When I tell stories about my childhood, I usually get a lot of laughs. It's not because they're particularly funny stories. It's usually because they're told in the context of ignorance, misinformation or miseducation - the byproducts of hailing from East Texas. There's lots of superstition and misinformation in just about everything. Church was usually the worst.
Having been raised in a Pentecostal home, I was taught a hodge-podge theology that resembled that of any main-line Baptist church. The Pentecostal aspect of the faith made us more of the wild-eyed, wrong side of the tracks, uneducated and plain old weird church in town. Ours was the church that had the reputation of people who jumped pews, fell out in the aisles and swung from chandeliers - only we couldn't afford chandeliers in our church. The truth was it was an enthusiastic but often Biblically ignorant atmosphere.
Sermons were often preached about the Rapture, a pseudo return of Christ. The actual word isn't in the English Bible. It's actually in the Greek text and it means "caught away." It's then instance when Jesus calls the church out before the "Great Tribulation," 7 years before his actual, earthly return. I heard countless sermons that often ended with "altar calls" that went something like this: "If Christ were to return tonight, if the rapture took place on your way home, or while you were asleep, would you be ready?" That sort of appeal was designed to scare little kids on the edge of their faith, as well as the hardest sinner that might ever darken the doors of the church. In my young life, such preaching made quite an impression. The rapture could happen at any time. Don't mess around with God. Get right!
Another thing that preachers preached about was that attending movies, or "picture shows," was wrong for a Christian. My parent's didn't allow me to watch movies in theaters until I was much older and could afford to get in on my own. There wasn't a good reason, except that God might not want to go into theater to get me for the "rapture." It never really made sense - especially when there were decent movies to watch. Case in point was the release of "Star Wars." I was 8 years old when it was first released and it was out of the question for me to see it. Of course, all of my friends saw it and couldn't understand why I would ask so many questions about the movie and could not fathom why I hadn't been to see it myself. I never bothered to tell them my reason and eventually got around seeing it by reading comic books based on the movie (because there wasn't anything wrong with comic books, unlike movies).
I eventually got to see the movie, as well as the Empire Strikes Back (on the first run in theaters, which is another story) and was totally immersed in the Star Wars story. I learned everything there was to know about the cast, characters, the director, George Lucas as well as the supposed time-line for the release of other movies, particularly the Return of the Jedi. Fans of Star Wars know that in George Lucas' story, there were actually 9 parts to his story. Star Wars, Empire and Jedi were just the middle 3.
If you remember, Empire was released in 1979 and Jedi came out in 1983. Still, this caused a dilemma within my theology: "what if Jesus comes back before Return of the Jedi comes out?" What would become of Luke Skywalker, or Han Solo? Would Darth Vader crush the rebellion once and for all?" Considering the fact that I was so caught up in a movie and wasn't supposed to watch them in the first place put me in a precarious position with the Good Lord. Still, I was grief stricken and often prayed "Jesus, can you please wait until I can see the Return of the Jedi before You come back?" I was sincere in my faith in the return of Christ and just knew it would undermine the Star Wars saga forever.
Of course, it's pretty safe to say now that Jesus didn't return (not necessarily in answer to my prayers) and in the years since Return of the Jedi was released, the entire trilogy has since been re-mastered and re-released twice. (I guess in the heart of the unbeliever, that would be cause to give in to wild living) The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and finally The Revenge of the Sith were finally released, providing a brilliant backdrop for the original story. So far, I own 3 copies of the original trilogy (the original release on VHS, the Special Edition on VHS and most recently the DVD edition) as well as Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones on DVD.
Two weeks ago, Revenge of the Sith was released on DVD. According to George Lucas, this would end the Star Wars saga once and for all. Forget the last 3 installments. 6 movies and 28 years of work are now a complete work for the ages. It ties up the loose ends of the story that came alive to me so many years ago. It is so much more than just a story or a bunch of movies. It was a vital part of my life and development.
But, now that it's over, what am I to do? I guess I can camp out on a rooftop and wait for the Rapture. I can sell my house and all my stuff and make preparations for the return. I can also add a chapter to that ill-fated book "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could be in 1988." I'm sure there are many more reasons now than 17 years ago.
One of them should be the Star Wars saga is finally over.
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