SWDD #5: Chewbacca/Chewie

Grrrwaaaaaarggggh!

Or if you want to hear the sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr3sBks5o_8

Believe it or not, this guttural concoction of walruses, lions, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers, and badgers has a deep and profound meaning. Whenever Chewbacca, the famous wookie from Kayshyyyk, growls, howls, or softly speaks, an unintelligible mass of harmony comes out. Apart from Yoda, Han Solo, and C-3PO, no one in the film series understands what Chewbacca is saying. Even if Chewbacca himself were to try and explain what his growls meant, no one would be able to understand his explanation. Luckily, there always happens to be a translator around to explain Chewie's dialogue, but if those translators were not there, then other characters would have been left in the dust to exactly what Chewie was saying.

However, not once through the entire film saga did anyone question Chewie's loyalty to the Rebel cause. No one feared that the bellicose and brown-furred wookie would turn his might bowcaster upon them. There was not an inkling of suspicion that Chewie would sneak off in the middle of the night and give away crucial Rebel Alliance secrets to the Empire. Everyone trusted Chewie, despite the fact that not everyone knew what he was talking about. They saw that though they could not understand his growls, through his actions, he exhibited that he was fiercely loyal, immensely caring, and worthy to be trusted. Chewbacca was a character that expressed his love and devotion through actions, not necessarily through words.

Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca (left) alongside Harrison Ford (right) as Han Solo
Image credit: Lucasfilms

1 John 3:18 states "Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech, but with action and truth." (NIV). Even if Chewbacca wanted to, he could not express his love to his comrades through his speech; if anything, attempts to do so would have frightened his friends because wookie dialect consists of plethora of wails and screams. Yet, Chewie did not let his "speech impediment" get in the way of showing his care for his friends. Through Chewie's actions, people of the Rebel Alliance could see his loyalty and love, and troops of the Empire saw a formidable opponent to be feared; an opponent whose loyalty could not be bought.

In the same way, God commands me to love others in a deeper way that transcends words. It can be easy for me to simply say phrases such as "I love you" or "I'm sorry." But to truly love and to truly be sorry requires me to do more than just say those words. I must show through my actions, that I understand those meanings. It is important also to remember that God did not just love me through words; he took action and sent his son Jesus to die for me. A death that I deserved to die. So as God took action in my life and saved me, I will take conscious action to spread his words to others and love in a way that transcends speech.