Back in Nov 2018, I didn't have any idea what I would do after stepping out of the kindergarten that had been my destination every morning for 17 years. Initially it was a clearing frenzy, as I got down to tackling the store-room and garden plots. A year down the line, my store-room is rid of clutter. My front garden has fully matured; every morning I am greeted by blooms of various colors amidst the green grass. The back garden however hasn't turned out quite as well. I tried to grow vegetables, but I suspect the soil isn't fertile, so besides just maintaining a few spring onions, chives, pandan and serai, I planted flowering plants instead. Now the purple morning glory and another vine bearing deep blue flowers is climbing and covering my back fence beautifully.
Nowadays I have lots more time and freedom to do stuff at my own pace. Turning 3 score years old has its perks, one of which is discounted movie tickets during certain week-days. Which was how I ended up watching the final (so they say) Star Wars series some time back. Even though I have lost track of all the sequels and pre-quels and don't really know who's who anymore, except for the "original" players. I just enjoy the robots and action stuff. Actually I found the Rise of Skywalker disappointing for the most part. I couldn't help thinking why the heroine Rey keeps frowning as if she has the whole world on her shoulders. Well, maybe she has, what with trying not to get tempted, reining in her dark side on the one hand and saving the planet on the other. And some of the scenes were really drawn-out, like how long does it take to celebrate a victory, how many people do you need to hug and kiss and hi5 to show how happy everybody is?
Hollywood probably didn't know it, but that line was spoken more than 2000 years ago by the greatest story-teller of all time - Jesus Christ, who told the parable of the son who chose to walk away from a father who loved him, because he wanted to be free. The father kept on looking out for his return, and finally the young man did come back, totally changed and repentant of heart, recognizing that so-called freedom had only brought him to financial, physical and spiritual bankruptcy. Yet instead of expected punishment from the father he spurned and insulted, he was rewarded with a big party . And the most beautiful words of a love-sick father - " For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:24)
The biblical allegory pointed to the most wondrous love of a heavenly Father who longs for the return of His creation - mankind who chose to reject their Creator, going their own way, preferring to do their own thing. Such is the patience of a loving Father, He doesn't strike wayward sons and daughters with lightning and thunderbolts from the sky. Instead He just waits, and waits, and waits. Till finally when they touch bottom, they come to their senses, they are changed and they come home. This Father isn't into revenge or punishment, instead He throws a party in heaven where all the angels are invited to celebrate a sinner turned around on earth.
Kylo Ren changed back to being Ben, the son of his father. He walked out from the darkness his soul had fallen into, back into the light of love, that enabled him to do all the right things, even to the point of death. Such is the strength of a love that never fails.
I found that love 20 years ago. I didn't even know I was lost then, like the prodigal son, my only concern then was I, me and mine.... until the bottom literally fell out of my world, when my husband passed away. But it's so true, God's light shines the brightest in the deepest darkness, to open up mankind's (my) blind eyes to the greatness and sweetness of His incomparable love.
It's like those sabers in Star Wars that flash so brilliantly as they clash in combat. Which recalls to me how Luke Skywalker comes back from the past and hands over Leia's saber to Rey. When she is questioned what she is most afraid of , her answer was "Myself." How perceptive, and honest. We really are our own worst enemies when we allow fear to control our lives, and others. Yet it's so subtle we don't even recognize it as fear; it comes in so many disguises. More than just the 'usual' fears of bad things happening, it lurks behind pride, independence, power, even good . Jesus recognized evil when He saw it in Peter, the disciple, who refuted the necessity of His dying on the cross. Of course Peter didn't want Jesus to die; losing a loved one to death is a terrible thing. But Jesus knew there are more terrifying things than physical death.
There's only 1 cure for fear, at least in my book - the Bible prescribes it - "Perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18) And there's only 1 perfect love which conquered the ultimate fear - death itself - when Jesus hung on the cross, hands stretched out to the max, to indicate the fullest extent of His love. 3 days later, an empty grave and a risen Christ is the proof of a living, eternal love that can never be robbed by death.
I was rather amused at how the traditional opening crawl of Star Wars began with the first line "The dead speak!" So there were a number of scenes where past characters who had died appeared like white ghosts to speak. That's Hollywood. But beyond fancy holograms, 2000 years ago, a dead Jesus who resurrected alive from the grave not only spoke, but walked through locked doors, BBQ-ed and ate fish on the beach, and got taken up to heaven. All of which were witnessed by people willing to die (and did die) proclaiming it to be true. So it sounds plain crazy , illogical, even impossible with man, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Those who believe need no other reason to believe , and those who don't believe will find a million reasons not to believe anyway.
Rey was given the 2 sabers to "finish the journey", which on the face of it was to defeat the bad guys and save her world. But for me, that wasn't the end. The end was when she finally recognized who she was . From being "just" Rey, she could now confidently introduce herself as Rey Skywalker, the last Jedi. That had always been her destiny, and finally she 'got it.' Likewise every human being has a destiny; what we are really meant to be . Get that right, the rest of life will follow. Only a destiny gives our lives a meaningful hope , to know somehow that we are more than just physical bodies that end up 6 feet underground , eaten by worms. We either walk into or walk away from our destiny; and depending on which direction we choose, we end up changed, either for better or for worse.
"Rend your heart, and not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity " - Joel 2:13
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