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February 3, 2012

Margaret Thatcher: The IRON lady

"The Iron Lady" is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century's most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

"All I Wanted Was to Make A Difference"

Far too often, we complain about our leaders almost rhetorically asking the question,"Does anyone have a backbone anymore?  Where is principle?  Why are there so few good men?"  Margaret Thatcher's story beautifully illustrates why so few end up taking the role of leadership.  She earned her role as celebrated savior of Great Britain during the Cold War, but many forget that she was forced to resign and was castigated by her opponents as a failure for standing firm on beliefs such as the fairness of a tax of income the same amount no matter how much or how little one made."  She was often ridiculed, almost died from assassination when the hotel she was living in was bombed, and was constantly defending her decisions.

She was a fighter.  She never gave up.  She never chose political sides, only the side of Truth.

She was often alone.  I was reminded of that, ironically enough, as I sat all alone watching Iron Lady tonight in the movie theater.  Apparently, the movie lacks the Friday night appeal of action, blood, sex, or fantasy that the Millennial generation now seems to require.  Perhaps then, it is fitting that Margaret Thatcher quotes these following famous lines in the movie:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Your destiny starts now, with that last thought, with each new thought.  If we want leaders to make a stand for the Truth, perhaps we need to look in the mirror.  The 21th century will need another Margaret Thatcher, another Daniel, another William Wilberforce, another Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Evil continues to advance and will unless the righteous stands up and storms the gates of Hell.  She was the daughter of a grocer, not anyone famous.  But she was driven to make a difference and would not settle for a life of mediocrity.  Will we do the same?

An interaction best perhaps sums up the topic of conversation.  Lilla Rose, pro life activist, once recalled the following interchange in an interview with WORLD:

Rose remembers a time when no one showed up for for a meeting. Discouraged, she turned to her mom and asked, "What am I doing wrong? Do they not care?"

"Leadership is lonely," her mother replied. "You have to forge the path, and people will follow."

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