Star Wars and Faith?

Queen Amadala and Anakin ready to explore ...

Tonight, after I read my children's bedtime stories, my six year old told me that he was going to read me a book.  He went and fetched a Star Wars reader that he recently borrowed from our local library and, then, began to proudly puzzle out the words in it.

As I listened to my son read and witnessed the smile growing ever bigger on his face while he did, I could not help but to smile, too.  My son is still a budding reader and this moment was huge!

So, what does this milestone have to do with faith?

Everything!

As a parent, I have to have faith that my son will meet developmental, academic and spiritual milestones in good (God) time.  I also have to trust that any interest that becomes a passion in my children is one that can be used for good, and though not all good must be directly related to faith formation, at this stage in my child's life, much of it can be.

Well, Star Wars lights both my oldest son and his sister up.  They devour Star Wars readers; turn paper, boxes and recyclables into Star Wars play sets; draw page after page of Star Wars scenes; make up their own Star Wars adventures...Not a day passes in our home without Star Wars speak punctuating it.

To my great pleasure, that speak often points to faith precepts.  Replete with examples of good and evil, comparisons to our own world and analogies of grace, the Star Wars story (and my children's affinity for it!) has opened up countless opportunities to discuss, weigh in on, dramatize and think about universal faith themes at a level my kids can understand and within the scope of a topic they love.

The imaginary Star Wars galaxy has  become a catalyst in our home for exploring God's real galaxy and our place within it.  In fact, my children are so inspired that they asked me to design a class for our local Catholic homeschooling co-op tying Star Wars and faith together.

Praises be that there is truth that God does not call the equipped, but equips the called.  Although I played light sabers in the back yard as a child after seeing Star Wars with my siblings, I never got that into the galaxy far, far away.  Moreover, never in my life would I have imagined myself spending hours planning out a Catholic Star Wars course.  However, my children's passion has directed my own and I have enjoyed spending quiet time lately developing a plan to facilitate six hours of fun, faith and learning for young Star Wars fans.  May the Spirit guide me to do so well...  And, may I never question why my children love something they do, but rather how that something will be sued for good.

May the a Spirit-directed force be with us all!

What passions of your children's could become a springboard for faith chats or exploration?  Do you have favorite Star Wars resources?  Do share!

 
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