So earlier today I started a discussion about people calling us crazy. It stemmed from another social media website and it struck me as very mean and hateful. As the discussion went on I felt my feelings getting the better of me until someone made me realize that I was actually being very un-Jedi like. He is a guest here in the Temple and goes by the name of Gisteron. I was at work when I started the discussion and we actually came to an amiable conclusion. But something was still bothering me. It actually bothered me for several hours but I could not figure out why. Why should people be able to say hateful and hurtful things about Jedi. I have now been off of work for several hours and I have had time to go to the gym and come home and meditate on it. After I meditated on it it dawned on me what was bothering me. It isn't that what the person said was actually hateful at all. It was my perception that made it seem that way. But that wasn't all. As I meditated it suddenly came to me like a spring thunderstorm, powerful and full of energy. The Creed!
I am a Jedi, an instrument of peace;
Where there is hatred I shall bring love;
I perceived hatred, but failed to bring love!
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
I knew he had doubt but I did not bring faith!
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
I felt darkness in his words but I did not bring light!
And where there is sadness, joy.
I am a Jedi.
I was NOT a Jedi!
I shall never seek so much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
I did not try to understand!
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
I did not pardon his words, they were only words!
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The Force is with me always, for I am a Jedi.
I was NOT a Jedi!
This all hit me at once but the spark was given to me by our guest, Gisteron and for that I thank you!
I did not remark on the original post that upset me so much until after I meditated and figured this out. That was the only Jedi thing I did in all of this. What I did go back and say was:
"We are all crazy on some level, but we just happen to believe in something you may think is silly Alec. Just because you may not believe does not detract from my belief and the sense of community, compassion, and fulfillment I have in being a Jedi. I wish you well in whatever belief you may observe."
I want to apologize for my failings in this not only to my Master Reliah, but to the Jedi community in general. *bows* I try to be the best I can be and sometimes it is good to be reminded that our opinions, while they may be strong, are not always right. While there may have been some basis for my feelings, I was still wrong. I judged without knowing. I failed to realize where my feelings were rooted and that caused me to react in a way that is not typical for me.
I would like to have any thoughts any of you may have on the matter, please.
Patience
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” Ernest Hemingway
TM: Carlos Martinez
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