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The central story in the Star Wars epic culminates in these sequences of redemption and reconciliation, completing and clarifying the thematic heart of Lucas's trilogy. As Luke finds reconciliation and intimacy with his godforsaken father, the ragtag assembly of characters ends up forming a new family of mutuality that looks a lot like what the New Testament envisions as the constituency of the family of God. From the very start, the high purpose of the Republic draws together a host of strange and unlikely prospects into one huge cooperative crew that moves increasingly toward interdependence and caring.

In the first episode, for example, Obi-Wan is a mentor and father to Luke Skywalker, the orphan from podunk, as they go off together to rescue the endangered Princess Leia and—unbeknownst to and undreamt by childish Luke—to rescue the Republic and, with that, the very fate of the galaxy. For transport, Obi-Wan and Luke hire Han Solo, a smuggler with a price on his head in the underworld. A prototypical prodigal scalawag, a hard-bitten and self-interested loner, as his name reflects, Solo reluctantly comes to a new vision of life beyond self-interest. His tough-guy prowess demands that he rescue Luke and others from tight scrapes; yet he is overwhelmed when the same is done for him, when, in The Return of the Jedi, Luke and his compatriots risk life and limb to retrieve him from Jabba the Hutt's pit of torture. The gang had earlier picked up a man of dubious morals, Lando Calrissian, buccaneer and black-marketer. So it goes, time after time.

Perhaps there is no greater surprise than the abundant help the group receives from the unlikeliest of all allies, the diminutive Ewoks, the ingenious teddy-bear race whose backwoods booby traps reduce the high-tech Empire troops to helplessness. The cute and furry little beasts, an unlikely source of any help, prove as game and vital in defeating the Empire as Han Solo and his machismo. Wookiees, droids, Ewoks, crooks, princesses, con men, orphans, and priests—all join up to smite the foul and unholy Empire. All this wild unexpected collaboration by natural antagonists is beautifully portrayed in the closing celebrations on Endor, where Ewoks and droids dance with humans and Wookiees. They have come to know one another as the compatriots they were made to be. More than that, brother now knows sister, and son now knows father. The sky explodes in gladness, as trust and harmony again pervade the world, making it a home for all.

The future of the Star Wars saga lies in its past. The original Star Wars, now officially entitled Episode IV: A New Hope, the first of the original trilogy to be filmed, showed how light comes out of darkness. The new trilogy—Episodes I-III—shows how darkness emerges from light, how people and societies come to lose harmony and hope; it is George Lucas's attempt to explain how the knighthood of Jedis was dislodged and the old Republic fell into the "dark times" under the tyranny of the Empire. But he does not in the least diminish those religious elements so prominent in the first trilogy. In Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Lucas makes more obvious and heavier still the mythic freight at the heart of his adventure. We begin at the apprenticeship of a younger Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ian McGregor), the old man who dies in the first Star Wars film. He becomes the mentor of the boy Anakin Skywalker, another obscure kid on the desert planet of Tatooine who is strong with spiritual potential, just as his son after him will be.

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Related Elsewhere:

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 2	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 2 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.