As I think about the parallels between the Jedi and the Sith, one such thought sticks out in my mind tonight. And that is the similarity of their downfalls.

If I look at the actual physical representation of each's downfall, Yoda spiraled down in the Senate Chamber to the floor below only to scurry away before Sidious or his Clone troopers could find him. But the fact that he was sent falling kind of stuck out with me as a visual clue that this was indeed the end of the Jedi order as we knew it. The Order had fallen at the hands of Sidious much as Yoda had just fallen at the hands of Sidious ... Yoda was one of the only fragments left of the Order and he had been sent tumbling much as the Order itself. Even his cloak was left hanging as a symbol that the Empire now held all the power and that the only thing left of the Old Republic and the Jedi Order was an empty cloak, void of any life or fight. Yoda even lost his lightsaber, the elegant weapon of a Jedi ... another symbol that the Jedi could fight no more. He was reduced to crawling for his life through an access tunnel only to be rescued by Bail Organa to try and renew the Jedi Order in a new mold (hmmm ... much like Luke in TESB perhaps?)

And the Sith met its fate by getting hurled down the Death Star reactor shaft to an explosive end. And Sidious was thrown down the shaft by another Sith (returned Jedi) much as the Sith had thrown down the Jedi in ROTS. The Empire that Sidious had created was visually ended by his nosedive and the only thing that remained was the empty shell of Darth Vader, left struggling at Sidious's hands and soon to meet his fate as well. It was similar to Yoda's cloak left hanging ... Vader was the only remnant left and even he was quickly fading. There was no rescue of the Sith in this case, but the emergence of the new Jedi that Yoda had tried to save at the end of ROTS was now being shaped. The Jedi had indeed been renewed in a new mold, thanks to Yoda's fall and escape from his battle with Sidious.

And so I wonder how each of us in our own lives respond to our own downfalls, from time to time? Not that any of us take a fall from a lightsabre fight high among senate pods in a giant building, or fall down a reactor shaft of a superweapon, but how we deal with emotional downfalls in our lives. In Yoda's case he trusted the Force to guide him and he planned a way out that would save both himself and the Jedi Order. And I believe that we also need to trust in a higher power that will help us through our own downfalls, in combination with planning to make a comeback. Even though Yoda's cloak was left behind as a reminder that he fell, he still perservered to ensure that things would be set right. We all leave a cloak behind when surrounded by dark times, but that is a reminder that we're still around and can still make it though with a new cloak. Sidious didn't have that ... he only had his power, and his blind arrogance that didn't allow him to expect the unexpected. And he had no way of recovering from his downfall.

So I know that we all have our downfalls from time to time, but it's through trusting in yourself and in your higher power and carefully planning your next move that you can make like Yoda, and leave that old cloak behind.

And, once again, proving that Star Wars and its themes and lessons can have an influential role in your life. I know it has in mine.