I AM a Jedi

I joined the order on May 3, 2012 and I can still remember sitting on my bed with a copy of the TOTJO Jedi Creed in my hand, reading it by the dim light of my desk lamp. Memorizing it. Etching into my heart. Making it mine. Though a lot has changed in nearly two years (gosh has it been that long?) much remains the same. I still have a love for this Creed. Here is why:

I AM a Jedi, an instrument of peace; our beloved Creed begins. Not I will be, I hope to be, soon enough I shall be, but I AM. It’s as if by some unknown power, when we walked into these halls, virtual though they may be, we transformed into Jedi. No we didn’t have all the training we needed, heck, when I first recited the Creed within a service I had two lessons from Campbell completed. This did not stop me from reciting it with as much fervor and conviction as I could muster.
What I also began to notice, after some days, was a change in me. I’d walk a little slower, listen a little more, act a little calmer. Why? I am a Jedi. I didn’t wait for some magic moment to occur where I could finally wear the title proudly. I wore the title and my body and mind conformed.

Where there is hatred, I shall bring love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

I have been asking myself and others how to practically live the Jedi Path, how to walk as a Jedi. A lot of the things I am learning seem very abstract in some cases and I am always trying to find ways to apply the truths to various situations, but as I look upon this section of the Creed I am reminded of something very important: that my ally is the Force. There may not be a step-by step way to bring love, pardon, faith, hope, light and/or joy to every situation, but as we trust the Force, it will guide us. We will learn what we must to be instruments of peace with patience and dedication. We are (after all) Jedi.

I shall never seek so much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

This part is probably the most difficult for me as a Jedi, if I am to be up front and honest about it, because it requires to put others before myself; their own feelings before my own. But the message is the same. I have only to remember that my ally is the Force. We shall learn to be instruments of peace by patience and dedication. The Force is with me Always, for I am a Jedi

I wrote this lesson for myself. To remind myself of what I AM and to remind myself of a simpler time when I was not looking for the RIGHT way to live the path. When I was doing what came most naturally to me and when the Creed first line was true. When I lived it without thinking. But this may help others as well. There has been a lot of talk about getting back to basics. Well, my “back to basics" lesson is this: remember each day to say “I am a Jedi”.