As a young padawan, I didn't really get Yoda. I know he trained Luke and all, but he seemed to speak in mysterious riddle, not to mention the whole syntax thing and my brain wasn't ready to digest all that yet. Yoda was just a crazy old hermit who spoke funny and didn't even have a lightsaber(or so I thought) to fight with. However, as I grew older and began to think on more serious matters, I found that I drew strength from Yoda. His straight forward backwards syntax imparted layers of wise counsel. And of course, even at 900 years old he kept his sense of humor.

Most important of all though was Yoda's complete faith and trust in the Force. As I began to make my parent's faith my own, I realized that Yoda was, in a sense, part of my faith. He reminded me very much of the older leaders in my church who emerged from the fires and trials of life polished and refined. In fact when I began serving a mission for my church, one of my first instructors on how to be a missionary told me that while I should not quote movies and such from the outside world, it was okay to quote Yoda. Yoda's wisdom and teachings about the Force reinforced my own faith.

Yoda properly believed himself to be a servant of the Force, and not the other way around. Whereas Sidious sought to make the Force bend to his will, Yoda sought to submit himself to the will of the Force. Yoda's faith and trust in the Force runs deep, especially when the chips are down. I love Yoda's reaction from the ROTS novel when he realizes that the only way he can defeat Sidious at this particular moment is to turn to the dark side. He could have gone dark. He could have destroyed Sidious, assumed the mantle of the Sith Lord and made things in the galaxy the way he wanted them to be, yet Yoda, serving the light to the very end, understands that while he cannot defeat darkness without becoming dark himself, he can learn how to defeat darkness with light.

Yoda acquired such a deep faith and trust in the Force through humility. He understood that while he certainly knew much about the Force, much to learn he still had. Consider Yoda's reaction to Qui-Gon's reaching out to him from the netherworld of the Force. To this point, such a notion seemed as though it came from the dark side of the Force, yet Yoda understood that assumptions may well have been wrong. I believe it is from personal experience that he reminds Luke that "you must unlearn what you have learned". Furthermore, Yoda knows that true greatness comes not from adventure and excitement, but from service to others, hence his admonition to Luke that "wars not make one great." I suspect that this particular counsel to Luke also served as a subtle warning to avoid the path Anakin took.

Yoda's humility also allowed him to understand that while he instructed padawans in the way of the Force, he could also learn from them. I believe that while he knew where Obi-Wan's missing planet had gone, he used this opportunity to teach Obi-Wan about the importance of keeping your mind open, and to help the padawans learn they had as much to contribute as anyone else. Even at 900 years old, Yoda sought to maintain a childlike innocence and trust.

Yoda drew tremendous strength from his humility and deepened his connection to the Force. He knew that it could and did make him stronger than his size would have indicated. He understood that even though he appeared to be alone, the Force was his ally, and a conduit to old friends long gone. The irony here is that Darth Sidious and Vader, though they were master and apprentice, were far more alone than Yoda, who spent the remainder of his years living all alone in exile. Yoda drew comfort from the light of the Force and knew that the battle, though bleak, was not over. His trust in the Force taught him that another option would present itself. Despite all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Yoda understood that there was something far more powerful than himself at work. He knew that the Force gave him strength beyond his means. And that is why Yoda did not fail.

In his comment below, FAN4YRS reminds me of where I think we see Yoda's greatness. After Yoda frees the X-Wing from the swamp, a stunned Luke says, "I can't believe it." Saddened, Yoda looks at him and teaches him an eternal truth. "And that is why you fail." Yoda teaches Luke and us just how interconnected the Force really is, that what appears impossible can be achieved with faith and belief, vital ingredients in the recipe for success, effort will not be enough to achive greatness in whatever we want to.

Though a fictional character, Yoda can teach us much about ourselves and the world around us. We can learn from his respect for life and the connection that we all share. We can learn from his humility and willingness to keep learning no matter how old we get. We can learn that we're only as old as we feel, and even if we feel old, we can still keep our good humor about us. Most importantly though, we can learn we have help us to accomplish any good and worthy goals we have in life, "for my Ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."