Context
- President Trump’s recent rhetoric on world trade has given the impression of a USA that increasingly seeks to walk a lone path, away from the rest of the world. Yet this week we see him reaching out to North Korea.
- The World Cup football tournament kicked off on Thursday (14 June), the first to be held in Russia. Is there a sense of irony that a high-profile team sport is being hosted by a nation that has recently had a reputation for not playing by the rules on the world sport scene, and not being a team player on the political one?
- Solo is the latest offering from the Star Wars saga – it takes a step backwards to look, from a new perspective, at the beginning of the story of the loveable scoundrel, Han Solo, and how he gets his last name.
Reflection
‘Stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf herder’ is not a description spoken about Donald Trump, or Saul of Tarsus, but of Han Solo, a pilot and smuggler who was introduced to our universe with those immortal words back in 1977, in the very first film to be released in the cinematic revelation that is Star Wars. To those not familiar with the Star Wars story, the running order of the films is somewhat erratic (although this shouldn’t be too confusing to anyone who can make sense of biblical canon!): it began with episode 4 in 1977, followed by episodes 5 and 6; then a while later episodes 1 to 3; and then, more recently, episodes 7 and 8 – with episode 9 still to come. To confuse matters further, the latest film, ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, is not one of these nine but a stand-alone story which fits in somewhere before episode 4. This new story takes us into the past to give a new perspective on the formation of the character of Han Solo, a scoundrel who grows up through the criminal underworld on a not very interesting ship-building planet, before training as a pilot and escaping into space. His mentor warns him, ‘Assume everyone will betray you and you won’t be disappointed’. Like St Paul, Han has many near-death experiences along the way. And, like Paul, he has an annoyingly confident swagger – and yet, despite his best efforts to embrace the life of a smuggler, it would seem that underneath it all he has a heart for good. Sometimes when you are looking for a hero, you also need to find new perspective in your searching.
Celia Malmstrom, the EU trade commissioner, recently accused President Trump of ‘playing a dangerous game’, as the US government fired the opening shots in a potential transatlantic trade war with some of its closest allies (Europe, Canada and Mexico). To many this may seem like the actions of a double-crossing pirate, but in the midst of all this sabre-rattling President Trump seems to be reaching out a hand in peace to Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s Supreme Leader. This is the first time a serving US president has met a North Korean leader, an event made all the more remarkable considering the insults the two world leaders were firing at each other only a year ago. The main focus of the summit seemed to be nuclear disarmament in North Korea, and commitment to work for peace in the Korean Peninsula. President Trump described their conversations as ‘honest and direct’ and went on to say that the ‘past does not have to define the future’. It would seem that the seeds of hope have been sown. We, too, can but hope this is the beginnings of a ‘new creation’, along the lines of which Paul wrote about to the troubled church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 5.17).
Alongside this potentially new perspective on world politics comes the welcome return (for many) of a game which had its beginnings in something as simple as kicking an inflated pig’s bladder around a field! Yes, the football world cup is back! It seems strange to think that a game that focuses on two teams kicking a small round object about a bit, captures the attention of so many on our large round globe. And yet, despite officials urging players to keep their eye on the ball, spectators’ attentions are drawn to those, such as MP Stephen Kinnock, who say that England players should wear black armbands to protest against the Russian regime. As has been the fate of religion for centuries before it, there is that constant concern that a game as theoretically simple as football is open to political abuse. Journalist Simon Parkin wrote a report in the Guardian about the worrying rise of the professional Russian football hooligan. Teams and true supporters alike will hope that this kind of behaviour is something that will be left in the past, and will be looking confidently for a fresh start at this year’s tournament.
In the latest Star Wars film, Han Solo is simply known as ‘Han’ to begin with. At a border-guard checkpoint an official asks his surname, only to find out he doesn’t have one. So, the guard decides to make one up for the sake of the paperwork he must fill in. Han is all alone, so the official names him ‘Solo’.
We seek a new perspective in a world where so many live in isolation from God through crime, dangerously divisive politics or spoiling the simple beauty of team sports. Paul, like a spirited team coach, urges those to whom he writes in 2 Corinthians 5.6-17, to play a team game. He talks collectively in terms of ‘we’, rarely ‘I’. He warns of becoming lost to the ways of this world, this earthly ‘body’ we inhabit. Instead it is faith in the one who died for us all which will keep things in perspective. So, while we inhabit a human body, with all its failings, we strive to live in faith and be at home in Christ. Don’t go solo! Leave that way of life in the past and instead join others and know what it is to become new in Christ! And like the trees God planted in the passages from Psalms, Ephesians and Mark, may we (like birds) all find shelter together.
Prayer
One - a personal meditative prayer on loneliness.
Lord,
is it ironic that I turn to one
(one who died for us all),
in my search to find a way out of loneliness?
One
– a lone number.
Going solo,
not something I chose
as a desired lifestyle!
One?
And yet, I can see
that a single tree
can become a home
for so many birds!
Not just birds,
but insects and mammals too!
One tree,
with small beginnings,
planted by the Creator
who also planted me.
In you, ‘one’ does not mean ‘alone’,
or singular,
but ‘all-one’.
In you, we can all be one.
Your love seeks to unite that which others would divide.
Your love strives to recreate that which others would destroy.
Your love reaches beyond human death.
One life.
One love.
New hope.
Amen.
Questions
- What are the ways of this world – in terms of sport, politics or crime – which you struggle with most, or where you have found conflict in terms of your faith? What do you need to let die in this world?
- Where or when have you felt most alone in life? Where have you found comfort, shelter or protection?
- Where do you see signs of Christ’s ‘new creation’ where you live?
All-age activity
Take time together to consider what you might do to plan a sporting event in the community where you live, one which would bring people together. Who would you invite? Where would you hold it? How might a team based event help people to get to know each other?
Young people
The very first Star Wars film was entitled A New Hope. If your group knows anything about the Star Wars films you could talk about the seeds of hope people find in togetherness in any of these stories. Who are those who are lonely or going ‘solo’? How does this compare with the ‘home’, the community, where you live? Who are the lonely? Who those most at risk from crime and unfair political systems? What seeds of hope could you sow together?
Tim Lowe is a minister of the United Reformed Church, serving with St Andrew’s, Roundhay, in Leeds. Tim is loving his new home in Leeds and is interested in using visual media as expressions of exploring faith.
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