For Star Wars Day, a little mashup of one aspect of Lutheran theology and Star Wars.

Luther recognized fairly early in the Reformation that everyone creates a canon within the canon—that within the books of the Bible, everyone finds books and passages that they value more than other books and passages. Everyone who reads the Bible does this. Laity do this. Clergy do this. Congregations do this. Denominations do this. It’s just a thing we do. Recognizing this reality helps overcome some challenges when talking about faith. Not recognizing this reality causes real problems.

The same is true of the canon of Star Wars. I remember an issue of Star Wars Tales where Yoda and Mace Windu are sitting in the booth of a greasy spoon discussing how the Chosen One will bring balance to the force. Mace uses the example of adding cream to coffee as it brings balance to the coffee, softening its harsher edges. Yoda takes two grains of salt and then spills out the rest of the salt shaker in a pile nearby. He then blows away all but two of those grains and calls that balance. This one little scene changed how I thought about Star Wars. That the characters would discuss philosophical differences like that, something never seen in the movies at that point, really opened my mind to how big the Star Wars universe could become.

Today, Star Wars is a multimedia empire of its own with enough variations in what counts as canon as there are Star Wars fans. So for us all:

Fan of the orig trig? awesome!
Apologist for the prequels? Great!
Love Ray and her story? Do that!
Zahn or nothing? That works, too!

Madno, Christmas Special, both or none?
Only books? Only comics?
Only movies? Only series?

Find what you enjoy and enjoy it,
Particularly on this special day.
But please remember the fun,
And don’t listen to the dark side.

Don’t insist your canon is the only one
That “true” Star Wars fans must have.
Don’t look down on what other’s don’t know.

Remember, the dark side will pull you away
And make you look down on what others say
Because their canon is different than yours.

Remember the lesson
taught through our fandom:
Don’t be a jerk.

Unless you like the dark side, in which case:
Stop being a jerk.
The canon is bigger than us all.

May the 4th be with you!