May the Force be With You

Written by Jimmy Butler on Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Jesus was a man who spoke often of light and darkness. In John 8:12 he says, “”I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus makes it sound so easy in this verse but I don’t think real life is that simple.

When I think about light and dark it reminds me of one of the great films of our age: Star Wars. The great Obi-Wan Kanobi says of the force, “it surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” The light side (God) is always around us yet there is also a constant voice in us that says, “come to the dark side” (Darth Vader).

The darkness is pressing in all around us, trying to come into our lives. Each of us sees it in different ways; pride, selfishness, greed, gluttony. Sometimes it is hard to tell where the light ends and the darkness starts, especially on a college campus. In my own life, I struggled to find friends my freshman year of college and this left me feeling isolated and lonely. The darkness for me was one of despair and loneliness. However, that year was still full of light. I enjoyed my classes and the newfound freedom in college. I had an amazing girlfriend who is now my fiancé. The light and darkness are never mutually exclusive, just as the light and dark side both exist in the jedi world.

Jesus calls us to move towards the light, towards him and away from our sin. This requires a sacrifice by us. We need to give up whatever it is that we are holding on to (for me it was the need to feel liked by my friends) and follow Jesus into the light. May the force be with you.

Question for Reflection & Suggestion for Prayer:
What are you holding on to that is keeping you from life with Jesus in the light?
Pray for God to lead you out of the dark and heal your pain

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Jimmy Butler
Jimmy is a senior at the University of Michigan studying Mechanical Engineering.  He currently serves as St. Mary’s Intern for Undergraduate Faith Formation.  Jimmy hopes to be a high school math teacher after spending several years as an engineer and after traveling the world.  
Email: jimbutlr@umich.edu