Master Trial: Question One

During this Jedi Gathering, International Jedi Federation will be having it’s first ever Master Trial.  If you have ever read over the Master Trial, then you’ll know that there are 4 questions asked.  The questions seem simple enough, but they are not intended to be taken lightly.  For the next few weeks, I’ll be doing a series of articles on these four questions and the reason that every Jedi Knight should take them into deep consideration.  No question is as simple as they first appear.

For many orders, getting your Master title is determined by how many students you’ve successfully trained to knighthood.  It may be what you do for the order over the course of many years.  Although marking some of boxes is important to the International Jedi Federation model, all of these things are responsibilities to the order itself.  As an order, however, we believe that the Jedi Path is intended to be one that you take into the world and use to build a stronger (chosen and/or geographic) community.

As an Apprentice, you learn the Jedi Path and transform who you are as a person.  Becoming a Knight shows that you have internalized the Jedi Philosophy and made it so much a part of your life that you are trusted to teach it to others.  As a knight, however, your continued education is personalized to you.  It’s in this role that you are learning how to integrate the Jedi Path towards the goal of something you want to protect.  Your own personal Jedi Mission.  

One could say that the Prowess section of the Jedi Compass is intended to be fully studied by a Jedi Knight, and only introduced to the Jedi Apprentice.  Each of your arts (Scholarly, Spiritual, Defense and Physical) are grown toward the goal of what you want to protect.  Which is why the questions asked are that much more difficult to answer.  

The Master Trials are intended to test your resolve to the Jedi Path and to be a public declaration of what it is you plan to do with what you have learned since you began the Jedi Journey.

For this week, let’s just talk about the first question-

Who/What do you serve?

It’s easy to say “the Force”, but is that really what you serve?  Breaking it down, however, you have to first answer the question: ”What does it mean to serve?”

Your answer to that question may be in conflict with the answer “the Force”, because your definition of the Force may not be something you can truly “serve”.  Furthermore, you may find that the answer “the Force” is too broad.  It’s perfectly fine to serve a smaller collection within the Force.  

Framing who or what you serve can go a long ways in helping you define your mission to others, and helping you better remember why you do what you do.  Your answer may be to an abstract idea, to a community, to broad grouping or you may still find that the best answer is “The Force”.

Whatever your answer to this first question, it is not something to take lightly.  From this question, the answer to the next three must align with, otherwise the rest will fall apart.