Just as a disclaimer, this isn't an entry about our friend on the blogs here, Sarlacc-Pitt, although Mr. Pitt has some mighty good things to say. Rather, it's about my interpretation of what the Sarlacc from ROTJ means to me.

With that said, here I go.

Well out into the Dune Sea on Tatooine, at the base of the Great Pit of Carkoon lies the monstrous beast known as the Sarlacc. It's a beast concealed beneath the sands with only its mouth extending out, along with its tentacles to pull its prey in to its great maw. It rarely feeds, so its adapted its digestive system to allow its prey to slowly be consumed over a thousand years so it can draw out the nutrients over an extended period of time ... or until the next victim falls in. And of course, Jabba the Hutt would use the Sarlacc as a dumping ground for his prey as well. Those who betrayed or angered him would soon find themselves trying to scramble up and out of the loose sands around the pit, only to be dragged in by a sticky tentacle, there to serve out Jabba's punishment for a thousand years.

And Luke and friends were very close to being part of the thousand year platter that was served to the Sarlacc on that eventful day. It looked to be the end of our heroes, except for one small detail. Luke had a plan.

And as I think about their dilemma on Tatooine, I think about the challenges we face everyday in our own lives. Each day can feel like a challenging walk through the Dune Sea with the hot sun and relentless sand bearing down. And each challenge can feel like slipping into the Pit of Carkoon, with the sands giving away and the tentacles of the Sarlacc coming up to drag us in to writh in agony for the next thousand years, with our nutrients and life tapped from our very existence. The act of just finally giving in, knowing that you can't escape from the pull and allowing it to consume you.

But wait! You can survive! You need a plan!

Luke had a plan in place before he even got to Jabba's Palace. If you read Shadows of the Empire it talks of the plan he devised to get into Jabba's Palace and rescue Han. He knew there would be perils and he accounted for them. Including storing his lightsaber in R2 to be retrieved at the right moment. And that right moment was when he was looking down into the mouth of the Sarlacc, which was ready to pull him down into neo-existence. He gave R2 the signal, reached for his lightsaber as it was flung toward him and turned his plan into action to overcome that challenge. He didn't back down and kept his resolve to get the job done and achieve his goal.

Now I know it sounds easy to just devise a plan to overcome an obstacle. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. You just need to hold steadfast to your plan in order to achieve it ... whatever the plan may be. Luke did. He knew what he had to do, and no matter what was thrown at him he maintained his plan and saw it through. The Sarlacc was just another obstacle in his way of achieving his plan.
And in our own lives, the Sarlacc can represent any number of obstacles that are present which can hinder the achievment our plans. Sometimes they are hidden in the sands and we have to dig for them to overcome them, and other times they are like the Sarlacc ... an open pit with flailing tentacles and a salivating mouth ready to consume us if we don't act.

And I suppose the plan to avoid the Sarlacc in your own life is to know where it lies. A person walking the Dune Sea could easily fall into the pit by not knowing it's there ... by travelling aimlessly without an idea or plan of where they are going. Now I know we don't expect to find a Sarlacc in our lives as we travel through them, but we must be prepared nonetheless. It represents the pitfalls we might endure if we don't plan to succeed.

Because it will eat you up if you don't try.