On Monday we begin to explore our nature as Jedi Knights in God’s world, by making Jedi utility belts. Think Batman utility belt here! Luke and Leah escape the Storm Troopers on the Death Star base station swinging to freedom, because Luke had a utility belt. Paul, in Eph. 4.16, reminds us to “put on the belt of truth.” As Knights of God’s love, we too will seek truth in a world full of pain and injustice. John 8.32 proclaims that the truth will set us free. This is the truth Knights of God’s love follow; not an arduous and dreary task, but one full of joy and love. Seeing the relief and joy in the face of our sisters and brothers when they are treated with equality and justice brings overwhelming joy!

Our second project on Monday is a compass we can wear on our utility belt. A compass, of course, points the way for an explorer in the world. While I admit, our utility belt compass will not be very effective in navigating around the world, it is a great reminder to let God’s love be our compass pointing us in the direction of peace and justice. They remind us that as Knights of God’s love, we are called to make no peace with injustice. They remind us to always attempt to take the road that leads to doing the right thing: like not participating when our friends make fun of another, or even asking them to stop!

Our final craft project on Monday was decorating our Jedi poncho. Luke wears his poncho on Tatooine in only a couple of scenes, and Qui-Gon Jinn is seen wearing one of these Jedi garments in many scenes. Paul, in the book of Romans 13.12, exhorts us to “Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Here our armor is not of steel to ready us for fighting and bashing, but “light” as we seek to share the light of God in the world. It is a reminder that we do not fight with weapons of war. Our “weapons” are kindness, peace, and justice for all, as we change the world by sharing the light of God!

Today our Padawan learners made a Yoda staff. Our staff reminds us that we need each other for support and help. We need to listen to the prophetic voices in our lives so we might make good decisions for God, promoting God’s justice and love. Although Yoda used his staff, clearly he was not a frail and tipsy creature as was revealed in the first three Star Wars films. Likewise, we are strong and capable of proclaiming the Love of God. Yet our staff reminds us we also need each other for help and support!

Our second craft project we call “Star Boxes.” These simple star shaped boxes can hold small slips of paper to remind us what we are currently praying for. In the book of Acts (1.14) we learn that the early Church, called The Way, was constantly devoting itself to prayer. It is through prayer that we can seek God’s grace in any situation. For example if we are being picked on or bullied at school or in our neighborhood. Prayer is the way of God’s Knights, not resorting to violence which can lead to more violence. We can ask God to help us discover ways to resolve these issues and seek out the prophetic voices in our lives to help us find a way out of these difficulties without resorting to fighting. When we open our eyes to God’s Yodas in the world, we discover help is right within our grasp.

Our last project today is a reminder that some parts of God’s creation are warm and inviting like the planet Endor of the Ewok. Even in the darkest hours of life, God is with us to comfort us and remind us there are faithful Ewoks everywhere—cuddly arms of God ready to reach out in love. Thus as God’s Knights of love, we are called to be Ewoks in God’s creation: faithful, lovable, taking each other by the hand and walking together to meet the world and whatever comes our way. Our campers decorated their very cuddly Ewoks to be a reminder that God’s love can be expressed just like these lovable bear-like creatures do.

The first project we took on today in Tent Time (the very beginning of the morning with our Tent Counselors) was to decorate our craft box. You may have been wondering where all these cool crafts are? We keep all the crafts safe, so that glue, paint, glitter, etc. can dry, and pack them up in a box for campers to take home on Friday. If for some reason your camper(s) will not be here on Friday, please speak with one of your camper’s tent counselors. They will ensure that we get your box to your camper on her/his last day with us.

Our Padawan learners today decorated an AT-AT walker. Every year it seems we come up with one craft project, usually of wood, that takes an enormous amount of time to create. In this case, we had to fabricate over 2100 parts to create enough walkers for our campers—love in action!

The AT-AT Walkers are introduced in the 5th movie in the series as a weapon of war. They are essentially a walking armored tank. When I finished the first prototype and showed it to my wife, her reaction was: “He’s so cute! I want one.” It is this sentiment we hope our Walkers communicate to our campers. Rather than weapons of war, they remind us that God walks with us in times of great joy and in times of great sorrow and distress. God is ALWAYS walking with us!

Our second project today we call Droid Gloves. The Androids, or Droids, of the Star Wars universe are the companions and servants of all. Our Droid gloves remind us that we can express our Knighthood by sharing the love of God and serving those in need. We can do this by sharing a listening ear or a smile with someone who seems to be having a hard time. Mary in her famous hymn, the Magnificat, (Luke 1.38) reminds us that we are called to be servants of the Lord. God can do wondrous acts of love and justice when we remember to wear our “droid gloves” in every situation.

Our final project today is a Storm Trooper helmet! In the latest offering in the Star Wars saga we meet Finn—what a great and heroic addition to the characters of Star Wars. The Storm Troopers are molded by the leaders of the Dark Side into living robots, to do the will of the leaders without argument or consideration. But Finn sees a better way. He explains to Poe Dameron that Poe’s rescue is simply the “right thing to do.” Brilliant.

Our helmet reminds us that the writer of Ephesians tells us to wear our “helmet of salvation” (Eph. 6.17) into the world to care for those whom God sends our way. These helmets are signs that God and God’s love go with us as we serve the world. Reminders, like Finn’s to Poe, to do the right thing!

Vader’s mask made it possible for him to breathe. Few will ever forget the deep, rumbling sound of Vader exhaling. So too our masks are a reminder that without God, life on this earth is really not possible. God is the creator and sustainer of all through the Force (the Holy Spirit). And indeed, our masks are a reminder that God sustains us and calls us into a ministry of service to the world by the power of the Force.

Our Tent Time craft today was a finger rocket. We chose this simple rubber band launcher to remind us that sometimes we run away to avoid doing the right thing. These rockets are rubber-band-powered to remind us that it is we who are doing the running. God does not fling us away, we run from God. In turn God’s constant love calls out to repent (the Greek word “metanoia” which means to turn around, come back). We can run and God will be there, always ready to welcome us back!

Our first project today was a Star Wars mobile. It contains a planet, X-wing ship, Tie-fighter, an astronaut, and green space-alien. These are all reminders that God is the loving God of all creation. With God we can use God’s tools for justice for the good of all of God’s creation. The Dark Side wants us to use tools of injustice: hate, anger prejudice and isolation. But the Alliance uses tools that point us to the light—sharing God’s love, peace, and justice with all we meet.

Note: pictured here are the parts, see the picture below for assembled version. Three hangers like those from dry cleaners, an X-wing (mine never got decorated), a Tie-Fighter, painted beachball for our center planet, and a couple small plastic figures rounds it out.

And speaking of tools of light, our second craft today was decorating the sheath for that most important tool for a Jedi: the light saber! Again, our intention is not to promote war or fighting; but rather to share the light of God’s love, peace, and justice. A sword that sheds light is just what our Jedi Knights need to combat the darkness of injustice and oppression.

The gospels all report Jesus telling his disciples to put down their swords of war (Matthew 26.47, Mark 14.43, Luke 22.47, John 18.10). Likewise, we want to train our young Padawans to give up weapons of war. Our call is to share the Light of God (Luke 11.33); this is why we love the light saber! It helps us bring God’s light of love and understanding to conflicted situations. We draw our swords so all can see the light.

Our final project today is the ever-faithful R-2 unit to sit on our desk or dresser to remind us that, like R-2, God is ready and ever faithful. R-2 was always ready to be that faithful servant, ready to serve in any need. Out little R-2 is a reminder for us to be ready to be a faithful member of the Alliance, to share the gifts God has given us, and to be ready to stand up and do the right thing. Regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in, God is always there. Just like R-2, God supports us and loves us as we serve God’s creation.

During the Tent Time this morning, our Padawan learners decorated telescopes. They remind us that we need to keep looking forward, to see what wonderful things God is doing in the world and how we might be a part of them.

We also made Creature Puppets as a very good reminder that God has created all people and that in our baptism we have promised “to respect the dignity of every human being.” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 305) As Jedi, we are called to respect and care for all. This is particularly honorable (knightly) hard work when we encounter some who do not respect us—like the bullies at school or in the neighborhood. Our puppet creations today remind us that God loves everyone, especially the ones we think are unlovable. We need to do our best as Knights to meet rudeness with caring, compassion, and prayer.

Our final project today we call Star Bottles. These are bottles rimmed with glitter, containing a single LED tea-light. The light bounces around inside and reflects out the colors of the rainbow. This is a wonderful symbol of who we are and whose we are: created in the image of God and children of a loving God. Remember, God does not make junk!

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1.5) This is the true nature of the Jedi Knights: to be bearers of the light, the justice, peace, and love of God. Star Bottles simply remind us to share the light of God’s lovely reflection with all me meet.

Today in Tent Time we decorated Air Powered Rockets to remind us that we never know where God might call us to serve God’s people—even outer space! Unlike the finger rockets of Wednesday (where we want to run away from a situation); these rockets are a reminder that it is the Force that calls us and empowers us to do the right thing: to stand for justice, peace, and love.

The Hebrew and Greek words for the Holy Spirit (The Force) are ruach and pneuma respectively. These words are always feminine, as some words in Hebrew and Greek can be masculine, feminine or neutral. This is why you often hear Christians use the pronoun “she” when referring to the Holy Spirit.

It is the Force that propels us into our ministry of service and love. Our rockets remind us that our actions are the pump, but it is the breath of the launcher that makes our rockets fly!