For many of you reading this title, you may recall it has a familiar ring to it. Some of you will identify the source because the film that featured the lines has been seen by millions of people since it was first released in 1980.

The Empire Strikes Back was a second in the initial series of the Star Wars movies that have captured the attention of viewers of varying ages and multiple generations since it was first released. If you know it well, you recall the movie begins scrolling with these words, “It is a dark time…” and continues a few lines later talking about a brave group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker.

Luke is young and passionate, self-confident, and eager, but his mentor, Ben Kenobi (better known as Obi-Wan), reminds him there is much he does not know to be a great warrior. He tells Luke he must travel and train with the greatest of trainers, Yoda, to become a true Jedi knight to face the evil Darth Vader. Luke seems skeptical but flies off to the planet in search of Yoda.

When Luke arrives to search for Yoda, nothing is as he expects. The planet is creepy at best and the expectation of what such a legendary Jedi knight would look like is shaken when Luke first meets Yoda. (A great way to remind us all not to be shaken by appearance or believe that is all there is to a person, or to a Jedi knight.)

Once the training commences Luke is not always convinced Yoda is as gifted as he truly is, nor does he recognize the wisdom and necessity of the training needed to use the power of a Jedi knight for good and not darkness.

One of the training tasks Yoda implements with Luke is asking him to lift something using only his mind and thoughts. It requires a lack of distraction and a great deal of belief that he can accomplish the task. Luke has some success but gets distracted when his space craft sinks into the water where it had first landed. Luke believes the spacecraft is lost, but consider the dialogue and the admonishment of Yoda in the situation:

“Luke: Oh, no! We’ll never get it out now!

Yoda: So certain, are you? Always with you, what cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?

Luke: Master, moving stones around is one thing, but this is… totally different!

Yoda: No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

Luke: All right, I’ll give it a try.

Yoda: No! Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.

[Luke tries to use the Force to levitate his X-Wing out of the bog but fails in his attempt.]

Luke: I can’t. It’s too big.

Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.

Luke: You want the impossible. [sees Yoda use the Force to levitate the X-wing out of the bog and gets flustered when he does it] I don’t… I don’t believe it!

Yoda: That is why you fail.”

You may wonder what that has to do with the usual themes I write. Consider what I have put in italics in the dialogue above.

It contains principles for all who would believe and are called to be warriors for the cause of Christ. (Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit have power far beyond the mythical “Force” of the Star Wars epic series we enjoy.)

We also face an unseen dark force determined to erode any light emanating from the Godhead and shining through us. We (like Luke) can sometimes get ahead of ourselves and not recognize the power available to us is great but can only be wielded wisely as a result of training with a master warrior. Or we can be foolish and minimize the skill and tactics of the dark evil’s attempts to upend us and persuade is to leave the light and go “to the dark side.”

The more subtle weakness that can result in defeat is one less recognized by most of us. Yoda’s message is key: “Do or do not. There is no try.” You see Yoda knows the first step is to make a determined choice to do or not do what must be done. To say we will ‘try” does not show a determined belief and commitment to “do or do not” and that alone will result in a lack of success in battle, discipline, or life itself.

Fictional tales often show us a valuable lesson in life.

We too may see life around us not unlike the words scrolling at the beginning of the film – a dark time – and if we are to be light in the darkness and warriors for the good, our commitment must be sure and our belief unwavering.

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

Photo by Pam Ecrement

The stunning unfolding of fall beauty and final harvests that occur in the northern hemisphere during these months of autumn seem to cause us to look back and also look forward. Those who have planted and tended crops that are finally being harvested look back at their effort in what they sowed, tended, and cared for to bring the very harvest they are now taking into their barns and homes.

Growing up on a farm in Ohio, I recall this season for my dad involved harvesting of the cornfields or soybeans. The oats, wheat, hay, and straw had been completed months ago. For my mother, it was finishing all the things she would do with vegetables and fruit we had grown and were now ready for our use.

Usually I did not get to help much for these last tasks as I would be gone in school each day, but I still recall the delicious fragrances coming from the kitchen when I would arrive home. In this season, it would most often be that of Concord grapes that she would be making into grape juice or grape jelly. My mouth waters as I even write those words because I also knew she would be making grape pie filling for that most wondrous treat that I always have loved. Since my birthday fell during this time, I would also choose to have a grape pie instead of a birthday cake for my special day.

I no longer live on a farm, but I am very much aware that the farm still lives in me for all it taught me about growing and God’s provision.

As we savor this season with its beauty and special treats, it also causes us to take a peek forward into the months just ahead. The harvest is meant to sustain us through the season of late fall and winter where nothing grows. Those gifts provided by hard work and God’s blessing and provision also stir up thoughts of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays just ahead.

In the midst of this season, few of us will remember that another celebration is happening this very week. We might be thinking it does not pertain to us, but a careful reading of scripture shows it does.

I am talking about The Feast of Tabernacles known as Sukkot, celebrated recently by our Jewish brothers and sisters. It too was also a time of looking back and looking forward.

This seventh and last feast or festival of celebration was and is a celebration of God bringing Israel out of Egypt when they lived in fragile booths in the wilderness and ate from His bounty. So the gratitude of His protection and provision are dominant themes. It was a time meant to bring remembrance, but it is also one pointing forward to the future for those who are Christian or Gentile.

In Zechariah 14:16, the prophet speaks of the time ahead after the tribulation when the Lord has returned and declares that ALLnations and anyone who has survived will go to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast and worship the King. This passage shifts from the Tabernacle of long ago to His Tabernacle among the people and the day when we will all worship as one together.

This feast or festival so rich in meaning is also called the Feast or Festival of Lights to commemorate the pillar of fire that led Israel at night. Huge candelabra would be lit and the priests would wave torches. When Christ came to earth, He became our light and it is His light that will fill the Tabernacle in the passage Zechariah speaks about.

In the midst of the beauty and harvest of this autumn season and the shadows cast by events unfolding around the world, perhaps it would be very good to look forward to that day and to take heart and hope in the One who remains our protection and provision if we are His.

For then we will reign with Him even as John writes in the Book of Revelation 21: 3:

“… And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God…”

Revelation 21:3 (KJV)

Photo by Pam Ecrement

Photo by Pam Ecrement

I have no doubt that October comes everywhere and it is beautiful when it comes, but I am persuaded that when it comes in Vermont it simply explodes in full bloom splashing gold, orange, yellow, and red across the canvas of the Green Mountains. The gurgling streams serenade a response to the symphony cascading from the trees above as the sun shines down brightly from the cloudless azure skies.

During morning walks and hikes where the sunlight filters through the painted leaves, everything within me is drawn to praise the One who created all that surrounds me. Each season displays something unique and wondrous about Him, but in autumn it is such a glorious showy display. Over and over again Isaiah 55:12 resounds within me:

Photo by Pam Ecrement

Isaiah 55:12 New International Version (NIV)

You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

Photo by Pam Ecrement

People come from everywhere for this grand display in the midst of small towns and villages scattered across the mountains of Vermont. Some gaze from the vantage point of the interstate highways that give panoramic views of mountains that look like paint pots of color. The view goes on mile after mile while your eyes eagerly race ahead to take in the vista at each turn to take and the veritable feast of beauty unfolds before your eyes.

But to get a more intimate view, you need to leave the interstate and search out the two lane roads like Vermont routes 100 and 108 that meander through the scene between walls of color made brighter by the sunlight filtering through them.

That will let you see the red barns tucked here and there in fields carved out of small lush valleys. It will let you catch sight of the beautiful tall white spires of churches dotting the landscape and it will also invite you to taste the season. As cider mills, maple syrup farms, and the wonderful Cabot white cheddar cheese stores offer their harvest for sample and sale along the country roads, you will not be able to resist a cup of hot apple cider along with a warm apple cider doughnut.

You’ll be reminded that maple syrup comes from these stunning sugar maple trees awash in their bright red leaves rather than from the bottle you pick up at your local grocery. Those who harvest the sap and boil it to create the syrup will acquaint you with the grades, colors, and uses of the sap made into such a delicious syrup. Each grade and type has a special purpose and no matter whether it is the first and best light colored liquid that goes for the highest price or the darkest amber of the last liquid drawn off and used for cooking, it is all good.

Walking along these colorful paths in Vermont will most of all take you back to the Creator because His creation declares His glory at every turn. Your heart and spirit are quieted in His presence as your feet walk along streams, follow footpaths down wooded trails, and climb the pathways to waterfalls.

Your heart is also awakened to praise that He too uses every thing, every season for His glory and our good.

No matter how dark the moment may seem, He is present in it with us and His light will lead us home.

Photo by Pam Ecrement

Century upon century mankind has made one discovery after another, invented new things, created new designs, and developed new ways to live with one another. Each century added to the previous one before it and we called each new discovery, thing, design, or way to live an “advancement.”

And here in the 21^st century we can see the ways such advancements have changed how we live.

Now we walk for exercise or pleasure versus the only mode of going from one place to another. Now we communicate through a wide array of devices from one place in the world to another in the blink of an eye. Now we can enjoy a diverse smorgasbord of foods from other places in our country or world no matter what our growing season thanks to transportation and refrigeration development.

We have established a way to govern. Whatever country we are in, there is some established order of governance with laws and some variety of courts to adjudicate and interpret thousands of laws. In the United States the federal level of laws alone falls into five sources: constitutional law, statutory law, treaties, administrative regulations, and the common law which includes case law. And that doesn’t begin to show how  many specific laws are in each category or how many state, city, county, or township laws are on the books.

Over time the number and specificity of laws have increased in order to seemingly be clear on what is being regulated and what consequences are appropriate. We hope that works well for both the innocent and the guilty and yet juries and judges often struggle to ascertain despite all this information what decision needs to be made.

In our increasingly complex life and laws, have we made things too complicated?

Despite our belief that newer is better, are we missing something that ancient laws had inherently?

Reading a commentary related to Exodus 20 and the nature of biblical law, I learned that ancient laws were of a “paradigmatic nature.” That means they described models of behavior and models of what was prohibited and or punished according to the behavior without a detailed exhaustive description of what was included. As a result, ancient laws were more guiding principles than a complete description of what was governed.

The law described in Exodus that we know as the Ten Commandments (actually Ten Words) was paradigmatic. To explain what that looks like, consider Exodus 21:18 that talks about the penalty for hitting someone with a fist or stone. The Israelites or other ancient cultures understood the principle and that if the same person was kicked or hit by a board versus a fist or stone, a penalty was still called for.

The commentary by Douglas K. Stuart goes on to say:

“Such arguments would have insulted the intelligence of all concerned and make no impact on those rendering judgments.”

Today it wouldn’t be uncommon to try to use the more specific statues or the law as a way to avoid punishment for a similar behavior. I can almost hear the defendant’s beginning assertion, “But I didn’t…”

This way of looking at the law helps clarify what Jesus is communicating to us in his teaching in the New Testament when He says two laws sum up all the rest in Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV):

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

He is speaking in a language they understood by stating the two key paradigms to govern life. If a person loves God then it determines everything about how they behaved and lived, choices they made in every area of  their life.

That being said, if he or she loves his or her neighbor as stated, the behaviors, attitudes, and choices will reflect that. All other laws try to detail every possible scenario related to these two perfect primary principles. As a result, some can be missed, and new laws are created. One recent example is how laws are now developing regarding vaping because the laws about tobacco use in the United States said nothing about vaping since it hadn’t been created when the laws were written.

Is our complicated legal structure something we should throw out?

Hardly.

But looking at the paradigmatic nature of ancient laws point to how and why we can use what Jesus taught about the two great commandments because they are so extraordinarily comprehensive in nature.

If I reflect on loving God and my neighbor as Jesus teaches in the passage I cited in Matthew and live those out, all other laws will be fulfilled.

One.

How easy it can be to see that number in a great many contexts and minimize it or give it too much credit. I wonder if sometimes that relates to what we project from within us.

If we tend to over-emphasize our importance, knowledge, or skill, we may consider “one” to be much bigger than it is. If we tend to feel we have little that is of value or importance, lack skills or knowledge, we may determine we have little to offer. In the latter case we will often remain silent. In the former case we will jump in without considering if that is what we are called to do.

“One” may not be something we want to explore too deeply because it requires self-evaluation and irrespective of whatever group or groups we are in, it results in accountability. Avoidance of it misses a great deal that is important for each of us to be reminded of, I think.

You see, “one” always equals a difference. That difference can be positive or negative, now or later, but it will always mean a difference. That suggests that something will be required of each one of us because for whatever we do or do not know, we each know some things. For those things, we cannot plead ignorance nor shift responsibility on to anyone else.

It might be tempting to bring up all of our connections or groups and how they influence us, and it is true they exert a level of influence or control on each one of us. But it is our choice about how we respond, and that response can make a great deal of difference to/for us as well as to/for others.

One angel chose to esteem himself higher than he was. The difference for him was to be thrown out of heaven and God’s presence. That choice and decision on his part meant that we have had him as an enemy that has shadowed us from the day we first were born.

One shepherd boy keeping watch over his father’s flock went to visit his brothers on the battlefield with some extra food for their nourishment. When he arrived, he discovered the army his brothers were a part of were stymied by a giant who was taunting them. This giant was far bigger and stronger than the men of the army and they trembled when they heard his voice.

The boy knew that the army of his brothers was on God’s side and he could not believe they were shrinking back from dealing with the giant. He took his sling and a smooth stone and took down the giant in a single attempt. The difference for the boy is that he gained favor from the king of his country. Because he had a heart like God’s, he was later anointed king to replace the king who had favored him. Despite his mistakes, God made a promise to him to honor him forever. That difference resulted in Jesus coming to earth and fulfilling the promise for a perfect king while also taking the consequences for all of us who chose Him as our forever king.

Most of you know those stories well as they speak of Lucifer (the angel) and David (the shepherd boy).

But that story of the difference of one has replayed over and over countless times throughout history.

One British politician observed the dark evils of slavery in the British empire and chose to lobby for the abolition of the slave trade for 18 long years. Time and again he introduced anti-slavery motions into the British parliament. He retired from politics without seeing passage of his motions and then shortly before his death eight years later the act to free the slaves in the British empire passed through the House of Commons. What a difference his choice to persevere made in the lives of uncounted numbers of lives and what an example William Wilberforce left for us all.

Books have been so much a part of many of our lives that it is hard to envision a world without them. Some of us still prefer them to reading on any one of our new electronic devices. Even so there was a great length of time when news of the day and history was passed along orally. Later when an alphabet was devised, a very few began to write on parchments to communicate and record history.

Chinese monks developed block printing as a step to bring books into form, but one German goldsmith in the 15^th century (Johannes Gutenberg) invented the printing press enabling the mass production of books and a rapid dissemination of knowledge throughout Europe. That one man, that one invention, made a great difference in the lives of anyone who learned to read. If you are reading this in any format, it made a difference in your life as well since you likely first learned to read with a commercially created book.

A fisherman left his nets one day and followed one who was called a teacher whose name was Jesus. He developed a great passion for his teaching and vowed loyalty, but when crunch time came, and Jesus was being tried this fisherman denied him. His mistake left him in shame until one day on the beach Jesus fed him breakfast and Peter was restored and transformed.

This same “one” after the shaking on Pentecost preached mightily despite growing persecution and laid a foundation for the early church. The difference flowed down to the present day for any and all who will believe his message. The difference for Peter was that it cost him his life at the hands of the Roman empire.

When one babe was born in Bethlehem prophecies of old were fulfilled and his teaching boggled the minds of all who heard Him. When He offered himself in sacrifice for all who would believe in Him, it became the greatest gift. His choice made a difference that has affected every person ever born since that day whether they have chosen Him or not.

What about you?

You are “one” person unlike any other born and living in this time.

What difference will you make?