Force Healing
One of the Jedi Order’s main objectives is to preserve life. We must defend all life, protecting it, and strengthening it. The Force helps us do such things. The ability known as “Force Heal” allows one to use the Force to heal living things that have become injured. One may ask, “Why do we need this ability? Why can’t we simply use a medic droid?” The answer to this is simple: A Jedi should try to preserve life. By healing those that are injured, we are helping them. We are, in a sense, giving them the gift of health, the gift of life, and fulfilling our duty as a Jedi.
Jedi are known throughout the galaxy as “Peacekeepers” and “Protectors”. These titles are mainly due to the Order’s diplomacy and sometimes violent stands against that which is wrong, against that which would see life taken and destroyed rather than given and protected. However, just because Jedi are known as these things, doesn’t mean that that is all we can be! We should not simply turn one over to a medic droid when we have the ability to heal ourselves. We should strive to be known as “healers”, “helpers”, and “defenders of life”. We should embrace our ability through the Force to heal others. We should embrace our ability through the Force to protect others. We should embrace our ability through the Force to do our best to preserve all life, and, throughout history, we have.
The first example of a Jedi Healer that comes to my mind is Cilghal, the female Mon Calamari Jedi. She was a Jedi Master during the early years of the New Republic. Soon after Cilghal graduated from Master Skywalker’s Praxeum as a Jedi Knight, she saved Mon Mothma from otherwise fatal effects of a poisoned drink she had consumed. Later on, she resigned from her position as Mon Calamari’s senator, in order to become a Jedi Master. She healed and helped many during her years; one example would be helping Mara Jade Skywalker survive a disease she had been infected with by Nom Anor, the primary figure in the Yuuzhan Vong War.
The motivation and reason for the use of Force Heal draws from many aspects of the Jedi Code. In order to heal someone, a Jedi must have Faith in the Force. They must be sure that the Force can do such things, and not have the slightest hint of doubt in their minds. Nobility and Morality are also major proponents of a Jedi’s duty to preserve life. To help those in need is a truly noble deed. When actually healing, a Jedi must have great Focus on the task at hand. They must Meditate through the Force, letting it flow through them and into the being they are healing.
To use the Force can be meaningless when it is for the wrong reasons. One could completely master the Force and all its ways, and not be a significant Jedi at all if they do not use their abilities and connection to the Force for the good of all. One should strive to help those in need, whether it is defending them with a lightsaber, helping them by education, or healing them from injuries.