Dear Lord God, I seek you today. I open my heart to you, God and father of all, on high on Your throne. I ask you to do with me as you will today, to use me, for I am willingly your servant. I am looking for you, God, trying to find you, searching for you. Trying to hear Your answers. Please rest heavily on me today, your hand across my shoulders, steering me with your wisdom, guiding me with your words. Whisper to me today, Oh Lord. Don't let me search in vain. You say you are like the northern light for those who search for you, that if I search, there you will be found. I pray you guide my study today. I pray you would turn me in the directions you want me to be turned.
Dear Lord God, I pray for [the gift of] your presence today. I'm seeking you and I pray that I would find you. I pray you guide my study today and turn me in directions according to your will. Renew my heart, Lord; refresh my heart and mind with the everlasting light and goodness and peace of your waters [spirit]. Conform me to your will. Help me to be a good person today, a servant and representative of you Lord. Along with your messiah and servant Jesus, I humbly ask this. Amen.
I finally moved on to Romans 13, after getting stuck on Romans 12 and reading it again and again...and again. You know what I'm talking about: you sit down at your computer intending to read the Bible, the last passage you read (Romans 12) is up so you decide to start with that to summarize and get your mind in the mood before moving on to the day's reading, and then someone interrupts you before you get to the end. This has been my life for the last several days.
So, on to Romans 13.
The summary: obey the governing authorities, because they are put in place by God.
I'm not sure what to think of this passage. This immediately brings to mind Divine Right, where kings used this passage and others to justify doing whatever they want (usually bad things). I think the message is quite clear from the rest of the Bible that you're supposed to follow your conscience over any rules, that you're supposed to stick to doing good, and not do evil, even if commanded to do it. In fact, this passage draws the distinction between good and evil also (see verses 3-5), with the idea that the rules that are not expressly evil are good.
So, this passage means we should follow rules, even rules we think are trivial or stupid, as long as they don't violate God.
One great example (and story I'm reminded of) is the story of Daniel. In it (see the Book of Daniel in the Bible), 4 Jewish youths are taken away to a foreign land (Babylon), to serve a foreign king (Nebuchadnezzar). The new land has lots of new laws, some of which contradict what they must do for God. How do they continue to worship God properly?
In this age, too many Christians seem to give the answer of "replace the government with one we like, and disrespect the one in power." Talk bad about the president and about how he's "ruining the country". Ignore or fight most laws, even laws that have nothing to do with them. However, this is not the example we see of Daniel and his friends (or of Joseph, another story of someone struggling to follow God in an environment of non-Godly (as in not following the Jewish God) ruler and laws.
In both cases, Daniel and Joseph, both humbly follow the laws of the land, unless it contradicts a direct decree of God. Instead of personally badmouthing or ignoring laws or rulers they don't like, by contrast, they are very quiet on the subject. When asked, they refuse to say anything bad, and in turn, they not only survive in a foreign culture that does not place their God at #1 (read: America, which is as it should be - in a land of freedom of religion, secular laws should not place the Jewish God at #1 even if I believe in him but instead should be focused on equality), they actually thrive. They both move up the governmental ranks until they reach pretty much the highest possible positions in their societies, second only to the king himself.
Now, some can argue it was only because God had a specific plan for His people in each case which required them to be in high positions, so that is why they survived and advanced. With only two examples, we'll never know for sure. However, the whole point of the Bible is not just to tell stories of how God interacted with His people in the past (which then makes it historically interesting but not relevant to our lives, a thing of the past only), but to be a living document, or relevant to us today. Usually this is taken to mean we should use the stories in the Bible as examples for us, a clear lesson to be learned.
If that is the case, then we should follow in Joseph and Daniel's example, and follow the rules set by our governments, with no complaining, as long as they do not violate one of God's directives. And when they do, we disobey them quietly, continuing to do as God commanded, but not stirring up trouble. After all, much of the New Testament condemns initiating strife, instead commending keeping peace.
Many Christian conservatives want to make the government of the U.S.A. a Christian government. This will never, and should never, happen. Mostly because when it comes down to it, churches can't even agree on the rules within themselves, which is why we have different denominations. So many Christians want the laws to be the Laws of the Bible/God, yet they can't agree on what they are (plus, this is an aside, but any time there are set laws, human tendency is to start to force people to rigidly follow them, such that the laws become important but the spirit behind the laws or the original intention is forgotten or even opposed! This is exactly what Jesus fought against - in His words, it's clear that the intention behind the law, and God, is much more important than the specifics of the law itself).
How do I apply this?
So, how does this fit in to Star Wars? How does this fit in to being a Jedi (or Jedi in training, even if I'm not one yet?) Theoretically, as a Jedi, I'm devoted to helping all people, to ensuring basic rights for people and protecting the innocent, regardless of if I agree with their views or not. A Jedi should also theoretically be humble, not bragging about their skills (see Romans 12: fits right in!), and I believe not stirring up strife. But how do you stay quiet if you disagree? Is it wrong to express your views? And if you express your views once and people ignore or brush them off, then what? I don't think staying silent is the answer, but I do think expressing your views in a polite way is required. But then if people ignore you again? At some point, continuing to express your views (even if polite) becomes a nuisance, or can stir up strife. What then? Some of the greatest changes were brought about through civil disobedience (politely but repeated efforts). I'm not sure how to reconcile the two.
In any case, I'm sure humility is key, along with politeness and respectfulness. You should try to see where the other party is coming from, but that doesn't mean you can't still have your own views. You should always express them politely.
I guess the answer is, even if you think something is ineffective and wasteful, don't oppose it unless it has the potential to hurt people down the line. And then, both as Jedi and as followers of God, we are supposed to stand for all our fellow men, especially the downtrodden and poor, so we must oppose it. Often, these directives will hurt someone down the line. Otherwise, even if we don't like it, we must calm ourselves and learn to accept it. In some sense, accepting things we don't like is part of entering adulthood. I guess that's what meditation is for.
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