Ok, folks, I am just going to go all “fanboy” on you all for a moment, because I am ABSOLUTELY pumped after seeing the new Star Wars Episode IX trailer! (I included the link at the bottom of my post in case you haven’t seen it yet)
Anyway, I have been a HUGE Star Wars fan since 1980 when I first saw The Empire Strikes Back. (That’s right, I didn’t see the original Star Wars movie until after I saw Empire, but that was because back “in the day”, you didn’t have the ability to watch a movie if you missed it in the theaters. Anyway, I digress…)
So, as I was saying, I have been a HUGE Star Wars fan almost 4 decades, so I was completely devastated after seeing how BAD the last Star Wars installment, The Last Jedi, turned out to be.
But even then I didn’t completely discount the franchise since I am also a fan of the other media platforms that are used to forward the canon and augment the Star Wars universe (particularly the novels), so I held out a little hope that The Last Jedi novel might provide some redeeming information about the main storyline, but alas, it was as bad as the movie.
Thereafter followed some really questionable decisions about the Star Wars franchise as a whole, and I lost hope that Star Wars could ever inspire me again.
As a Catholic Christian, I found some comfort in some really great literary efforts that managed to tie into the whole Skellig Michael mythology that showed up in The Last Jedi, (most notably The Last Monks of Skellig Michael), but as far as Star Wars went, I was done.
Now, we can disagree on my assessment of The Last Jedi, and that’s fine. But the point I am trying to make here is that in the last two years, I had truly lost all hope in the Star Wars franchise, and that’s particularly sad, because the Star Wars stories were all about hope.
But bottom line, I was fully prepared for Episode IX, the final installment of this new trilogy, to disappoint as well, and then came the teaser yesterday…
And just like that, hope flared anew in my heart.
Hope that it all might be well.
Hope that darkness isn’t going to prevail.
Hope that in persevering and fighting for what is right and just, then goodness, truth and beauty will win in the end.
Hope that death isn’t the end, but is really just the beginning.
And that’s exactly what Holy Week is all about.
Hoping in things that aren’t seen.
Hoping that light does conquer darkness.
Hoping that sin and death aren’t the end.
Hoping against hope, that this isn’t the end, but it’s just the beginning.
You see, that is what hope is all about. New beginnings.
So at the beginning of this Holy Week, let’s hold on fast to hope.
Because the One who is hope has told us that all will be well–if we but trust in Him.
So I’ll hold on to hope–in my Lord.
(But will also hold out a small hope that Star Wars becomes a story of hope again, too.)
May the Spirit be with you this week and into Easter!
And in case you haven’t seen the trailer yet, here is the Star Wars Episode IX Teaser
