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This all becomes clear when, in that second great surprise in the saga, Yoda suddenly reveals himself as the Jedi master he is. Luke has allowed himself to be sheltered and fed by the impish creature because this troublesome little being, looking for all the world like an overgrown frog, has promised to take him to Yoda, the Jedi master. Luke has taken so little note of him that so far he hasn't even bothered to ask his name, even after Yoda has ministered to him, just as Obi-Wan did at the beginning of Star Wars. Luke is a slow learner, but the painful joke and lesson is on him when Yoda finally reveals himself, complaining aloud to Obi-Wan, whose spirit in turn answers. Upon hearing Obi-Wan's voice, Luke is for once dumbstruck as the camera cuts to Yoda: the small creature straightens up from his habitual stoop, and the camera takes in his resolute look of quiet, profound dignity. During this brief episode, Yoda's demeanor plays directly off Luke's—and the viewers'—glib presumptions about the nature of power. (The centrality of these character roles to the thematic core of the films justifies Lucas's extraordinary pains in keeping plot details absolutely secret until the film's release; much of his point would have been lost if audiences had known beforehand that the Jedi master was a frog.) The humble obscurity of Yoda speaks volumes about the nature of the Force that Luke must come to understand.

Luke's chagrin is just a foretaste of what is to follow. Yoda's lessons for knighthood consist, not of better sword play or karate, but of humility, patience, tolerance, calm, and trust, a group of traits starkly opposed to those Luke manifests and, to some extent, venerates. In effect, Luke must put on a new mind and see himself and the world as never before, or go further into a "larger world," as Obi-Wan Kenobi bade him in Star Wars. To succeed, Luke must put aside fear, anger, and aggression, which constitute, Yoda emphasizes, the sure path to the dark side and all the usual meanness of the world.

Always, Yoda tells him—and Lucas repeats insistently in the subsequent films—these sensations and attitudes precede the act, the actual doing of evil. To feel these, then, is already to have started down the path that leads to evil, darkness, and damnation. This ethical-spiritual matrix Yoda puts most succinctly in The Phantom Menace, where he tells ten-year-old Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father, that "fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering." Here Lucas simply echoes Jesus' repeated counsel for spiritual purity in all aspects of life, from sexuality to hostility.

Along with this counsel of love for all things, Yoda advises Luke to revere the spiritual and intrinsic goodness of all life, which is an extension of recognizing the reality of spirit and the Force as continuous interdependent realities. In his most eloquent speech in The Empire Strikes Back—and perhaps in the whole saga—Yoda insists that we are not "crude matter" but "luminous beings," and Luke must arrive at the place where he embraces this truth. In Lucas's fictional universe, spirit controls the very limits of physical reality, and those trusting the Force, either its dark or light side, control and direct matter as they wish. Spirit runs the world, not physical size and might, as the tiny Yoda shows when he, by the power of his soul, raises Luke's submerged star fighter from its mucky home in a bog. During his long and difficult training with Yoda, Luke begins to absorb these truths, though he still has a long way to go before he can overcome the concentrated evil of the Emperor and Darth Vader.

Continued: Part 3

Reprinted from Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies (Eerdmans). Used by permission. To purchase a copy of Catching Light, click here.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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Star Wars Spirituality: Part 1	Printer view
In his book,Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies, author Roy M. Anker writes about finding meaning and morality in the intergalactic saga. Part 1 of 4.

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Star Wars Spirituality: Part 3	Printer view
In his book, Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies, author Roy M. Anker writes about finding meaning and morality in the intergalactic saga. Part 3 of 4.

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Star Wars Spirituality: Part 4	Printer view
In his book, Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies, author Roy M. Anker writes about finding meaning and morality in the intergalactic saga. Part 4 of 4.