Under Empire: Star Wars Rebels, Bonhoeffer and Exile

When I was very young I went to Army base daycare after school.  About once a week they would show us current movie clips.  This was a long time ago so these clips were actual film, on a reel to reel machine that made noises while it played. 

When I was older I realized there was a battle theme to all the scenes; they must have been sent to be shown to servicemen and women, and then were passed down to the daycare.  The scenes I recall were the race scene from 'The Love Bug', the duel scene from 'The Sword and the Stone', and the battle scene where the Millennium Falcon escapes the Death Star in the original 'Star Wars: A New Hope'.  This is to say that my Star Wars universe saturation began at its earliest possible point.

One night last year I was looking for something new but easy, comforting but fresh.  So I chose to check out the new animated series, Star Wars Rebels.  The music is familiar, the ships and uniforms of the Empire are recognizable, a style much closer to the original trilogy than the more recent experiment.  This is aimed at young people; but it doesn't take more than the first 20 minutes to discover that the driving question it seeks to answer is why is there a Rebellion at all.  What is so dreadfully wrong about the functioning of Empire and what are people of conscience to do about it? 

I do not know if the faith based social justice allusions are intentional, but they are impossible to miss.  With names like Zeb, Ezra and Kanan (said like the biblical region), or Sabine (frequent name for early Christian saints) and dialogue that could be copied from Scripture, I do have to wonder. Maybe the force is with us. 

So the Sunday morning youth formation class is going to dive in.  We are going to leap into the series and into the Biblical Exile, and into the life and witness of 20th century martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  It will be fun and faithful, serious and silly, and hopefully challenging.  Even if you could care less about that galaxy far, far away, if you care about this one, then make a point to gather for UNDER EMPIRE on Sunday mornings at 915, starting September 13.

While certainly the 'youth' class, we will be issuing false 'youth' credentials to interested adults.  As much as I understand the desire for age based groupings, we learn and grow in the faith better through the sharing of multiple generations.  Our youngest friends need the witness and relationship of more than just the youth leader.  So, those of you who feel the force, contact the Rebel leader for your credentials. 

Under Empire will meet most Sunday mornings this fall, downstairs at 915am.  

• We need donations of frozen or refrigerated breakfast treats (like toaster strudels and cinnamon rolls) to fill cold morning tummies.  
• We can also benefit from the gift of various Star Wars paraphernalia, like posters and pencils and action figures and especially more Lego minifigures.
• We could use some better quality art materials like fancy drawing pencils and paper.
• Lastly, Keurig Hot Chocolates and Teas and Ciders never go wasted.  Our young friends don't usually choose the coffees.