Good morning fellow Jedi,
In preparation for this sermon I asked you all to watch the episode “Trespass”. This month's theme is on tradition, yet originality and I'd like us to consider the idea: the keys to peace.
Trespass deals with a lot of different things we have already seen before. But we already know the story. We've seen many like it. We might even know what we are supposed to “learn”. It might be a good opportunity to get on our soap box and say that this and that is wrong with the world, but I'll remind us that society is made up of individuals, people whose actions impact the world. As we begin to take our steps into the new year, let us consider the following:
The first key to peace is to listen
Chairman Chi Cho says “I have led my people since before you were born. I have seen a hundred civilizations rise and fall through force of will”
Chairman Chi Cho is not willing to listen. Not to his partner the senator, not to the Jedi and not to the Talz. It's obvious he's been in the thick of conflict for a very long time and that has made him jaded. It therefore causes him to make assumptions about life and about people, which ultimately costs him.
What about you? Have you been in a situation so long you already “know” how it's going to go? This can cause blindspots. I encourage you today to examine where your blindspots are. Sometimes this can be done alone, but often it is helpful to do with others. As we listen, we grow.
The second key to peace is patience
How much of the conflict the Talz and Pantoreans experienced could have been resolved with patience? The patience to attempt to understand one another, themselves, and how they might appear to each other.
This path is a hard one. Often in our desire to be Jedi we lose sight of what that really means. Chairman Cho was attempting to be a good leader and he was doing what generations before him had done. Saying what they said.
And we might also be wearing a mask of our own. This may impact how we act. We might want to be totally new people when we walk into these halls, but we cannot rush the process. We walk in with baggage . Day by day, week by week, year by year, we shed that baggage to emerge authentically in the world.
What baggage are you holding? Just becoming aware of what might be hindering you is enough. The Force can handle the rest.
The third key to peace is courage
It is courage and not recklessness. Courage and not over extension. Just courage. The willingness to show up day after day and do the work.
Consider the dialogue between Senator Chuchi and Master Obi Wan. Here it did not matter who was the most experienced, but who needed to do the work. Capacity only grows with our willingness to do challenging things. Where is The Force calling you to have courage?
In summary then, this new year: listen to others, have patience with yourself, and be courageous.
May the Force be with You
