Balance in the Force

The following is adapted from a talk I gave at Unity Lincoln (Nebraska) on August 7, 2022.

You might recognize the image above. It's the Yin and Yang symbol 

The Yin and Yang originated in China and literally means "dark-light" or "positive-negative." The yin is the dark/negative and the yang is the light/positive.

When I first encountered the symbol, I had a consciousness of duality. I thought "dark" meant sinister and evil. Negativity meant pessimistic thoughts or sorrowful emotions. The light meant love and goodness. 

In short, I thought the symbol meant that life is equal parts good and bad. And that there was some bad even in the good and some good even in the bad. in the words of the theme song of a 1980s tv series, "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life."

Well, as years went by I realized I was factually wrong about the meaning of the yin and yang. According to the (hopefully accurate) Wikipedia, the symbol "describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another

And as I've matured, I've come to agree with what Shakespeare put into the mouth of Hamlet: "There is no good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

I don't believe we must take the bad with the good in the "facts of life." I believe it's all good.

After all, there is nothing moral or immoral about positivity and negativity. They're just polarities. Is the North Pole "good" and the South Pole "bad?" Is a positive electrical charge "moral" and a negative charge "immoral?"

In total darkness, we can't see. And, we'd freeze to death. If there is nothing but light, we are blind. And we'd burn up. We live because there's always some of one with the other. Shades, shadows, and contrasts in the daytime, the moon and stars at night.  If you've appreciated the shade when you've been outside this summer, you love the darkness.

So today when I see the yin and yang,  I see Unity. I see oneness.

And in oneness, I see love. 

Love can't be completely defined, but I think the central aspect of it is oneness. To feel one with someone or some thing. When I lived in Chicago in the 1990s, I'd be walking downtown and there's somebody passing by wearing a Nebraska shirt. I'd feel that one-ness with them and say "Go Huskers!" and they'd smile and say "Go Huskers" back to you. 

Even if it was just for a fleeting moment, that exchange of smiles with a stranger knowing we have a common passion, that sense of oneness, was an expression of love. If it wasn't love, then what was it? 

And that brings us to something from the Bible I'd like to share. The general summary of the passage is something many of you have heard quite often: the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.

But here is the full passage, Mark 12:28-34:

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that [Jesus] answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered [and this is what is often skipped over] “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

We often forget that when we say that we shall love God with all our heart, mind, et cetera, that is the one and only God. There is nothing else to love because there is only God. As Psalm 82:6 says, we are children of God, so we are all together ONE. The divinity is in each one of us. So we love each other as ourselves.

In addition to unity, another thing I see in the yin and the yang is balance. And that reminds me of a movie. You might have heard of it or even seen it. Perhaps a few of you remember when it came out.

The movie is called Star Wars. 

It came out 45 years ago this summer. It actually debuted in May 1977, but I didn't see it until August of that year, right before entering the first grade.

By then, my 17-year-old sister had already seen it twice. My 41-year-old Dad, an evangelical Christian pastor, took five of us seven children to see it. He liked it so much that he later took my Mom to see it. The movie almost seemed catered to little boys like me, but people across generations fell in love with it for a variety of reasons. I think one reason was the fascination with the mystical idea in the movie called The Force. For a lot of people, the idea of The Force rang true.

As you probably know already, The Force is what you might call the sorcery, wizardry, or magical element in Star Wars, but it doesn't involve potions or spells. As Obi-Wan Kenobi says, The Force is "an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."

In the sequel The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda says, “[M]y ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force flow around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, yes, even between the land and the ship.” 

In the Star Wars galaxy, a person could say, "The Force is the one Presence and one Power active in my life and in the universe."

The movies depict a struggle between the dark side and the light side of The Force. A cabal trained in The Force that seeks power represents the dark side. They're called the Sith. The Jedi, on the other hand, is an order of knights trained in The Force representing the light side and are committed to peace and freedom for all.

But does this contradict what I just wrote, that light is good and darkness is also good? I don't think so. Something that Star Wars creator George Lucas said really put some things in perspective for me, not about the world of Star Wars, but of our world. He said it in a writers’ meeting when he was still involved with making Star Wars movies. 

Lucas said,

"The core of The Force, I mean you've got the dark side and the light side, one is selfish, one is selfless, and you want to keep them in balance."

In balance. Bringing balance to The Force is what these movies are about.

What I've taken from what George Lucas said is that it's all good. The "Dark Side" of the force, selfishness, is just as necessary as selflessness. After all, my own wants and needs are as important as anyone else's, and so are yours. 

The problem isn't the dark side itself, it's that there's too much of it, too much selfishness. The galaxy needs more selflessness and compassion to bring back balance in the Force.  

But it's still good to have that "dark side," of wanting good things in your life: health, happiness, prosperity, love. You want them for others, so why not for yourself?  But your life, and your life force, get out of balance when you don't care if you rip somebody off to get what you want. And it gets really out of balance if you want to dominate and possess others as if they exist only to serve you.

Of course, the light side is good as well. Selflessness is good. Compassion is good. Charity is good. Working for peace is good. But, as is depicted on occasion in the nine Star Wars movies, even the Jedi can be blinded by the light side they're working for, making mistakes when they think they know what's best for other people. Self-righteousness is a great temptation for the pure in heart. There is some truth in the old cliche that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

I know of people dedicated to charity or social reform who got burned out, living stress-filled lives and, although they helped a lot of individuals, didn't see the social change they wanted. They believed Jesus told them to do this. They didn't give of themselves, they sacrificed themselves. Their lives, too, were out of balance.

So where is this balance? Let's get back to that second commandment of Jesus: Love your neighbor as yourself. And some of us may need to hear it the other way around: Love yourself as you love your neighbor.

If I felt oneness with that stranger on a Chicago street just because they were wearing a Nebraska shirt, why can't I feel that oneness with anyone? Especially here in Nebraska, where almost everybody has a Nebraska shirt? Isn't it a more enjoyable life to see the good in others, to find that sense of oneness with them, whatever the commonality may be, no matter who they are?

One last realization in seeing the yin and yang is that the curved shapes create a sense of motion. It's not a straight line dividing a rectangle. It's a circle and I imagine it constantly rolling, and the shapes inside constantly moving, revolving.

And I realized that there is nothing in life but giving and receiving. We are always giving our time, attention, and effort one way or another. And we are always receiving the product of someone else's time, attention, and efforts. Do you listen to a free podcast while preparing a meal for your family? You are receiving and giving at the same time. All of life is like that. We are constantly a blessing to others and we are constantly blessed.

Selflessness doesn't mean sacrificing under obligation, it means giving with joy. And selfishness doesn't have to mean taking from others without their consent, it can mean receiving the desires of your heart with gratitude.

To bring balance in one's life is to love your neighbor as yourself, and so be sure to love yourself so that you can love your neighbor, remembering that we are one because God lives in and through us all.

Love is what brings balance to The Force.

And may the Force be with you!

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for your writing, editing, and research needs: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.

(Yin Yang Image: Public domain.)