Nerds Eye View: Episode V

A Lady Like Leia

 As the middle child between two sisters, I grew up around girls.  My sisters were my best friends growing up, despite the occasional sibling rivalry/wrestling match. When I was little, I had many friends in my little neighborhood that were girls. But as I started growing up, girls became scary for a while.  It became difficult and nervewracking to talk to them, but for some reason, it seemed like I started noticing them more.  As time progressed, I eventually outgrew that stage and had many close friends that were of the female variety.
 
 Of all my friends, it was my friends that were girls that taught me most about spirituality.  For whatever reason, they seemed more mature, more spiritually minded, more bold sometimes, and more caring most times.  I admired these women greatly, and their example still teaches me today.  To me, it seemed (and still seems) that no matter how hard we try, we guys just cannot compare to a strong, righteous woman.  They are just lightyears ahead of us.

 Princess Leia was worthy of the title of "princess" in every way.  She didn't just sit on a throne and look pretty; she was a leader.  She was devoted to the wellbeing of her people, and sacrificed everything to serve them.  She knew that being a leader sometimes meant sacrifice.  She knew that being a leader sometimes meant facing all kinds of adversity with poise and courage. She knew that being a leader meant facing failures and pains and struggles.  She probably didn't know that she would have to face an evil-pointy-droid-sphere of death and pain to defend her people. 
 But she did anyways.
 Even when she was held in a prison cell as the "damsel in distress", the moment she was rescued by Luke and Han, she wasn't afraid to take charge and lead them to safety.  This was not a princess that waited in the tower for help, this was a woman every bit as strong as the guys in the stormtrooper outfits.

 There are women in all of our lives that are like that; they sacrifice and suffer and shine and lead. So many mothers, mine included, have taught us priceless values such as giving, serving, and unconditional love. Countless single mothers across the globe raise their children alone, with patient hope and courage, knowing that they are solely responsible for their children's future.  Innumerable young women, growing up in a society that demeans their divine role as daughters of God and belittles their true potential and worth, still strive to live modestly and righteously amid the onslaught of immorality and filth. 

 Little wonder that the Lord tells us the worth of women is "far above rubies".  They are precious, stalwart daughters of the King of All Creation.  They are princesses that shine in a world that has grown terribly dull and dark.  Without the light and hope that these daughters, mothers, and sisters bring, mankind would be lost.
 They are truly our "only hope."