“I rebel.”
Very simply put, this is the most important thing you can come to grips with, and become part of. And yeah, me, of the first estate by vocation, I will teach this to the bitter end. There are evil and nefarious forces in the world masquerading as goodness, trying to steal the inherent beauty in each of us. There are greedy people trying to gain unlimited power through the theft of the beauty each of us possesses.
The Beginning
Rebelliousness is not a natural state; rather it is a reaction that is coaxed out of us by unnatural circumstances. Humankind was created good; we were given all good things, blessed with perfect weather and body fat percentage. And we were given the greatest gift of free will. We were given the freedom to choose to love, and to choose to be selfish. Love is only true if it is freely given. But the attendant danger is that someone, or many, may choose to abuse that freedom and become oppressors. In the biblical story, this is what the serpent in the Garden of Eden did. He used his freedom to misrepresent the human situation. He was actively working to destroy the goodness within our ancestors. At that time they fell for it. They fell. The disastrous ways of the devil became the governing principle of the world, and all because humankind allowed it to be that way.
The Predicament
But we are not on the hook for the expiation of the sins of our ancestors. However, we are living with the consequence of all of the hate, pain and pathology that has found its way into our world. As part of our inherent make up as human beings, we want to get better, we want to be healed. To get back to the Garden, we have to powerfully rebel against the evil powers that are subjugating our beautiful creation.
Like Ann & Nancy Wilson said, NEVER!
Winston Churchill said that
it is by art man gets nearest to the angels and farthest from the animals. Indeed it is a pregnant thought. Here you have a man with a brush and palette. With a dozen blobs of pigment he makes a certain pattern on one or two square yards of canvas, and something is created which carries its shining message of inspiration not only to all who are living with him on the world, but across hundreds of years to generations unborn. It lights the path and links the thought of one generation with another, and in the realm of price holds its own in intrinsic value with an ingot of gold. Evidently we are in the presence of a mystery which strikes down to the deepest foundations of human genius and of human glory.
Beauty, art, the works of the soul, are true and effective rebellion.
The Process
In last December’s amazing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we see the desperation on the faces of the rebels, those who have lived through the damnable blossoming of the evil Galactic Empire. They have felt their freedom and beauty tortured and injured – but not to the point of being destroyed. Our great heroine, Jyn Erso, reminds us to never give up on the possibility of the return of the good. That through rebelling against the perceived monolithic and invincible doorkeepers of her age, the Rebel Alliance can restore hope to the Galaxy. This is the only thing that can be done. She says “We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope!”
As Kent Brockman said: It’s in revelations, people!
The restoration of the hope of the good things to come is a deeper idea than just the platitude may seem. Knowledge is ever evolving and leads to more questions. Gaining knowledge is not salvific, it does not transform the soul of a person. Hope does that. Hope for what is to come, for the restoration of what was, for the transfiguration of the present life into the greatness for which it was intended. The hope of the restoration of all goodness was promised from that moment when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden: God said to the agent of destruction: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head (Genesis 3.15).” Even in that moment of sorrow, when the good earthly blessings were revoked, there was an element of hope, in that all would be restored to the former glory. This hope is the foreordained truth from the All Good One, and should you be inclined to believe Him, this hope becomes greater and more sure than any scientific breakthrough. The knowledge may be superseded, but the hope persists until it is fulfilled.
The Victory
The lifelong rebel, Cassian Andor, has shown us the hard decisions that must be made in order to maintain the rebellion against the forces of evil. And likewise, we are in for a dirty and destructive fight. Not because those who are full of hope desire to destroy anything, but because the destructive force is engaged in all of its terrifying horror. I am not merely speaking of Star Wars and its multitude of applicable lessons. I am talking about your world, your country, neighborhood. The battle may be waged in your own home; and most importantly within your own heart. All has been infected with the disease of death and illness. We must rage against it, fight against the nagging doubt, the misproportioned love of self or the animosity toward the other ones. We must bless all lives with hope and goodness, and transform the human experience into one of ignorance of suffering.
Heading into battle, for the sake of others.
And what is the love that will overcome the destruction of the spirit of this age? It is found in this statement (and this is the only thing I ever want quoted by me, should my rebellion bring about an early demise): Love is about the other. Love is not about me, it is about me giving all that I have for the care and welfare of the other. It is about making their life better, and through that action, the whole world. Love is sacrificial, and never seeks its own benefit or selfish pleasure.
Again, Jyn is a prophet in this regard. The rebellion must go on until the fulfillment of the divine hope is brought about. We fight. We rebel. We continue to bring truth and beauty back in to the world, to restore it to its paradisiacal origins. This is our calling in life, as good and free people. The call from Jyn’s lips was profoundly brilliant.
What chance do we have? The question is “what choice.” Run, hide, plead for mercy, scatter your forces. You give way to an enemy this evil with this much power and you condemn the galaxy to an eternity of submission. The time to fight is now!
My friends, the time is now to rebel, to bring freedom to yourself and to the world around you. Do not wait another day, offering your services to ugliness and evil. In the words of St Herman of Alaska, a 19th century American saint, “for our good and for our happiness, let us all make a vow: at least from this day, this hour, this very minute, we should strive to love God above all else and do His will!”
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Please leave comments on this and all my posts – I really look forward to it. You can find me on Twitter at @adelphotheos and email at jamesw@CoffeeWithKenobi.com, occasionally at TheForceandFaith.blogspot.com as long as I am not listening to the latest edition of the Coffee With Kenobi podcast!
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