Well,
we did it. Chris and I joined Kel and
his boys (Christina stayed home with a sick Noa) for an excursion to the
mall. No, not to go Christmas shopping
(which Chris and I did later on in the day).
This trip was actually to the movie theater connected to the mall. And the movie?
Star Wars. It’s been a long time
since we have been first in line to see such a popular, yea even iconic,
opening of a film. Actually the “official”
opening happened the night before. That’s
when the real geeks stood in line for hours waiting to be among the first. We were among the “family-oriented geeks,” I guess. You know, the ones with little kids who can no
longer stay up until midnight, but have no issues with showing up at 9:30 in
the morning to watch a movie with the youngsters who have been awake since
before 6 a.m. anyway.
All
three of the boys were really excited, but none more so than Josiah, the six-year-old. He was dressed to the hilt in his Darth Vader
Halloween costume (sans the mask, however).
His grinning little face protruding from that embodiment of evil costume
made him irresistibly cute. We asked him
to step back from us so we could take a pictures, and as he did, he put on his
absolutely most serious face ever and quietly whispered, “I will eat all your popcorn.” Frightening.
Finally the time came to open the big gate that separated the movie
studio from the rest of the mall. As it
began its slow ascent, Josiah stepped up to the front of the line and stood at
attention. Was that a bit of a glitch in
the mechanism? It certainly seemed to
slow ever so slightly. And just about
then, young Vader’s father encouraged him, “Use the Force, Josiah.” The young Jedi’s arm extended in front of
him. A determined look enveloped him
face. His hand spread wide and … the gate
resumed its smooth ascent. So did the
young Jedi get excited? Not this one,
for the Force is strong with him. He
calmly lowered his arm and strode confidently into the far reaches of the movie
theater galaxy, his mind on a place long, long ago and far away …
Now
here is where I might ordinarily engage in a one-sided review of the movie
itself. You know, tell my personal
reactions to the little plot twists that affect the overall scheme of the Star
Wars universe in general and the lives of the iconic characters in
particular. But I sort of promised not
to do that. Well, that’s not entirely
accurate. I was threatened that if I did
do any revealing, I would be taken on a camping trip where I would be beaten within
an inch of my life and then hung by that remaining thread of being over a slow
burning outdoor fire pit. They had me at
“camping trip.” No spoiler alert
warnings necessary here. I will say
there were some flying words. And plenty
of battle scenes. And Luke-cinda. And Obi wan Ke-Luke-i. Oh, and there were plenty of unanswered
questions. Just to keep the franchise
alive for the next movie release, of course.
Said enough? Too much? Just go see it already.
1
Peter 2:10 says, “Once you were not a
people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but
now you have received mercy.”
Father,
thank you for the wonder in the eyes of little ones as they anticipate entering
into the universe of make-believe. Amen.
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