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Star Wars Gets Its Newest Fans

My Hero Husband's favorite movies of all time, he'll admit is the Star Wars series. What could possibly surpass the ultimate of ultimate feuds between good and evil, including the twists and turns of the Force, and the lessons of the great Yoda.

Star Wars TrilogyRecently our two oldest, Thinker and Carefree, have watched the first two (Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back) and let me tell you, it was difficult to wait this long to introduce them to these famed movies. We decided to watch these with them, be there to explain a concept here or there and to witness the joy of these films just as we did when we were young.

I couldn't be happier. We've gotten into the most interesting and formative conversations about good and evil, temptations, making choices, sin, confession and how decisions we make have consequences past our own experiences. With these two oldest children, now both able to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and with one already receiving Communion....and Carefree preparing for his 1st Communion, these conversations are truly priceless.

Needless to say, they have been captivated. Not only have they been on the best behavior to earn the next in the series, they constantly quiz us story line's future plot.

Now, watching these movies with the children brought back to mind the great wisdom behind a few one liners from the beloved Yoda. One in particular caught my attention and it's so worthy of discussion. If you remember, when Luke first meets Yoda and begins his training to become a Jedi. At one point in the training, there happens to be a cave in front of Luke, and Luke with his weapon ready hears Yoda tell him, that he doesn't need his weapon. Luke in his fear asks Yoda, "What's in there?"
Yoda answers in his wisdom, "Only what you bring with you."

Now remember what he does meet in that cave, he sees his Nemesis, Darth Vador, only to see after slashing him, Luke's own mirrored face before him.....realizing the wisdom of Yoda's words, Luke would only fight the fear that is inside himself. Whatever was in the cave, he brought with him, and nothing else.

In a sense I get that. Sometimes when we are faced with a situation, not sure of what we might encounter, we get our weapons ready, our defense mechanisms, our own fears present themselves, since we brought them ourselves to the situation. The enemy wasn't really there, it was the fear we bring that we end up fighting.

And just like Luke, when we have slayed our 'opponent' in any daily situation, we find that we have given in to our fear, our issues from our past, and see ourselves for who we truly are, subject to the whims of our own lack of strength and fortitude.

After hearing this quote from the movie, I tell you, it stayed with me for days and days. Just when I think I have figured out who might be my enemy, I realize that great line from Yoda: What I may be battling in most situations is whatever I brought with me, my attitude, my demeaner, my issues, my conflicts, my weapons.

I guess I am most amazed that a movie can stand the test of time, not necessarily by being able to compete with all the advancements in graphics that our movies have today, but it stands the test of time with the wisdom that we can all relate to.  Sometimes, a great lesson even for a SAHMom can come in the strangest of places, even in a great one-liner, by a little, green creature, a Jedi Master:  Yoda the Great.

Who knew?

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