So most nerdy people like myself know that there is another Star Wars film coming down the pipeline, and will be released this December. The film is in the very capable hands of J.J. Abrams, so I am fairly confident that it won't be anything like Star Wars Episodes 1-3, some of the worst movies of all time.
Anyway, I'm glad they're making more Star Wars films
1) as a fan of the franchise, particularly episodes 4-6 (the originals)
but also
2) because it is a solid reminder that, on this side of Heaven, evil is here to stay.
Episode 6 (The Return of the Jedi) ends with the triumphant defeat of the evil empire and the rebels dancing around a bon fire.
Not because of The Return of the Jedi, but because of stories and narratives in general, a lot of people seem to think that, if WE work hard enough WE can defeat evil for good, here on Earth.
If this government or that king is overthrown, if we win THIS war, evil will go away for ever.
Evil will go away for ever ONLY when Jesus Christ returns and sets everything right
Until then, good and evil will rise and fall, sometimes good getting the upper hand for a time, but probably more often than not, in most places throughout the world and throughout history, evil flourishes too.
Tolkien noticed this tendency to think of history as winable, evil defeatable BY US, which is why he attempted to correct the narrative by noting
"Actually I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’— though it contains (and in legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory”
Here's to another Star Wars film. I hope they make 47 more!
"To which of these two civilizations is temporal victory promised? I answer this question with no hesitation, with no heaviness of heart, that temporal victory will go inevitably to the philosophic [modernist] civilization. Has man desired to be free? He will be. Does he abhor bonds? They will fall to pieces at his feet. There was a day when, in order to experience liberty, man decided to kill God. Did he not do it? Did he not place Him on a cross between two thieves? Did the angels, perchance, come down from heaven to defend the Just One suffering agony on earth? Well, why would they descend now, when it is not a matter of the crucifixion of God, but of the crucifixion of man by man?…As for myself, I hold it proven and evident that evil will always triumph over good here below, and the triumph over evil is something reserved for God, if it can be said, personally…
ReplyDelete"It should not be said that if defeat is certain, the struggle is useless. In the first place, the struggle might delay the catastrophe; in the second place, the struggle is a duty, and not simply for those who consider themselves Catholics. We should give thanks to God for having granted us the struggle, and not ask, in addition to the grace of combat, the grace of triumph, for in His infinite goodness He reserves for those who fight well in His cause a reward greater than victory."
-- Juan Donoso Cortes, letter to the Count de Montalembert, June 4, 1849