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Entry [7] In Ben’s Hovel.
Luke hears about the Force for the first time.
Ch’I, Christianity and myth.

From the entries for Episode IV: A New Hope

Ben – “…Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.”

Luke – “The Force?”

Ben – “Well, the Force is what gives the Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”
Episode IV: A New Hope

Is this real? The words seem to be a good description of the ch'i or ki in Zen philosophy. The idea is very beautiful; living things must have energy and must emanate it. We must be able to tap into it to some extent. There is more, though. This power that surrounds us and penetrates us has something to do with God, who is the Creator and sustainer of all life. It is the only way the Force can be as personally special as so many of us want it to be. However, there is no concept of a deity in this description, so how are they in any way similar? What they have in common is myth.

Mythology is concerned with archetypal spiritual truths represented in and by their fictional stories. If your religion is a myth only, then you are really set up. This is to say that if your religion finds its truth in mythology, and the truth of mythology is found in fictional universal truths, and these universal truths find their truth in your religion, then your world view can be very comfy because it answers itself. Of course, it is also a bit like a dog chasing its own tail.

Those who believe in the one true God who actually exists, and who did, in reality, create the world, and who sent his Son who actually died for us have another sort of problem. Since we claim the myth of our belief to be real, we can get stuck in the reality of God's realness. In always defending the realness of our faith, it is possible for us to neglect defending the myth of our faith. The fact that followers of Jesus are rooted in the actuality of God coming to earth, dying for our sins, and rising again is essential, even orthodox. Unfortunately, dwelling only on the realness can make for some seriously mirthless people, and this does not at all represent the joy or realness of myth. The core issue is that Christians tend to be afraid that metaphors outside of Christendom will spoil us, or lead us into apostasy. This is possible. However, not engaging in myth stories is to deny the universal truths that we all have in common.

So where exactly is the common ground between this Zen-sounding concept of the Force and a true God? A mystical energy that surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together is very interesting to me and it causes me to wonder if there is any reality to this. If God exists, then he undoubtedly created the world, and so this mystical energy resonates with the creation story in Genesis. In her book, The Mind of the Maker, Dorothy Sayers explains that in Genesis, when we read that God created us in his image, the only thing we know about God’s image thus far in Genesis is that he creates.5 So we are to understand that the image of God in us is that we are able to create. Although we cannot create out of nothing, as God does, Sayers explains that in every work of creation there is an earthly trinity that parallels the heavenly one. This metaphoric trinity is made up of Idea, Energy, and Power. Now this sounds very similar to Zen and the Force. Sayers shows us that the creative metaphor goes like this: Idea is Father, Energy is Son, and Power is Holy Spirit. If you were writing a book, she says, the Idea is the idea of your book. The Energy is the activity of writing and publishing the book—the process of making the book a material object. Power is the book as it is read and responded to, which is the communication of the Idea through the Energy (the physical book) to others as well as the writer. In Star Wars terms, then, the Force is not a literal metaphor for God, but for his image in the Jedi and in the Star Wars universe. The Idea of the Force is its mystical, unseen existence. The Energy is the use of it by the Jedi and the Sith—how the Force is used, and the way in which it is used. The Power of the Force is the effect its use and ideas have on individuals, groups, and the entire universe upon which it is used. The Force exists as an Idea (energy—little 'e'—that exists in and around all living things) whether or not it is harnessed, practiced, or has any influence on the universe. Yet, a Jedi only comes to know about the Force (Idea) through the teachings of another Jedi (Energy), and thus learns to experience the Force (Power) for himself. A Jedi understands that all three are the Force, they exist together and there cannot be one without the other. They are the same, yet each one is distinct.

But there had to be a Jedi to begin with, otherwise we are again chasing our tails in circular logic. Could there have been, deep in the history of Star Wars, a Jesus archetype that originally brought knowledge of the Force to the Jedi?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1)
A good way to relate to the real trinity of the Force is in St. Patrick's Breastplate prayer.

St. Patrick's Breastplate prayer

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me
Forever by the power of faith,
Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin, 
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

(Translated from the Gaelic by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, 1889.)

The Force—not the dark side, which I’ll get to later—is so much like the above beckoning of Christ’s presence in us. It is not just a neutral energy field that envelops everything like cosmic gravity or the glue of the universe. It is that, but there is more, much more. The Force is more than an impersonal power source. The Force is like God's Trinitarian creative image in us. And we witness the trinity of God's creative power in the world. The Idea of his creation is all around us, it emanates Energy from all living things because God made them, therefore shout his glory (Power) as part of their innate nature. Leaves and plants shimmer and shake with God's glory. We all exude energy, radio frequencies, heat, light. The nature poets teach us about the romance of nature. God is in this romance, wooing us, wowing us, enticing us to get into right alignment with him, dominating nature in a right way by using and serving it. He wants us to use the Force of his image in us and in his creation for his glory.

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