some little clue to the meaning of the universe

The physical beauty of the Keshiri was difficult to resist  but Vestara knew she would not be one of those who succumbed to it. She was utterly devoted to the Force, to her studies, to practicing and training and honing her skills until her body quivered with weariness, until she was drenched in sweat, until she crawled into bed and slept the dreamless sleep of the exhausted.

And now this Ship had come, and she did not care about anything else.

Again she felt the cold perusal, and shivered. Ahri's arms tightened about her, mistaking the gesture for physical chill.

You sensed me.

I-I did, she sent back through the Force.

She was being...examined. Appraised.

You seek to become a Sith Master. To harness the power of the dark side.

I...I...

Vestara straightened to her full tall height atop Tikk's back and deliberately banished her childish hesitancy. Never mind that she had never before beheld a spacefaring vessel--never even seen the diagrams and schematics that were purported to rest inside the forbidden hull of the crashed Omen. She was of the Tribe, the daughter of a Sith Saber. She was exceptionally strong in the Force and knew it.

And the Ship--Ship itself, not its pilot, she realized now it had no pilot, not yet--was testing her. She would not shrink before its probity.

I do . I shall. I am Vestara Khai, daughter of a proud heritage. I have what is necessary to command the dark side and bend it to my will. To use it for the good of the Tribe, and the People.

For the good of all Sith, Ship suggested.

She nodded automatically, though even as she did so she realized the vessel couldn't see her.

Except that it could. Or rather, she realized, it could sense her agreement in the Force. She felt it approve and then withdraw. Without the coldness of its presence in her mind, she somehow felt bereft, but she refrained from seeking it out again.

At that moment, as her gaze wandered from Ship to the throng of Sith crowding around it, in that sea of dark robes she saw a pale blond head turn in her direction. It was Lady Rhea, one of the members  of the Sith Circle of Lords, and her blue eyes were fixed upon Vestara. Even from this height, Vestara could see that Lady Rhea's eyes were narrowed, as if she was considering something.

Slowly, Vestara smiled.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Omen  by Christie Golden, p. 45

~*~*~

'Actually," I told him reluctantly, "I have always agreed with the idea that we have a sin nature. I don't think it looks exactly like the fundamentalists say it does, 'cause I know so many people who do great things, but I do buy the idea we are flawed, that there is something in us that is broken. I think it is easier to do bad things than good things. And there is something in that basic fact, some little clue to the meaning of the universe."

..."Of course, but that really should tell us something about the human condition. We have to be taught to be good. It doesn't come completely natural. In my mind, that's a flaw in the human condition."

Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller

~*~*~

The great thing--no, one of the great things--about being able to look at life through the lens of possibility is the plethora of examples of how that might work that are available all around me, in every moment, that shine in the most unlikely places.

Even books about the dark side.

Even books about the flawed human condition.

What's fascinating about the dark side is that, for the dark side to be attractive at all, someone has to be in a lot of pain for relief to arrive from that sector of the universe. All its promise of power and domination only appeals to those who perceive themselves as powerless and dominated.

I'm guessing that things look good for Vestara to experience initiation into the fold in the story, something she desires and deserves to have. She can participate in the dark side and it doesn't have to affect me or what I desire. Where I'm at on the emotional scale most of the time, our worlds won't overlap or intertwine at all unless we choose to stick our noses in each other's business intellectually, or more importantly, energetically.

And actually I'm inspired by her dedication to go after what she wants. She doesn't hesitate. She rises to the occasion of opportunity like a fully realized female and allows herself to go toward who she's been  becoming.

There's much to admire here, more than what's available to the standard feminine action figure personas that populate the mainstream super hero shows my son watches.

And the notion that we have to be taught how to be good, well, I'm here to perform contaminated belief supply procedures on the layers of unexamined beliefs in that soft underbelly.

Generations of children have been conditioned to slowly but systematically reject who they really are in order to gain very conditional approval from those grown-ups who appear to have things figured out here on the planet.

The result is a huge spiritual backfire, this pounding square pegs to fit into round holes.

That's what is broken in us, once we buy into the idea that we need fixing.

And no one who claims to has much of anything figured out here on the planet that I can see. We keep making silent agreements to continue supporting ideas that don't work, en masse.

That little clue to the meaning of the universe?

Hello.