Plight of the Underdog

Leah

In our office, our conference rooms are named. Each floor has a theme. I work on the third floor, and our theme is women from the Bible. So we have Ruth, Esther, Martha, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Sariah, Naomi, Hannah, Mary and Eve.

Some rooms are larger, some smaller.

I am constantly booking rooms for meetings.

And I’ve noticed, whenever I’m booking a small room, I only want to book Leah. I won’t book Rachel unless it is the ONLY option. If I can’t get Leah, I’ll book Hannah because I love the name.

So, why is this?

Because I feel so sad for Leah. My heart aches for her, and her plight. I mean, being so much less attractive than her sister, suffering from constantly being compared. That sucks. And then, her younger sister has suitors, and she does not. Talk about a hit right to the gut. To make a tragic end to the story, she gets married only after a man who LOVES and WANTS her sister, is tricked into marrying her. Imagine his anger and frustration when he sees Leah’s face? He then is married to her for 7 years, working and pining to marry her sister. And then she lives married to a man hopeless in love with her sister, probably never really feeling like she is loved or wanted.

Is there anything more tragic than the plight of this young biblical figure?

In my mind, by booking Leah and only Leah, I’m somehow making up for all the tragedies she endured in her life. I’m telling her, somehow, that I love her more than I do Rachel. And in my mind, somehow, that makes her story a little less tragic.

For more on Leah and others' takes on it go here.

Love,

Brittney