Revolution Resolutions...

This is the last day of the year 2006 AD. On it, many people make what they see as promises to themselves to do better to do better in the new year. While a valiant idea, it is one so seldom held to. Many keep their resolution for two to three months, then forget them. It is too hard for the human, who lives day to day, to keep one promise for an entire year.

The Jedi are no different. In that, I have come up with an idea that I hope many will take into consideration, and possibly even act upon. I call them Revolution Resolutions. This is to make a large resolution at the beginning of the year, to have stopped doing something by the time that Revolution around the sun is completed. However, in that, there are daily resolutions, much smaller in scale, that build up to the larger one for the year.

With each revolution of the planet itself, we should each wake and take the new day for what it is, a NEW day. A day where we can change who and what we are, piece by piece. This is a way to push one's self towards their goal. For instance, many make the New Years Resolution to stop smoking, or work out more. Each day, they should make themselves a promise to follow the path to that main goal. Like, for smoking, a vice I hold personally, allot a certain number of cigarettes to each day, and gradually step down day after day, week after week, until you no longer need, nor want them. Find reasons why you should give them up: health risks; horrible taste; horrible, penetrating smell; monetary loss of the habit...

This is how all resolutions should work, but seldom do. Remember, as you take your steps to self-perfection, be they stopping smoking, stopping eating fried chicken, or simply training more; take these promises a day at a time, and do not put off until tomorrrow what you should have done yesterday, and can do today.

A Jedi's Heart...

The Jedi is a servant of the Force, and a champion of the people of the world. The heart of a Jedi must be open to the pain of the world, and of those around him. Many feel that, because of this, we cannot open our hearts to a specific person.

Falicy! The Jedi are strengthened by their love. They must learn to treasure the world, its people, and the Force... and to do that, one should always treasure another personally. Love is needed in the Jedi. Obsession is the cousin of treasure, though, so be wary one does not fall into that trap. Obsession breeds jealousy and greed.

So I say this to all, find your love... your compliment. Once you have found that person, never let her go. Hold her close to your heart, and form a bond unbreakable. Let two become one, do not fear... for the gain is more than could ever be put into words.

To my Star in the Darkness, to whom I owe my all.

Keeper of Peace, Wager of War...

"Jedi do not fight for peace; that is a slogan and is misleading as slogans naturally are. Jedi fight for civilization, as civilization creates peace." - Mace Windu, Star Wars©: Shatterpoint™

In the Jedi as they stand today, the idea of martial training is a seldom-followed one. The drive of a person who is meant to keep the peace to learn to wage combat is a perplexing one. For that reason, I have gone against my nature, and posted a great quote from one of the Star Wars novels. In this line, it shows that one must know the opposite of peace, ie war, in order to know how to maintain peace.

Peace is a fickle thing, and a highly-subjective idea. What is peace to one, may just be a lull in aggressions to another. True peace is a destructive and damning idea for all things. With total peace comes complacency, and stagnation.

The Jedi are taught to know that combat is a part of life. There are many these days to that do not see it as such, but the truth is rarely an easily-accepted thing once it has been forgotten. The Jedi are made of predominantly Knights for a reason. Knights fight to preserve peace, honor, and the ideals they hold within themselves. For that, a Jedi must know how to do combat, in the interests of keeping the peace. Peace is not something that will ever be a permanent thing, which is why there are those who can and will strive to undo it... and among those people, some will succeed. Chaos is easy to destroy, where as peace and balace are that which are the hardest things to maintain for any length of time.

So, young Jedi. Train hard, and train often, for the war you wage is the path to the peace you bring.

A Lack of Balance...

I am sure many of us have noticed a large amount of tolerance towards those who would call themselves Sith these days, and IMO that is a very good thing. But why exactly is it that we can do such a thing now that could not be done before? The answer is Balance.

I am aware that many Jedi do not like this symbol, as it shows a duality that does not exist in the Force. That much is true enough, but it also shows a duality that DOES exist in those who follow the Force. There is but one problem in that. We do not have this balance.

There are many who would call themselves "Jedi" who do not truly follow the path of the Light... and there are many who would call themselves "Sith" who do not truly follow the path of Darkness. There are many on both sides who would rather walk the terminator line, so as to be neither Light nor Dark, hoping to learn from both at once. This is a very bad thing, for both sides of the coin... and yes, when it comes to people, there IS a coin.

Let us examine the symbol above some, just in case there are some who do not completely see its depth. The white section, often called Yin, will represent the Light, and the black section, called Yang in this example, will represent the Darkness [I say "called" because in truth, the symbol is of variables... effectively X and Y, meaning any two things linked, be they pairs or opposites, can be seen in this example when one looks for them].

The Force is a creation of balance. What is there will be balanced, no matter how hard one might push it another way. To be Light, the Darkness must thrive. For the Darkness to be strong, the Light must also be strong. When one loses the strength of one, they lose the strength in the other... because balance will be maintained. The Path of the Light holds the seed for Darkness in its core. The Path of Darkness holds the doorway to the Light at its center. The two are forever linked, and to end one is to bring death to the other.

To my original question: why can we now, rather than before, accept the Darkness within our "doors"? The answer is because, within those who would use the Force, the Darkness is dying. The Dark Paths are filled, for the most part, with good people, and children who are just there to catch a taste of the power the Dark offers, but not commit to it. For that, the Darkness has lightened some. The Light has grown dimmer due to this. We have the ability to open our arms to those of the Dark Path because many of them do not understand the depth of the Darkness, and we as a group do not understand the brilliance of the Light.

It is no fault of anyone. The world is dark enough that people see how bad that can be. It does not touch the Force the same way a Dark Force user does, though. That is not to say it does not echo through the Force, but a echo is faint when compared to its origin sound. For this, those who step towards the Darkness will not allow themselves to trek deeper into it. As such, the "Dark Side" is shrinking. When the Dark Side shrinks, so does the Light Side, to use archaic terms.

We have doomed the Jedi to a fate unthinkable to us all by realizing there is no Dark Side in the Force. In that, the Darkness is shown to be in each person, and that gives people more power to resist it. Wasn't that our goal, though? Yes, it was. It just shows that the Jedi who set that goal, those past and present, did not truly understand the Force. The Force cannot be brought out of balance... but when we remove the Darkness from those who use it, we remove the access to the Light as well.

So, the problem is seen. We are killing all that which we knew. This is why the Jedi of the past, those who left the online world, could claim greater power than those who enter it now. I am not conceded enough to think I am a highly-powerful Force Master, but I can even feel my skills slowly growing weaker, no matter how often I train in them. So, how do we fix this?

We, as Jedi, simply cannot. The Jedi are children of the Force, and the bringers of the Light. We have succeeded, for the most part, in erasing the "Dark Side" from the Force, and in doing so have condemned us all to the same fate as those we undid. One would need to emerge as a strong point of Darkness, and strengthen those of the Dark path, for those who follow the Light to once more see the brilliance of it. That does not seem to be coming any time soon. Those who occupy the Dark Paths are lost in a flawed philosophy, allowing themselves to be controlled by their immature Dark natures. A close friend of mine said it quite well. They are as children playing with matches, who burn each match to see the flame, rather than harness the power of that match to build a bigger, stronger fire. No one remains in the Darkness who knows what the Darkness truly is. To that end, we cannot hope to regain the power that was once given us in the Force.

Yes, I know... if it is, it is because it is the Will of the Force. That is undeniably true, but I feel it is the Will that such happen so that we might learn this lesson.

I am not sure why I made this post, it is just something that has been weighing on my mind for some time. I know how to end it, but as a Jedi, I cannot... it would undo everything that I have worked so hard to become... that we have all worked so hard to become. Okay, I am done ranting. If you think I am nuts, I will understand. Thanks for listening, nonetheless.