Hope Seen Through the Smoke (and in Andor)

“Rebellions are built on hope.”

These five words were first spoken in a Star Wars movie in 2016 when Rogue One was released. That film told the story of the stealing of the Death Star plans and led directly into the original Star Wars movie from 1977, now entitled A New Hope.

These same five words showed up again in the Disney+ series, Andor, which just finished up its second and final (😢) season. Andor is a prequel to Rogue One as it centers primarily on the character of Cassian Andor and what led to him becoming involved in the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Both seasons of Andor were amazing and were unlike anything else that has been seen in Star Wars before. While those five words were not spoken in the first season, their spirit was present throughout. It was especially present for me in the ways that various characters lived out this segment of a manifesto written by a character named Karis Nemik.

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try

Do you hear hope sneaking out in these words? Yes, there is empire, oppression, tyranny, and loss but hope cannot be erased completely by these. Characters throughout the first season with names such as Bix, Cassian, Brasso, Luthen, Kleya, Mon, Will, Kino Loy, Maarva, Melshi, Vel, Cinta, and even a droid nicknamed B live out this hope in the face of what seem to be overwhelming odds.

In the second season (told in four three-episode arcs that each take place a year apart), this manifesto and those five words come into clearer focus as the show moves towards its connection into Rogue One. I won’t go into spoilers here but this second season is the finest season of television I have ever watched both in its message as well as the quality of the production (filming, script, visuals, acting, etc). In this second season, these five words show up essentially as a baton being passed from character to character. They begin with a bellhop on an oppressed planet and keep getting passed and spoken by one person after another. Ultimately, those words are the frame upon which everything else is built of standing up against seemingly overwhelming odds.

But the hope in Andor isn’t simply in an external Force (although that is there), but it is in everyday people. Each of those I named above (as well many others in the show) are shown to be so very human, so very ordinary, so very beautiful, so very couragous, so very flawed. Yes many hold to the divine presence of the Star Wars universe (The Force) but they know that the work has to happen through each of them.

As a person who is trying to follow the Jesus Way, I naturally turn to the Bible and what it speaks to finding hope. Psalm 42 expresses a hope like this better than maybe anywhere else inthe Bible. It is a poem/song that recounts pain and struggle but twice lifts this refrain:

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

And there is also this that recounts the power, love, and presence of God through it all:

Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.

These are powerful words and words I have felt in my own life time and again. However, our job isn’t to simply be people waiting for something external to happen. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) wrote the following:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Fr. Richard Rohr expresses a similar sense in what he named his center in New Mexico - The Center for Action and Contemplation - noting that the work is both and not just one or the other. We can’t simply wait and pray (although that is vital) but we also have to be willing to act, to put our bodies to the work. We are the hands and the bodies through which hope can be born, shared, and spread.

And when we do that in whatever ways we are each able to do so¹ hope rises not only within each us but also is grown in others. Remember those opening five words for this reflection - rebellions are built on hope... those were spoken by an ordinary bellhop who likely didn’t intend for his words to spread as they did. But they went from that bellhop through a variety of others and then to some of the most powerful people in the story. And each shared those words in their own ways - actions and words.

On Sunday morning, I saw this during my morning walk - the risen sun barely peeking through the smoky skies.²

TBH, my first thought when seeing it was that it reminded me of the way that the main logo of the show appears in the opening credits - A small upward arc slowly appearing and growing to something greater.

And a few moments later the sun was mostly hidden by the smoky morning. But there it was - the light of a new day shining through the smoke coming from destructive and widespread fires. Hope still shows up.

I guess I write all this somewhat for myself as I need to keep reminding myself of the power and the need and the call of hope. But I hope it also encourages you in whatever you are facing and encourages us all in community of what we are facing collectively right now. It is also a recommendation to watch Andor if you are needing something to watch (or even if you don’t need something to watch - you should watch it).

Those five words once more

Rebellions are built on hope

Here are a few more from the sunrise on Sunday morning. These were before the sun crossed above the horizon. Stunning colors but also having to remember that the colors came about becuase of the smoke in the air. Beauty seen alongside and through the struggles.

Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Ed

PS - Scout takign in the same sunrise...(colors are different beacuse the iphone camera doesn’t always know what to do with colors like where in the sky that morning)

1. From Nemik’s manifesto…There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy…

2. The smoke from the wildfires in Canada has made its way down to Ohio.