Sermon 07-17-2011

The simplicity of friendship and the Jedi Code...

We pursue the company of friends. We love and encourage each other in the company of friends.

The practical responsibilities of our love for individual people: bear each other's burdens, forgive one another, be patient and kind to one another. It is in community that wounded and broken people can be healed, can love and be loved. We are equipped for service in the company of friends. Part of our equipping comes from learning to love, accept, and work side-by-side with people who are very different from us. We serve as a joyful company of friends.

I love the image painted by the late Fred Rogers in a story he told about Seattle's Special Olympics. Nine contestants lined up for the 100-yard dash. At the sound of the gun all of them took off. Soon one little boy tripped, fell, and hurt his knee. He began to cry. When the other eight heard him crying they slowed down and then every one of them ran back to him. A little girl with Down's Syndrome bent over and kissed they boy and said, "This will make it better." The little boy smiled and stood up, and then all nine of the runners joined arms and joyfully walked to the finish line, all finishing at the same time.

The Code: It is an encapsulation of our relationship with the force. As a Jedi, you must be faithful to the spirit of the Code. Every day you must ask yourself: Do I understand it?

There is no emotion, there is peace. This principle guides all meditations and interactions with all others. It reaffirms the Jedi ideal to act without recklessness, and to view the actions of others through the pure lens of the Unifying Force.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Those who don't understand this basic precept are quick to fear.

There is no passion, there is serenity. A subtle extrapolation of the first precept, this reminder to act dispassionately in every deliberation extends to personal obsessions and is a reminder not to elevate the self above the mission.

There is no chaos, there is harmony. Those who cannot see the threads uniting all life view existence as random and without purpose. The Jedi perceive the structure and will of the many galaxies.

There is no death, there is the Force. All things die, but the Force lives on. As beings who exist as shades of the Force, the end of our existence is this form is not to be overly mourned. We are part of an energy larger than ourselves, and we play roles in a cosmic fabric that outstrip our incarnate understanding.

{Ref: The Jedi Path &  Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters}