Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar: Days 12-13

The well has felt a little dry of late (hence the lateness of this post), so many thanks to Following the Star for some inspiration.

From Sunday's Gospel lection,

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, 'I am not the Messiah.' And they asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the prophet?' He answered, 'No.' Then they said to him, 'Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?' He said, 'I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,'"

And, here are yesterday and today's figures,

The ship on the left is a Rebel T-47 airspeeder (a.k.a. snowspeeder). The droid on the right is a R2-Q5. Hmmm. As I consider these figures, while they are super cool, I am immediately reminded of what they are not. An airspeeder is not a landspeeder. And a R2-Q5 is certainly not R2-D2 or even R4.

Humans suffer from many ailments, many of which are the products of our own ego and our own brokenness. This is especially true for folks like me who want for nothing. And because of our comfort, because of the illusion of our own control, and because of the unnecessary business of our lives, we can psychologically and spiritually morph into an idol. This idol is our belief that we are the center of the universe, we deserve the best, and we can accomplish anything. Now, I do not intend to poo poo human ingenuity, creativity, or drive. Because of these we have cures for disease, impactful community institutions, and great works of art, music, and literature. However, these noble qualities can be perverted into the aforementioned idol and at its worst it can replace God. We replace God with our own need for control and our ridiculous belief that we can do anything. Such a substitution is tempting - just ask John. And when those false needs and beliefs fail, our world can fall apart.

In this season of Advent, we are called to put aside our ego, put aside our need for control, and remember who is God and who is not. Such an admission is scary. As weird as it may seem, it is comforting to believe that one is God: if one is God, we'll always have what we need. So, when we confess that we are not God, our world can seem dark, cold, and lonely. This is where Christ comes in. God became incarnate in Jesus Christ to remind us, to express to us in the best way possible, that we are never alone, because God is with us. God became human so he could know us as best as God possibly can. And because of that reality, the admission that we our not God is not frightening, but a comfort and we can heave the stress and worry of this world on God and finally be at peace. Peace on Earth - has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Have a great day (evening). See you tomorrow. Blessed Advent.