Who has seen the new Star War movie? [Allow a show of hands] Wasn’t it exciting . . . all the conflicts and tension? And that was just “getting my popcorn.” I saw the movie last weekend with some family members. I liked it. It already has broken all Box Office records.
It is a good movie, but more so, our country really needed a show like this. You see, we needed a movie that would bring us all together. When I went . . . there were little kids and millennials, teenagers and baby boomers. This movie, and this series of movies, has become one of those sacred elements that is a unifying force.
It had all the old characters from the original set of movies. It has traces of the original musical theme [Sing the Star Wars melody] and it has loads of new characters and new music, etc. We, as a country, really needed something to “bring us together.”
You see the past year has been rocky for us . . .
-the attacks at San Bernardino have some folks saying “we need more gun control” and
other folks saying, “we need to have more guns available to ordinary people.”
-we have political candidates wanting a wall around our country to keep undesirables
out,” while others are saying we need to have fewer restrictions on immigration.”
Just name an issue (e.g. global warming, health care, religious freedom), and we will have folks on both sides claiming to know what is right for us.
And the problem is that these “difference of opinion” occurs not just in the political arena, but also in our own families. Heck, I cannot think of too many extended families that totally agree on every issue. I would be hard-pressed to label any family today as being a “Holy Family.” That designation went to family of Jesus. But even in the gospel story of today, we hear that being holy does not mean NOT making any mistakes. Mary and Joseph did. I call that a lack of communication . . . which is probably THE biggest, reason why there are problems in families today.
So here’s the solution . . . try repeating what you do when you attend a movie at a theatre, and what the boy Jesus modeled for us in the gospel: LISTEN. Stop talking so much and try listening more. What I find is that most arguments about any issue usually result from a lack of respect and actually listening to what the person is saying. Instead, we “wait anxiously for a pause in the other person’s sentence” to jump with your outstanding view. Most often, our conversations are simply sharing ignorance without any real discourse AND most importantly . . . listening to the other person.
So try this, the next time that you are addressing a heated issue . . . just listen. Don’t try to defend yourself. Better yet, ask questions. There is no better way to flatter a person than to ask them an open-ended question. For example, “How did you come to that understanding? And then do as they tell us to do before a movie starts . . . don’t talk.
Obviously if that person asks you a question, then talk . . . not to argue but to answer their question.
Just like the second part of the title of the new Star Wars movie . . . a force awakens. For too long that force, which we call dignity and respect, has been missing from too many families.
Watching the Star Wars movie will probably continue to bring people together. People of various races and genders and ages. That is a goal of the Church also. It probably is a goal for all families as well . . . not be split apart, but to come together. Come together and listen.
[Pretend to leave] Oh and when you do listen to someone else, another good idea (just like at the movies) turn off your cell phones.