C. S. Thurman

Something that I have been thinking a lot about is a certain scene from Star Wars where Yoda, speaking to Luke, says “No! Do, or do not. There is no try.”

But how can you do without trying? How is Luke supposed to do something that he’s never even done before? I spent a long time thinking about this and I finally figured out what it was that Yoda was finally saying. Of course I had to actually look up the definition for the word try.

To “try” is to put your best foot forward. It’s to endeavor, to put your best effort forth, to give it a go with all you’ve got.

But… didn’t Luke say that when he said “I’ll try…”? Or perhaps there’s more to that scene than we give credit for. When Luke said that he would try, it was a half-hearted response. He never looked Yoda in the eyes and said with determination “I’ll try”. No, instead we see him shrug his shoulders in a defeated manner, as if he knows it won’t work, and lazily says “I’ll try.”

Yoda recognized Luke’s attitude and tried to correct it with a commitment, a demand if you will, to actually put forth the effort. He wasn’t saying don’t try. He was saying to try it with the attitude to do it. He wasn’t wanting Luke to “try” it half-heartedly, he wanted Luke to believe in his own abilities.

When Luke couldn’t accomplish the task, Yoda still encourages him, teaching him more about the force. But when Luke proclaimed that Yoda was asking the impossible, he showed his pupil just how wrong he was. In the end he explained to Luke that he failed because he didn’t try with his whole heart in the situation. He didn’t believe that he could do it.

This is why Yoda’s command comes so strongly to us. Not that he’s saying not to try, but that he’s telling us to try with the belief that we can do it. If we believe that we can, and will do something, no matter how many times we fail it’s the getting back up that matters. Its believing that the next one time we try it we will succeed. Yoda’s lesson to Luke wasn’t to merely lift his ship with the force, but to find the determination to believe in himself. To be willing to never give up, no matter how hard it gets. Because someday, he can do the very thing that he tried, knowing that he could.

We unknowingly see this lessons resolution when Luke doesn’t just try to save his father from the dark side, but succeeds in helping his father to redeem himself and to come back into the light. Even Vader had given up hope for himself of ever coming back into the light. Yet Luke helped him just as Yoda taught Luke to do.