The Force is With You

I love it when my geekitude and spiritual study collide.

Last Sunday our message from Roger Teel was about empowered consciousness. I just about squeed out loud when he began to quote and draw comparisons from Empire Strikes Back. Luke can't wrap his mind around the possibility of using the force to move an entire craft from the bog. He has limited thinking which keeps him from achieving the power of that connection to the spiritual force.

[Using the Force, Yoda effortlessly frees the X-Wing from the bog]
Luke: I don't, I don't believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.

If you are open minded, you can see that The Force, Connection to Spirit, God's Power, The Source - whatever you want to CALL it; the BELIEF in those similar concepts are what gives it power. What you call something doesn't give it power. As Louise Hay says, "you don't get wet from saying the word 'water'."

I've seen a lot of reference to belief in various ways in our culture... (reminded of Firefly/Serenity quotes such as: Shepherd Book: "Why when I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God?" and "I don't care what you believe in, just believe in it.") All the affirmations in the world aren't going to do you any good if you don't believe what you're saying. The emotional connection to our beliefs is very powerful.

I found this article in which spiritual teachers like Wayne Dyer and Carlos Castenada refer to "the force."

Carlos Castenada said there's an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans called "intent" and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is connected to it. You can call it spirit or soul or consciousness or universal mind or source. It is the invisible force that intends everything into the universe. It's everywhere. This source is always creating, it is kind, it is loving, it is peaceful. It is non-judgmental, and it excludes no one.

[. . . .] Whenever we are in harmony with that source from which we all emanated, which everything came from, we have the powers of the source (Interview of Dyer by Lisa Schneider, "The Force of the Universe is With You").

For those Christians thinking this is all a little too new-agey; this is similar to saying that God lives in our hearts and if we believe and connect to that power and let that be the guiding force in our lives, that enlightened consciousness can take us to unlimited possibilities (Philippians 4:13 (King James Version) "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.")

Buddhists and other spiritualities use meditation as a way to let the mind quiet and feel that connection to the source/force/God (again whatever you want to CALL it). The enlightenment, peace and joy that comes from that quiet yet powerful connection is fantastic. Feeling good = feeling God.

So really, the force is with all of us. The question is, do we believe and will we quiet the ego's negative thoughts to shift to that empowered consciousness?

What are the Jedi but spiritual warriors? I'm not saying we'll all be able to move objects telekinetically... but imagine that positive power on your side and all you may achieve. We might actually accomplish the things we are passionate about instead of listening to our negative thoughts.

Also, I don't believe the Dark Side really has cookies. When did you see Darth Vader eat? ;-)