The Real Force

I'm always amazed to the extent that some people get wrapped up in the fantasy aspects of pop culture while at the same time largely ignoring God in their lives.   After all God is real.  Spending time in prayer and worship to the one true God is always worthwhile.   Time spent dwelling on fictional religions or focusing on fictional characters with supernatural powers is essentially a waste of time or vanity as it is called in the book of Ecclesiastes.

There is nothing wrong with the entertainment value of such endeavors as playing a fantasy board game, watching a Star Wars or an Avenger movie, or reading the myriads of other good fantasy and science fiction works that have been written.  That is as long as one has a solid foundation on what is real and what truly matters; for there are truly great wonders throughout the known (and unknown) universe.   Super beings (angels) really exist and both the angels and we humans have a wonderful, all-knowing, perfect, and powerful God who loves us more intimately than any other father or mother could. 

It often makes sense for an author to add a religious aspect to a story.  Including a spiritual dimension in a work is a great way to add depth to the characters and deeper meaning to the plot.  When George Lucas created his Star Wars universe, he included The Force as the belief system in which the Jedi Knights obtained their power.  In Star Wars: A New Hope the character of Obi Wan introduces us to The Force as:

          "...an energy field created by all living things.  It surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy together..."

There is some similarity with George Lucas' Force with the real God in the sense that God is everywhere, surrounding and penetrating us.  The real God truly does bind the galaxy and the rest of the universe together.  An early 18th century priest, Father Jean Pierre de Caussade, in his work Abandonment to Divine Providence states:

          "There is not a single atom that goes to form part of your being, even to the marrow of the bones, that is not formed by the divine power.  From it all things proceed, by it all things are made.  Your very lifeblood flows through your veins by the movement this power imparts to it..."

Father Thomas Dubay, in his book Fire Within, in describing the divine nature of God declares:

          "The divine, natural omnipresence sustaining everything that is, all the way from the smallest subatomic particles to the largest galaxies and the supernal spirits, is necessary to created beings in the sense that they could not perdure for a moment without the continual divine outpouring of their being and activity.  This presence is universal and permanent as long as anything exists."

Peter Kreeft, in his work Practical Theology, says it this way:

          "In a universe in which God knows literally every hair that falls from our head and every sparrow that falls from the sky, nothing, not the slightest motion of the slightest subatomic particle in the farthest galaxy, is unknown and left to chance."

In a grade school catechism class, a priest once described this concept to me and my classmates quite simply when he told us:

          "If God were to forget about you, even for an instant, you would cease to exist."

Thus not only does our God know us in the most intimate way, we are totally dependent upon him for our very existence; from each moment to the next. 

Other aspects of George Lucas' fictional Force religion bear no resemblance to reality.  The Force is described as being created by all living things.  In reality, we know that the creator must come before the created.  It is God who created all things, living and otherwise.  Additionally George Lucas' Force is an impersonal energy field.  One can't really imagine a Jedi Knight, after winning a successful battle, praising and thanking the Force.  Rather a successful Jedi would primarily be proud of him or herself in developing the skill of mastering its use.  Unlike the dispassionate Force, the true God knows us intimately and knows us better than we know ourselves.  We can talk to God, pray to him, praise, worship, and love him.

As long as we approach the Lord with a truly humble and sincere heart, he will hear our prayers.  This brings up another difference between Star Wars' Force and true Christian worship.  Jedi Knights' will typically use the Force as a tool; an energy source they use on command.  Our God does answer our prayers but in his own perfect way.  God, being infinitely wise and all-knowing, will do what is best for our situation.  He won't give us something if obtaining it would be destructive to our ultimate salvation.  Some people believe God isn't answering their prayers when they request something and then don't receive it.   It's quite possible they simply haven't recognized his answer of "no" or "not yet".

One must also recognize that each of us is but just one of God's humble creatures.  God is the master.  Many people try to treat God as some sort of supernatural vending machine that is supposed to answer our every whim.   St. Catherine of Siena, one of the Church's great saints and mystics, in one of her first encounters with Jesus, was essentially told, "Remember, I am God and you are not".

When asking God for anything we should keep in mind that he has already given us the greatest gift of all, Jesus.  The Son of God, in order to remedy the fault for all the sins of the human race, came down from Heaven, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a humble private life for 30 years, then continued with an exhausting public ministry for 3 years.  He then suffered and died a most torturous and humiliating death on the cross, only to rise again on the 3rd day.  After spending another 40 days with his disciples he ascended into Heaven where he continually intercedes to the Father for us.  When Jesus completed his Passion, he opened the gates of Heaven for all who die loving him above all things.  Our focus should not be on what God can do for us now.  He's already given us the opportunity for eternal life.  Instead we should be continually thanking our Lord and striving to learn how we can better love him and our fellow man every day.

So go ahead and enjoy those fantasy movies, books, and games, but remember to give the real and true God the vast majority of your time.    God is the one who created you.  He sustains your existence each and every nanosecond of your life.  He created you with an immortal soul that will not be satisfied with anything other than an eternity with Him.   He is the one whom we must love above all else if we are to spend a joyous eternity with him in Heaven.