In the movie Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, there is a scene where Anakin Skywalker is seen consulting Jedi Master Yoda, it was a matter concerning attachment.
I remember Yoda saying, “You must free yourself from all that you fear to lose. Attachment leads to jealousy, that is a shadow of greed.”
In a way, the life of a Jedi is similar to a priest. In fact, George Lucas based the Jedi character on the priesthood. They cannot be attached to anything or anyone.
I often ask myself, “Can I free myself from the things I fear to lose?”
In Psalm 32, the psalmist says this, “The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine”
I may have all kinds of material things. The question is, will it save my soul from death? If I were to lose all my money or perhaps my books, will I die?
By freeing myself, and ourselves from these worldly attachments, we can learn to put our hope in the Lord, for it is only through him that we can have eternal life
1 comment:
Congratulations on setting up your blog, and for sharing your ideas. Just some thoughts to add on to yours.
I believe attachments result from people's desire to make sense of life, and to exert control on their own. It also comes from the need to anchor.
For instance, if I believe that money will buy security, then I will anchor my activities on making money and protecting my money.
If I believe that a person makes me happy, I would expend my energy on that relationship.
When does a life priority become an attachment? In my opinion, something becomes an attachment when it becomes an obstacle to building loving human relationships or it distracts one from building a relationship with God.
But one could also be overly attached to not just material things or people, but practices or ideas, even if they are good in themselves. For instance, cleanliness, punctuality, healthy eating or regular exercise are wonderful habits but when these values become greater priorities than loving neighbours, or lead to intolerence, they destroy rather than build.
But coming back to what I said earlier, people need to anchor. It is just what they anchor on. When they become attached to things that ultimately cannot bring peace, they need our compassion more than our judgement. Just as we depend on God's compassion more than His judgement.
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