Recently, I’ve enjoyed reading Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron. Listening to the dog fight sections of the book recalled to mind years past when I would play X-Wing series videogames, which I hope to get a setup to run those games again eventually. (Which if one were to pick one up, I would suggest either “X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter” or “X-Wing Alliance”). But within the Alphabet Squadron book, (and I’ll try to avoid major spoilers), there is a character named Yrica Quell. Yrica Quell is an ex-imperial TIE pilot who more or less defected to the new Galactic Republic. As one can imagine, such a transition comes with a set of challenges or opportunities for growth, depending on how you view it. She becomes conflicted with her values, loyalty, and identity.
Quell is such an identifiable character because we all go through periods of transition and renewal. I invite you to think about a transition that we all share. You before discovering TotJO and You after discovering TotJO. For me, it is not hard to look back and identify the changes it made (and continues to make). For those who may be newer, you may be witnessing these changes now. How exciting! The fifteenth teaching teaches us that …”ALL PHENOMENA, arise from and dissolve back into the cycles of creation and renewal of the Force…” and that “The Force only creates and renews, it does not deprive.” The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can forsake regrets of the past and our anxieties of the future, coming to live in the eternal here and now. Now that doesn’t mean to rid completely of our lessons learned from the past and our future plans (like saving for a rainy day); but instead to not dwell on them because it is not the present. Who we are today can change based on the choices we make today. Embrace the now.
