Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2022 Blog #32
August 15, 2022
Summer Cinema Scenes in 10 parts
Part 7 “The Rise of Skywalker”
“Don’t be afraid of who you are”
A few years ago, that latest Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker” debuted in theaters. It got only mixed reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and found it quite inspirational and has a valuable lesson for all of us.
This movie answers the question, “who is Rey?” Fans have been speculating about who Rey was since Star Wars first returned to the screen in 2015. Rey, much like Luke Skywalker before her, is a person gifted in the ways of the force but knows nothing of what the force even is. For two movies, we watched Rey get strong in the force and doing great things to protect the innocent from evil forces.
In this movie, Rey faces a crisis and puts herself into a self-imposed exile on a planet where in a prior movie Luke Skywalker had also exiled himself. Rey went into hiding because she feared who she was. The young woman had learned that she was the grand-daughter of the evil empire Palpatine. Rey fears that because of her lineage, she too will become an evil presence who uses her power for dark things. She fears who she is.
Master Luke Skywalker in force-ghost form meets her and assures her that he and Princess Leah both knew of Rey’s bloodline. Yet, they trained her in the Jedi arts despite her relation to the evil emperor. Master Luke assures her that Luke and Leah had seen Rey’s heart and spirit and that “some things are thicker than blood.”
Rey goes on to conquer the evil emperor and his empire. She proves that Master Luke is correct; if your relatives are evil it does not mean that you must be evil. One can make a new destiny apart from family lineage.
Do genetics matter? Of course. Family genetics can influence our personalities and how prone we are to certain illnesses and medical conditions. Yet, whether we live lives for evil or good is our decision to make. The lesson of this movie is simple: we need not be afraid of our family lineage, we make our own decisions on whether we will lead lives that bless or curse.
“Don’t be afraid of who you are.”
The Rise of Skywalker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eB_RfZJG78
Pastor Mark Author 