The following Lecture is courtesy of Spark Vallen. It ties into many Jedi themes...understanding, patience, strong decision making,the Jedi Code, and how to deal with the adversity that we face because of our moral code that we, as Light Side Jedi, adhere to. etc. Thus, the Lecture begins:
As Jedi, we find ourselves in a unique position. We obey a certain code of contact—the Jedi Code—and we exist within a framework of everyday life. Within each of our society’s, there are another numbers of laws, rules and codes of ethics that we must follow. How do we, as Jedi, learn to combine these standards peacefully? Being a Jedi and following the Code is not easy, partly because of this.
We find ourselves caught where acting as a Jedi brings us scorn. Where doing the right thing is not popular. Where we don’t fit in because we believe differently our friends and relatives. Sound familiar? I’m sure it does.
I arrived at my decision to write this lecture based on something that happened at work. As an organization that deals with the public, we have a holiday program that starts the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving. My job in this program is to work with two other people and develop crafts and activities for the program. Once those are in place, we are supervisors on the floor, coordinating all the holiday action. The problem we’d been faced with stemmed from management higher than us. Our work was done; we awaited approval or rejection for our work. We needed to order our supplies but those in the upper level were dragging their feet. One of my partners in this project has been getting very hypersensitive because of the delay. She hounds the other lady and me all the time, calling us at work and bugging us about the program all the time. Finally, she snapped at me yesterday. She said, “I don’t think you are serious enough about this program. You don’t seem very concerned that…blah blah blah.” She went on and on about the fact that I was not in a panic and that was wrong.
My Jedi training and belief in the code says, “There is no emotion, there is peace.” I am firmly rooted in this; that is why the stress is not affecting me with this program. I can be at peace because I know that the program will still take place in some fashion. I looked at my co-worker and said, “Look, I’m at peace with the world. There is no point in getting stressed out over this. In our position, there is nothing we can do. We have done our job; it is time for management to do theirs.” She began to protest again and I repeated this, adding, “If the program goes up in poor shape or barely at all, it is not our fault. We have handled what we can and have done our best. Now we must be patient and wait.” Well, this of course drove her crazy. She was even more emphatic that I wasn’t serious enough in my role for this program.
Now, how do Jedi learn to solve these conflicts or at least ease the tension?
Living the Jedi Code is not easy because it conflicts with regular beliefs at times (like in my example). Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” speaks of many of the philosophies that fit into the Jedi way. “Trust thyself,” it says, “every heart vibrates to that iron string.” Translation: trust your feelings as Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Luke. Emerson’s essay says “…it demands something godlike in him who casts off the common motives of humanity and has ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine… to himself.” Again, trust your feelings. Be your own person. Finally, a passage that especially fits a Jedi in this conflict: “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think. This rule, this equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better that you know it. It is easy to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” In other words, it is easy to act like a Jedi in all ways when you are alone. The key to being a Jedi is acting and following the Code all the time.
In practical terms, I’ve devised a 3-step suggestion for easing that conflict:
1. Stick with what you believe. Live by example. We hold a strict code that partially controls us to an extent. As a previous lecture topic by JediKnight G had stated though, the Code is not so inhibiting once you accept it and live with it. Your friends, seeing your commitment to your beliefs may come to accept you. In some rarer cases, your friends will adopt your belief system. Jedi tend to be looked-up to!
2. Teach others what you are all about. I know there is some scorn when we recite “May the Force be With You” or other Jedi-like sayings as Aaron Kraal wrote on October 29, 1999. If you can adapt your knowledge out of Force and Jedi-related terminology and explain your beliefs in layman’s terms, you are not only able to express your belief system and code of ethics, you are showing more mastery of the Force. Teaching someone shows your own knowledge.
3. Encourage education and understanding. This partially relates to #2. As we’ve seen through posts here on the boards, belief in the Force ties into religion and other spiritual beliefs. Encourage your critics to learn from that standpoint.
4. Again, and I can’t say this enough, you are your own person. Being a Jedi is not easy. Everything happens for a reason. Though this sounds cold, a friend who cannot accept you for whoever you are, is not really a friend, are they?