Driving through the Empire

"Ouch."

This is the final line of dialogue from The Empire Strikes Back. Now, I must warn you that there might be spoilers here if you haven't seen The Empire Strikes Back. And if you actually haven't seen the movie, go grab the nearest geek and asked to borrow his/her pre-1997 DVD of it. Or just wait until September when Lucas re-re-releases them on BluRay. You know that every fanboy and fangirl will buy their overpriced copy...and yes, I will too probably.

Sorry, back to what I was writing...yes, "ouch." These four letter pretty much sum up the entire movie. From the pain of war to seeing Lando wearing clothes straight out of Hahn's closet. Seriously, check it out in the final scenes, he's wearing Hahn Solo's outfit. Creepy.

The whole movie is about pain. The pain of losing, the pain of the past, the pain of getting your hand chopped off by a lightsaber while dangling very precariously off a ledge. The Empire Strikes Back is all about pain, loss and struggle. And it is all summed up in the word "ouch."

Now, many who saw Empire back in the day were struck at just how hopeless the ending of the movie seemed. Hahn was frozen in carbenite, Lando took off in the Millennium Falcon, and the Rebels were scattered all over the galaxy.

Yet, during this time of trial and struggle, Luke had Yoda walking him through his training as a Jedi. He had a teacher who taught him how to focus, how to concentrate, how to fight and how to escape. This training is what Luke leaned upon when he fought Darth Vader, whom he learned (*spoiler*) was his father.

Now, I'm not comparing Jesus to Yoda what soever. But, in order for Luke to be healthy, he needed a trainer, a teacher to walk with him (and sometimes on Luke's back hitting him) to endure and to understand and to learn. During a time of temptation, Yoda talked Luke through it.

When going through our own Empire Strikes Back, we have our teacher, savior and friend, Jesus, walking with us through it. He is talking with us through tough and dark times. We have one who is greater than Yoda, who died for us so that we might have life. And he teaches us what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Remember this, yes, Empire Strikes Back is bleak, but there is The Return of the Jedi. We need to drive through the hurts, the pains, the struggles of our own life, of our own Empire in order to make it to The Return of the Jedi. Jesus will walk you through this and bring you safely to the other side.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4

Yoda, Picard and that other guy

In my office, I have a number of items. I have books. I have a laptop, I have pens and highlighters. I have mementos from mission trips and gifts from friends and family members. I have a pair of wooden shoes in size 15 sitting on the top of a bookcase. I also have figurines of Hahn and Chewbaca, a Yoda figurine, an Optimus Prime figurine and other items.

Why do I have these last few items in my office at church? Because not only do they rock the Casbah, but they also have meaning to me.

They are the epitome of manliness. To which, you might be asking yourself: "Huh?" Hahn many people get but Yoda and Optimus Prime? And why is Picard's name in the title if he's not one of those in my office?

Good questions all of them (and not because I asked them myself). I've been reading Wild at Heart by John Elridge. It was suggested to me on the post Scratch and Spit. The book is about being a man of God and what it means to be a man of God.

One of the things I've realized in the last few years is that our role models for men is sparse. No offense...or maybe there should be some. Because instead of looking towards men who could truly show what it means to be a man, I've turned to Sci-Fi for assistance. Now, don't get me wrong. I've had some amazing mentors over the years who've been there for me and have walked me through some important chapters in my life.

But why these guys? Well, Yoda is wise and is a teacher and mentor to Luke. Picard is a thoughtful and determined leader who takes time to teach, instruct and even admit when he is wrong. The same is true with Optimus Prime. And Hahn and Chewy? Well, they just rock.

It takes more than one person to raise a child. It takes more than one man to teach a boy how to be a man. It takes more than one man of God to teach young men what it means to be a man of God.

Luckily I had 5 men when I was in high school and my first few years of college who did just that. But there are others who don't and didn't have what I did. Many don't even look to Yoda, Picard or some other guy. Instead, they turn to celebrities who's lives are screwed up just as much as their own.

So, my charge, my request...heck, my frakin challenge to you men who are reading this: DO SOMETHING! It takes more than one man of God to teach a young man what it means to be a follower of Christ. Come along side these young men who need mentors. Be a spiritual mentor. It's not as tough as you think. Be yourself in Christ with them and teach them to do the same. But do it. As Yoda would say "There is do or do not. There is no try." Or Picard: "Engage."

FORD tough--Part 3 Picking it up

You ever have it where you're just so blasted tired. I am right now. Been a busy few weeks. I haven't been to the gym since Thursday. I've had WAY too much pizza (of course, can you ever have TOO much pizza?) and way too many sweets (and yes, you CAN have way too many sweets). For me, being healthy is a daily thing. It's a daily choice I have to make. Some days I'm better at it than others. Recently, I've been pretty bad at it (ate half a container of Pillsbury Cream Chocolate frosting..good yes, but went straight to my thighs). But it's a daily thing. Some days are better than others, but you have to move forward each time at it. Each day get up and move forward. Each day pick yourself up out of bed, lift up your body, and take those steps forward to be healthy. And it's so stinkin' hard!

On days like this, I so don't want to be FORD tough. On days like this, I so don't want to even think about being fixed or repaired daily. Just give me a root beer, a chili dog, and some football or even the Blackhawks and I'll be okay. Let me watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or even some cool Jackie Chan flick, (I'd even go for Bulletproof Monk right now) and just peal me off the couch at the end of the day. That'd be so great..right?

I mean, I try. I try hard. I do my best.

And then I think of these words:

There is do or do not, there is no try.

Thank. You. Yoda.Spiritually (and yes, this is Spiritual Musclehead) I think it's the same thing. No, I know it's the same thing. We need to be fixed and repaired daily. Part 1 and Part 2 looked at the reasons why. And it ain't pretty to say the least. But it's true.

Now, this is where you might disagree with me, and feel free to, but just listen anyway:

Jesus is the way to be repaired. Jesus says that if we want to be repaired daily, we need to follow him. What does this look like?

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." Mark 8:34-35

Duuuuuuuuuddde... that's some tough stuff.

So, do you really want to be repaired daily? It's a daily commitment to do this. There is do or do not, there is no try. Do you want to be repaired daily and made closer to God in the process?

What do you think it looks like to do this daily?

Growing up geek

I'm a total sci-fi geek. Sounds weird, I know. I like to lift weights. I like watching football (Da Bears) and I love headbanging to Beastie Boys. But I love me some Star Wars. I love watching Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, even Enterprise). When my wife and I first met, we bonded over our love for Sci-fi (She was writing a symphony based on a sci-fi concept). At our home, the DVR is almost always recording something for us from the Syfy channel. For my wife's birthday I bought her the complete series of Firefly. For our Christmas we bought the official release of the original pre-1997 DVD's of Star Wars. We have all 6 on DVD and the first three on VHS. We have almost all the TNG movies on DVD. My wife has the soundtracks for all the Star Wars movies. We love sci-fi.

And I'm realizing that it has come through in my parenting as well. I'm teaching my kids to see things through the eyes of a geek.

My kids both have their own lightsabers. And one of their favorite things to do is to have a lightsaber fight with Dad (and I have my own Mace Windu lightsaber, thank you very much). I've gotten into the habit of saying to my whining and impatient children "patience young padiwan." I've even tried the Jedi mind trick with my son to get him to eat his veggies. Still hasn't worked.

I've realized that my kids have picked up on this. They love watching Star Wars with me. My son has so far brought a lightsaber, R2-D2 and a Luke Skywalker action figure to school for show and tell. His folder for school is an old school Star Wars one. And the other day, my two year-old daughter tried the Jedi mind trick on my wife.

Daughter: Cookie please Mommy.

Wife: No honey, I'm not going to give you a cookie

Daughter: (*waving hand like Obi-Wan Kenobi*) cookie.

Wife: no

Daughter: (*waving hand like Obi-Wan Kenobi*) cookie.

Wife: Jedi mindtricks won't work on me

My daughter walked away pouting.

I'm waiting for the day when I have to explain to them that the Holy Spirit is NOT like the Force from Star Wars.

But I still tell them in the words of Yoda: There is do or do not, there is no try

And when my son tries to haggle with me for how many veggies he eats, I love telling him to eat more and when he complains I say "I've altered the deal, pray I don't alter it again."

Ahh...parenthood.

(Still not going to take tips from Obi-Wan Kenobi though)