, rebelled against God and we have suffered the weight of that treason ever since. Adam gave up his true self, choosing to be a coward, instead of a man, and he hid behind a false self. We have been longing and searching for who were are, are true self. When Luke responds that Vader killed his father, he's right, metaphorically. As men we tend to commit a kind of masculine suicide. We turn to the 'dark side', by burying our true identity, we even wear a mask or multiple mask! So maybe some of us are more like Darth Vader!
In Wild at Heart by John Elderedge, he outlines the secret to a man's soul. We have three basic needs, no SEX isn't number one on the list. He calls them, an adventure to live, a battle to win and a beauty to love. If you haven't read the book, I HIGHLY recommend it, if you have read it, read it again, and have your spouse read it as well. Anyway, something has been lost in our modern culture, there is a disconnect between fathers and sons. The longing and desire to be who God created us to be has become lost. Elderedge points us to the Bible and how God is described. His character is much the same as what He desires us to be. God is WILD AT HEART. His adventure is us, His creation, He gave us free will. His battle to fight is for us, His children. His beauty to win is the Church, that Christ died for.
You may have had a 'perfect' earthly father. Or perhaps yours was absent, emotionally or physically. Maybe yours was abusive. Maybe yours was somewhere in between. I would like to say it doesn't matter, but it does. Our earthly fathers have molded us into who we are, for better or worse. Just so we are clear, this is NOT about placing blame,or beating up our dads, its about healing. Just like Luke, it may be painful to realize although we are our father's sons, we do not have to follow in there legacy.
We have a PERFECT Father in Heaven. He will NEVER leave or forsake us.
He is wild at heart.
The LORD is a warrior; yes, the LORD is his name!- Exodus 15:3
Go and be the MAN or WOMAN God created you to be! Be blessed!
Good stuff!! I'm pretty sure I need to read Wild at Heart.
ReplyDelete