With the upcoming release of Season 2 of Disney’s Star Wars series Andor, Ben and I have been rewatching Season 1. We both enjoy this gritty story and the way the characters develop throughout the episodes. This time through, we have been commenting on some particular phrases that the Empire uses as it begins to take further control of the galaxy. The security folks (I’m not going to get super technical here), talk about “tightening their grip” and extending the reach of imperial control. Contract security is out, storm troopers are in. As we watched this unfold, we looked at each other and said Leia’s line from Episode 4: A New Hope, “the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” Here, in Andor, we were watching the beginnings of the tightening, which is the same moment that the rebellion is really starting to come together. The further the Empire stretches itself, the more cracks form for the rebels to slip in and out of.
The Empire’s purpose in all of this is control. They want things ordered they way they want them with no surprises, incidents, or creative thought. When watching Star Wars, I would think that most of us are inclined to side with the rebels. Stand up to the power, resist!
And yet, as I was reading through my most recent copy of Evangelization & Culture (Issue No. 22 on Courage), I found myself coming to realize that deep down, I’m much more like the Empire than I would want to admit.
At its most basic, primal level, the Empire (in my estimation) is operating from a place of fear. The fear of the unknown, of individual thought, of being replaced, of losing what it had gained. The fear of loss of control is a critical motivating force that causes the grip tightening seen in the Andor series. In his article “Spiritual Direction for the Fearful,” Fr. Billy Swan’s counsel reminded me of the Empire and how it’s actions are exactly what not to do in our own lives:
For us, the fear of losing our lives might not be active every waking hour, but the fear of losing something is always lurking – material things, power, honor, status, our mob, our health, our loved ones, our independence, our freedoms. How do we respond to this fear of loss? One option is to double down on our efforts to protect what we have, whether it be our freedoms, our assets, or even our very lives. Yet we know deep down, sooner or later, that we will have to let go of everything and surrender to the mystery of love that is infinitely greater than our fears.
What am I holding on to too tightly? Where am I seeking to be in control, instead of allowing God to direct my life? What am I afraid to lose?
Today is Good Friday, the day of the complete loss of control. Not in the sense of acting rashly or wildly, like a young child who cannot contain her emotions. No, today is the day where we see what perfect surrender looks like. It is the day where hands are stretched wide, holding nothing and at the same time, holding everything at once. Jesus hangs on the cross in what appears to be a complete loss of control. He was taken, beaten, stripped of everything he had, even his connection with the Father. In these moments, Jesus completely empties himself of everything he is. Where Adam and Eve grasped, tightening their grip on the forbidden fruit to gain something they did not need, Jesus releases his hold on everything, to gain everything we desperately require.
Nothing, not one thing. No one, not one person, slips through Jesus’ fingers.
We have a choice today. Will we join Christ, opening our own hands wide to accept all God has to offer us? Or will we side with the Empire, tightening our grip on the things we think we need, only to watch them slip away one day at a time, never realizing that all we had to do was let go. In a magnificent reversal, to find what we truly need, we have to be ready to lose everything.
Daily Graces 