Leadership Lessons From The Great Books #78 – Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

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My name is Jesan Sorrells, and this is the Leadership Lessons from the Great

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Books podcast, episode number 78.

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With our book today, the final book in

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the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a book that

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stands as the author’s most compelling commentary

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on Christian eschatology, Christology,

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and the world views of leadership

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in desperate and unsure times.

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JRR Tolkien’s, Lord of the

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Rings, the Return of the King.

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This day we fight. By all that you hold dear on this gird earth,

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I bid you stand, men of the

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west.

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And I pick up in order of the rings, the return

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of the king. Picking up in book

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5, Menias Tirith.

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Then the old man looked up. Pippen saw his carven

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face with its proud bones and skin like ivory and the long

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curved nose between the dark deep eyes, and he was reminded not so

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much of Boromir as of Aragorn. Dark indeed

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is the hour, so the old man. And at such times, you are want to

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come, Mithrandir. But though all the sides forebode, the

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doom of Gondor is drawing nigh less Now to me is that darkness

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and my own darkness. It has been told me that you bring

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with you one who saw my son die. Is this he?

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It is, said Gandalf, one of the twain. The other is with

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Theoden of Rohan and may come hereafter. Halflings they are, as you

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see, Yet this is not he of whom the omens

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spoke. Yet a halfling still, said Danathor grimly.

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And little love do I bear the names since Those accursed words come to trouble

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our councils and drew away my son on

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the wild Aaron to his death. My Boromir,

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Now we have need of you. Faramir should have gone in

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his stead. He would have

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gone, said Gandalf. Be not unjust in your grief. Vormer

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claimed the errand would not suffer any other to have it. He was

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a masterful man and one to take what he desired. I

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journeyed far with him and learned much of his mood. When you speak of his

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death, You have had news of that air we came?

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I’ve received this, said Denethor. And laying down his rod, he lifted

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from his lap, the thing that he had been gazing at. In each hand, he

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held up 1 half of a great horn cloven through the middle, a wild

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ox horn bound with silver. That is the

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horn that always wore, cried Pippin.

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Verily, said Denethor. And in my turn, I bored and so did eldest

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son of our house far back into the vanished years before the failings of the

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kings since Vorendil, father of Mardil, hunted the wild kind of

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Arar in the fields of Rhun. I heard it blowing dim upon

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the northern marches 13 days ago when the river brought it to me broken. It

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will wind no more. He paused and there was a

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heavy silence. Suddenly, he turned his black glance upon

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Pippen. What say you to that halfling?

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13 days 13 days, faltered Pippen. Yes. I think that would be so. Yes. I

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stood beside him as he blew the horn, but no help came, only more orcs.

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So, said Danathor looking keenly at Pippen’s face, you were there. Tell me

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more. Why did no help come, and how did you escape, and yet he did

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not? So mighty a man as he was and only orcs to

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withstand him. Pippin flushed and forgot his

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fear. The mightiest man may be slain by 1 arrow, Oh, he said, and Boromir

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was pierced by many. When last I saw him, he sank beside a tree and

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plucked a black feather shaft from his side. Then I swooned as was

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made captive. I saw him no more and knew no more, but I honor his

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memory for he was very valiant. He died to save us, my kinsman

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Meriadoc and myself waylaid in the woods by the soldiery of the

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dark lord. And though he fell and failed, my gratitude

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is nonetheless. Then Pippen looked the

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old man in the eye. Her pride stirred strangely within him still stung by the

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scorn and suspicion in that cold voice. Little service, no doubt, will so great

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a lord of men think to find in a hobbit, a halfling from the Northern

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Shire, yet such as it is, I will offer it in payment of

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my debt. Twitching aside his gray cloak, Pippen drew forth a

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small sword and laid it at Denethor’s feet.

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A pale smile, like a gleam of cold sun on a winter’s evening, passed over

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the old man’s face. He bent his head and held out his hand laying the

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shards of the horn aside. Give me the weapon, he

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said. Pippen lifted it and presented to the hilt to him.

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Once came this, said Denethor. Many, many years lie on

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it. Surely, this is a blade wrought by our own kindred in the north. In

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the deep past? It came out of the mounds that lie on

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the borders of my country, said Pippen, but only evil whites dwell there now,

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and I will not willingly tell more of them.

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I see that strange tales are woven about you, said Denethor. And once again, it

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is shown that looks maybe lie the man or the haveling.

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I accept your service, for you are not daunted by words, and

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you have courteous speech. Strange though the sound of it may be to us

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in the south, and we shall have need of all the folk of courtesy, be

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they great or small in the days to come. Swear to me

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now. Take the hilt,

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said Gandalf, and speak after the lord if you are resolved on this.

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I am, said Pippen. The old man laid

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the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilt and

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said slowly after Denethor, Here do I swear

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fealty and service to Gondor and to the lord and steward of

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the realm to speak and to be silent, to do and to let

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be, to come and to go in need or in

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plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying. From

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this Or henceforth, until my lord release me

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or death take me or the world end,

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So say I Peregrin, son of

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Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings.

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And this do I hear, Denethor, son of Achethalian, lord of

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Gondor, steward of the high king, and I will not forget it

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Nor fail to reward that which is given, fealty

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with love, valor with honor, oath breaking

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with vengeance. Ben Pippen

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received back his sword and put it

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in his sheath.

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You now, sir, have the right hand of the steward

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of Gondor. Door. Pippen.

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This is a pivotal moment in return of the

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king because Not only is the fellowship broken,

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not only have there been firefights and death,

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but Great tragedy and loss has come to the steward

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of Gondor. And we’re going to focus a lot today in our commentary,

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in between the various, pieces of Lord of

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the Rings, Return of the King that we are reading today.

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We’re gonna focus really on thinking

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about and looking at the actions of 2 pivotal men

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in the return of the king, and then we are going to

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wrap up by going directly

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to Mount Doom where the

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ring has its final or gets its

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final reward. The 2

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men that really form the 2

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towers of return of the king. There’s 3 men,

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that form the triumvirate of return of the king

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are Denethor, the steward of Gondor,

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Gandalf, of course, now come back at the turn

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of the tide, and, of course, Aragorn

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Or, we met him when we met

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him, he was calling himself Strider.

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He is the one true king, but Denethor doesn’t

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know it. Boromir knew it at the end.

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And Faramir? Well, Faramir is just trying

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to get his dad to like him.

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Now when you serve at the right hand of the steward of Gondor, here’s what

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you don’t understand. The steward

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is playing a role. He is a person who

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is set in place. He is

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a person who is not the leader, but he’s a

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person who watches over needs to be protected, makes sure

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that it is protected and, in some cases,

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goes to his death to make sure that that protection

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is well founded.

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In return of the king, you can clearly tell that Tolkien

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he read his Shakespeare because Denethor is

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a mix of Julius Caesar, King Lear,

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and Macbeth, kind of all the worst parts of all 3 of those

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guys, at least in Shakespearean terms, all rolled into

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1. This goes directly

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to an idea that leaders need to grasp early from the

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return of the king, And it is this

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idea, serving a bad steward is bad, but

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serving a mediocre leader is infinitely worse. And Denethor,

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As we shall see in our readings today, is not

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only a bad steward, but he is a

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terribly mediocre leader.

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There’s a reason for that. Now

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it’s not immediately revelatory in

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the return of the king but if you know enough about

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Christology if you know about eschatology if you know Anything about

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the Bible at all, you will realize

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that Tolkien is leveraging Denethor’s

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behavior to make a comment on gnostic

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heresies. If you don’t know what that means,

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gnostic means secret or searching for

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secret knowledge. And in the early church, the early

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early Catholic church, back during the time of the creation of the

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Nicene Creed, There were all kinds of heresies,

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all kinds of heretical beliefs about the nature of Christ, the

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nature of the Bible, and the nature of human

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existence that were floating around at the time. And this

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was arguments that were occurring outside of the pagan world.

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The larger pagan culture of Rome, the larger larger

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pagan culture of Greece, and of other

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civilizations didn’t much care about the arguments that Christians

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were having. And the Jews, well, The

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Jews were too busy dealing with their own the results, the

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backwash of their own diaspora that had occurred,

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in 79 AD when the

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Romans destroyed the temple or 76 AD, when the

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Romans finally destroyed the temple at

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Jerusalem and got rid of those pestering people, or at least

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they thought. All they did was send them scattering and

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wandering throughout Europe for the next

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1900 years or so. Anyway,

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point is, there’s a there were a lot of heresies that

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were going on at that time, a lot of heretical teachings about the nature

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of Christ. And the gnostic heresy was an interesting one

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because it was a pursuit of secret knowledge.

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It was this idea that said that if you could

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somehow go beyond the Bible, If you could somehow

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go beyond the books as they are written in Matthew, Mark,

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Luke, and John, that you could Find out secret knowledge

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that Jesus was sharing with people that the people

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in authority in the year 300 or

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200 or 350 or 450 wouldn’t share with

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you. This seduction to secret knowledge

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is well, it lays at the roots of secret societies. It lays at

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the roots of all forms of masonry. It lays at the roots

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of the Illuminati, and, of course, it lays at the roots

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of folks who are running the World Economic Forum.

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But I digress.

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Leaders, and this is the point that Tolkien is making,

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leaders in search Secret knowledge

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always wind up committing heresies,

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heresies of all kinds. And Denethor, in the return of

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the king, was in search of secret knowledge. He wanted

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to know what Sauron and the evil at Mount Doom was

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going to do, how hard the hammer was going to fall on

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Gondor. If you ask him, he believed that that was part of

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his responsibility. That was part of his

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mission, part of his task as being a good

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steward. And so he used the palantir,

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seeing eyeglasses, what we would call crystal balls.

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He, of course, would have

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if Tolkien had decided to put it in the book, would have used

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runes, The palantiers are good enough.

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And in using these palantiers, he got himself caught up with

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evil because that’s where gnostic heresies Get You.

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Look, leaders, there is no secret

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knowledge. Not at all. There’s just

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knowledge that you have and then everything

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else is merely guessing.

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I return to the lord of the rings, the return of

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the king, book 5, once again, the

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siege of Gondor. Back to the book.

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Gandalf paced the floor. The morning of 2 days ago, nigh, on 3 days

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of journey, how far is the place where you parted? Some

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25 leagues as a bird flies, answers Veramare, but I could not come more

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swiftly. Yesser eve, I lay at Cair Andros,

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the long isle in the river northward, which we hold in defense, and the horses

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are kept on the hithered bank. As the dark drew on, I knew that haste

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was needed, so I rode then with 3 others that could also be horsed. The

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rest of my company, I set south to strengthen the garrison at the forces of

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Osgiliath. I hope that I’ve not done ill. He looked at

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his father. Ill, cried Danathor, and his eyes flashed suddenly. Why do

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you ask? The men were under your command, or do you ask for my judgment

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on all your deeds? You

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your bearing is lowly in my presence, yet it is now is long

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now since you turned from your own way at my counsel. See, you have spoken

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skillfully as ever, but I have I not seen your eye fixed

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on, seeking whether you said well or too much? He

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has long had your heart in his keeping. My

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son, your father is old, but not yet a dotard. I can see and hear

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as was my want and little of what you have said or left unsaid is

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now hidden from me. I know the answer to many riddles. Alas, alas

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for Boromir. If what I have done displeases

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you, my father said Fairmer quietly. I wish I had known your counsel before

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the burden of so weighty a judgment was thrust upon me.

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Would that have a veil to change your judgment, said Denethor. You would still

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have done just so I deem. I know you well. Ever your desire is

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to Pure lordly and generous as a king of old, gracious and

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gentle. That may well be fit one of high race if he sits in power

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and peace, but in desperate Gentleness may be repaid with

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death. So be it, said

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Faramir. So be it, cried Denethor. But not with your

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death, only lord Faramir, with the death also of your father and all of your

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people whom it is your part to protect now that Boromir is gone.

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Do you wish then, said Faramir, that our places had been

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exchanged? Yes. I wish that indeed, said Denethor, for Boromir was

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loyal to me and no wizard’s pupil. He would have remembered his father’s need, and

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I would have not squandered what fortune gave. He would have brought me a mighty

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gift. For a moment, Faramir’s restraint

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gave way. I would ask you, my father, to remember why it was not why

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it was that I, not he, was an Athilian. On one occasion, at least

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your council has prevailed not long ago. It was the lord of the city that

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gave the errand to him. Stir not the bitterness in

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the cup that I mix for myself, said Dinothor. Had I not tasted it now

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many nights upon my tongue for boding that worse, ye let in the dregs?

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As now indeed I find, would it were not so, whether this thing

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had come to me. Comfort yourself, said Gandalf.

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In no case would Boromir have brought it to you. He is dead and died

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well. May he sleep in peace, yet you deceive yourself.

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He would have stretched out his hand to this thing and taking it, he would

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have fallen. He would have kept it for his own. And when he

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returned, you would not have known your son. The face of

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Denethor said hard and cold. You found Boromir less apt to

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your head, did you not? He said softly. But I, who was his

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father, say that he would have brought it to me. You are wise, maybe, mith

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Rindir. Yet with all your subtleties, you have not all wisdom.

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Councils may be found that are neither the webs of wizards nor the haste

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of fools. I have in this matter more lore and wisdom than you deem.

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What then is your wisdom, said Gandalf. Enough to

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perceive that there are 2 follies to avoid. To use this thing is perilous. At

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this hour to send it to the hands of a witless halfling into the land

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of the enemy himself as you have done and this son of mine.

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That is madness. And the lord Denethor, what

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would he have done? Neither, but most surely not for any

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argument, would he have set This thing at a hazard beyond all but a fool’s

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hope, risking our utter ruin if the enemy should recover what he lost.

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Nay. It should have been kept hidden, hidden deep and dark, not

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used, I say, unless at the utmost end of need, but set beyond

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his grasp saved by a victory so final that what then befell would

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not trouble us being dead. You think as

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is your want my lord of god or only, said Gandalf. Yet there are

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other men and other lives and time still to be. And for me, I pity

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even his slaves. And where will other men look for help if

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Gondor falls? Answered Denethor. If I had this thing now, the

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deep Also, the citadel, we should not then shake with

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a dread under this gloom, fearing the worst, and our councils would be

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undisturbed. If you do not trust me to endure the test, you do not know

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me yet. Nonetheless, I do not trust you, said Gandalf.

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Had I done so, I could have set this thing keeping it spared myself and

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others much anguish. And now hearing you speak, I trust you

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less, no more than Boromir. Nay, nay, say your wrath. I do not Trust myself

307
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in this, and I refuse this thing even as a freely given

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gift. You are strong and can still see in some

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matters govern yourself, dead athor. Yet if you had received this thing, it

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would have overthrown you. Were it buried beneath the roots of

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Mendelian, Still, it would have burned your mind away as the darkness

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grows and the yet worst things follow that shall soon come upon us.

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For a moment, the eyes of Denethor glowed again as he faced Gandalf, and

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Pippen felt once more the strain between their wills.

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But now almost it seemed as if their glances were like blades from eye to

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eye, flickering as they fenced. Pippen trembled, fearing some dreadful

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stroke, But suddenly, Jonathan relaxed and grew cold again. He shrugged

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his shoulders. If I had, if you had, he said, such words and

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ifs are vain. It has gone into the shadow, and only time will show what

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doom awaits it and us. This time will not be

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long. It was left, let all who fight the enemy in their fashion Be

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at 1 and keep hope while they may be, and after hope, still the

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hardy to die free. He turned to Faramir.

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What think you of the garrison at Osgiliath?

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It is not strong, said Faramir. I’ve sent the company of Ithilien

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to strengthen it. As I have said. Not

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enough, I deem, Zdenathor. Is there that the first blow will fall? They

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will have need of some stout captain there.

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There and elsewhere in many places, said Faramir and

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sighed. Alas, for my brother, whom

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I too loved. He rose. May I have your

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leave, father? And that he swayed and leaned upon his

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father’s chair. You are weary, I see, said

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Denethor. You have ridden fast and far and under the shadows of evil in the

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air, I am told. Let us not speak of that, said Faramir.

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Then we will not, said Denethor. Go now

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and rest as you may. Tomorrow’s need

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will be sterner.

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Shortcuts don’t get you anywhere when you’re weak.

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The steward of Gondor, lord Denethor there in

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that clip knew he was in a weak position

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trapped in Gondor awaiting the

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fall of the hammer from Mordor.

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Knowing that it was coming, he was

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consumed with coulda, woulda, shoulda,

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and didn’t. We coulda had the ring. We

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shoulda had Boromir, but we don’t.

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And he couldn’t get past that.

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One of the key things themes in the return of the king

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and throughout Lord of the Rings trilogy, is

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the presence of other races in,

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in middle earth, wizards, dwarves, elves,

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hobbits, and, of course, men. And, and men

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Men are at the bottom of the well,

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they’re at the bottom of the, of the

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ranking in the estimation of the other races of middle earth,

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partially because Isildur, from which the

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term Isildur’s Bane comes that’s used in the 2

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towers extensively. Isildur failed

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at the end of the, I believe, was the 2nd age,

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to destroy the wing the ring when he had the opportunity and

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instead was betrayed by it and was

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slain leading to all of the problems in the 3rd age,

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which, of course, when we read the return of the king and when we read

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the lord of the rings trilogy, we are entering at the end of the

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3rd age, an age when men will have

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another shot at the title And elves

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and dwarves and hobbits and even wizards

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will fade from view.

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Where is the strength in the weakness of

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men? Leaders who are stewards

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cannot wait for that strength to show

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up. They have to demonstrate it before it comes.

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Now leaders who are stewards, in

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particular, stewards like Denethor, can’t wait for a savior to

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lead, and that’s basically what Denethor Looking for now he would prefer to have

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a savior he can manipulate. He would prefer to have a savior that

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he can’t control. He would prefer to have a savior that he

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can tell what to do, which, of course, is not a savior. It’s an

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idol, but let’s not get technical here.

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Leaders who are stewards can’t wait on a savior to

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lead. When they do so, they do what Dennis Thor demonstrated in

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that little Piece there that I read, they they do lose

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faith, and they lose faith in the future. They lose faith in

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the resources that are around them, And they begin

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to move from problem solving to

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problem managing. And that’s precisely what is happening

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to Denethor. That’s The that’s the axis about

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which he is turning as he realizes that the

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savior of the ring is gone, and all he’s left with is

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this old wizard and

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his son, his youngest

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son. The loss of hope and a future salvation, and this is a

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larger point that I think Tolkien wants

395
00:26:12.460 –> 00:26:16.299
his readers to know, and I like you to know this as listeners

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00:26:16.299 –> 00:26:20.115
today. The loss of hope in a future salvation is sign of a

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weak or ineffectual leadership. Let me say

398
00:26:23.955 –> 00:26:26.630
that again. The loss of hope in a future salvation,

399
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particularly a future Christian salvation, a

400
00:26:31.110 –> 00:26:34.950
future salvation based on Jesus is the sign of

401
00:26:34.950 –> 00:26:36.425
a weak or ineffectual

402
00:26:38.485 –> 00:26:42.005
species of leadership. Leaders don’t often like to

403
00:26:42.005 –> 00:26:45.820
hear this secular or otherwise because, Well,

404
00:26:45.820 –> 00:26:49.200
hope implies that you must have

405
00:26:49.580 –> 00:26:53.100
faith, that there might be some things that are out of your hands as a

406
00:26:53.100 –> 00:26:56.365
leader, that are out of your control that are that

407
00:26:56.904 –> 00:27:00.745
are past your knowing. And that when those

408
00:27:00.745 –> 00:27:04.529
things that are past your knowing and that are out of your control

409
00:27:04.669 –> 00:27:08.509
manifest themselves, you’ve gotta have faith

410
00:27:08.509 –> 00:27:10.825
like the song said back in the day.

411
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Men in Lord of the Rings and in the Hobbit are

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00:27:18.024 –> 00:27:21.830
portrayed as needing hope to act. On

413
00:27:21.830 –> 00:27:25.510
the one hand, this is portrayed as a weakness. But then on the other

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hand, and Tolkien does this as shows this as well with

415
00:27:29.270 –> 00:27:32.534
Aragorn. He shows

416
00:27:33.075 –> 00:27:36.914
that that ability to hope is what gives men strength, but it’s

417
00:27:36.914 –> 00:27:40.269
a hidden strength that elves and Dwarves and

418
00:27:40.269 –> 00:27:43.950
hobbits and ants and wizards even

419
00:27:43.950 –> 00:27:46.835
are suspect of and cannot see.

420
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And when the strength of hope then begins to rule,

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well, then it’s time for all of the mythical

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elements to leave Middle Earth and for Middle

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Earth to become something else.

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But before that can occur well, before

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00:28:09.435 –> 00:28:13.275
that can occur, we need to get rid

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00:28:13.275 –> 00:28:16.940
of the stewards or the leaders

427
00:28:17.960 –> 00:28:21.320
anyway who have failed in their

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00:28:21.320 –> 00:28:24.795
mission to bring hope to

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00:28:24.795 –> 00:28:25.295
others.

430
00:28:46.245 –> 00:28:49.960
Back to the book, back to Lord of the Rings, the Return of

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00:28:49.960 –> 00:28:53.720
the King. We are, continuing to move

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00:28:53.720 –> 00:28:57.235
through book 5. And, of course, we’re not reading the whole

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00:28:57.635 –> 00:29:00.215
There’s no possible way that we can.

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00:29:01.795 –> 00:29:05.640
You know, it’s just it’s It’s just

435
00:29:05.640 –> 00:29:09.320
too much. I would encourage you to, to pick

436
00:29:09.320 –> 00:29:12.765
up the trilogy. I would encourage you to read all 3 parts.

437
00:29:13.485 –> 00:29:16.845
It does clock in at, at well,

438
00:29:16.845 –> 00:29:20.685
well, without the additional information in the additions that I’ve

439
00:29:20.685 –> 00:29:23.610
got. It does clock in at around,

440
00:29:26.070 –> 00:29:29.750
1300 pages or so. So, it’ll take you it’ll take

441
00:29:29.750 –> 00:29:33.255
you all summer or couple of years maybe.

442
00:29:33.635 –> 00:29:37.395
Yes. You could go watch the movies. They are 20 years old. They

443
00:29:37.395 –> 00:29:41.210
are still well done. They still hold up, But, there are things that

444
00:29:41.210 –> 00:29:45.049
are in the book that are definitely missing from the

445
00:29:45.049 –> 00:29:48.675
films. So I would encourage you to to, till we skim

446
00:29:48.675 –> 00:29:51.715
the books, go back, watch the films, then go back and pick up the things

447
00:29:51.715 –> 00:29:55.315
that are in the book, but this is worthwhile reading, for leaders.

448
00:29:55.315 –> 00:29:59.100
So Back to the book, back to book 5 of Lord

449
00:29:59.100 –> 00:30:02.640
of the Rings, the return of the king, the pyre

450
00:30:03.419 –> 00:30:04.240
of Denethor.

451
00:30:07.255 –> 00:30:10.855
What is this, my lord? Said the wizard. The houses of the dead are no

452
00:30:10.855 –> 00:30:13.870
places for the living, and why do men fight here in the hallows when there

453
00:30:14.110 –> 00:30:17.710
War Enough Before the Gate, or has our enemy come even to

454
00:30:17.710 –> 00:30:21.390
Rath Dinen? Since when has the lord of Gondor

455
00:30:21.390 –> 00:30:25.115
been answerable to these, Denethor. Or may or may I not command

456
00:30:25.115 –> 00:30:28.955
my own servants? You may, said Gandalf, but others may contest

457
00:30:28.955 –> 00:30:32.789
your will when it has turned to madness and evil. Where’s your son

458
00:30:32.789 –> 00:30:36.549
Faramir? He lies within, said Denethor, burning, already

459
00:30:36.549 –> 00:30:40.150
burning. They have set a fire in his flesh, but soon all shall be

460
00:30:40.150 –> 00:30:43.815
burned. The west has failed. It shall all go up in a great fire, and

461
00:30:43.815 –> 00:30:47.595
all shall be ended. Ash, ash, and smoke blown away on the wind.

462
00:30:49.080 –> 00:30:52.280
Then Gandalf seeing the madness that was on him, feared that he had already done

463
00:30:52.280 –> 00:30:56.040
some evil deed, and he thrust forward with Baragon and Pippin

464
00:30:56.040 –> 00:30:59.465
behind him while Denethor gave back until he stood beside the table Then

465
00:30:59.705 –> 00:31:03.405
but there they found Faramir still dreaming in his fever lying upon the

466
00:31:03.545 –> 00:31:07.180
table. Wood was piled under it and high all about it and

467
00:31:07.420 –> 00:31:11.040
All was dredged with oil, even the garments of Faramir and the coverlets.

468
00:31:11.660 –> 00:31:15.180
But as yet no fire had been set to the fuel. Then

469
00:31:15.180 –> 00:31:19.005
Gandalf revealed the strength that lay hidden him Even as the light of his

470
00:31:19.005 –> 00:31:22.445
power was hidden under his gray mantle, he leaped up onto the

471
00:31:22.445 –> 00:31:26.180
faggots and raising the sick man Raising the

472
00:31:26.180 –> 00:31:30.020
sick man lightly, he sprang down again and bore him towards the door, but

473
00:31:30.020 –> 00:31:33.780
he did so but as he did so, Faramir moaned and called on his father

474
00:31:33.780 –> 00:31:37.535
in his dream. Denethur started as one waking from

475
00:31:37.535 –> 00:31:40.175
a trance and the flame died in his eyes and he wept and he said,

476
00:31:40.175 –> 00:31:43.720
do not take my son from me. He calls for me. He

477
00:31:43.720 –> 00:31:47.400
calls, said Gandalf, but you cannot come to him yet, for he must seek healing

478
00:31:47.400 –> 00:31:51.085
on a threshold of death and may maybe find it not, whereas

479
00:31:51.085 –> 00:31:54.764
your part is to go out to the battle of your city where maybe

480
00:31:54.764 –> 00:31:57.745
death awaits you. This you know in your heart.

481
00:31:58.960 –> 00:32:02.400
He will not wake again, said Denethor. Battle is vain. Why should we wish to

482
00:32:02.400 –> 00:32:05.525
live longer? Why should we not go to death side by side?

483
00:32:07.445 –> 00:32:11.205
Authority is not given to you, steward of Gondor, to order the hour of your

484
00:32:11.205 –> 00:32:15.039
death, answered Gandalf, and only the heathen kings under

485
00:32:15.039 –> 00:32:18.740
the diminution of the dark power did thus,

486
00:32:18.799 –> 00:32:22.545
slaying themselves in pride and despair, murdering their

487
00:32:22.545 –> 00:32:26.385
kin to ease their own death. In passing through the door, he

488
00:32:26.385 –> 00:32:29.745
took Faramir from the deadly house and laid him on the beer on which he

489
00:32:29.745 –> 00:32:32.820
had been brought and which now had been set on the

490
00:32:33.200 –> 00:32:36.960
porch. Denethor followed him and stood trembling, looking with longing on the face

491
00:32:36.960 –> 00:32:40.805
of his son. And for a moment, While all were silent and still

492
00:32:40.805 –> 00:32:44.645
watching the lord in his throes, he wavered. Come, said

493
00:32:44.645 –> 00:32:47.465
Gandalf. We are needed. There is much that you can yet do.

494
00:32:49.010 –> 00:32:52.850
Then suddenly, Denethorne laughed. He stood up tall

495
00:32:52.850 –> 00:32:56.290
and proud again, and stepping swiftly back to the table, he lifted from it the

496
00:32:56.290 –> 00:33:00.065
pillow on which his head had lain. Then coming to the doorway, he drew

497
00:33:00.065 –> 00:33:03.585
aside the covering, and, lo, he had between his hands a

498
00:33:03.585 –> 00:33:07.370
palantir. And as he held it up, It seemed to those that

499
00:33:07.370 –> 00:33:11.210
looked on that the glow began to glow with an inner

500
00:33:11.210 –> 00:33:14.875
flame, so that the lean face of the lord was lit As with red

501
00:33:14.875 –> 00:33:18.635
fire, it seemed cut out of hard stone, sharp with black shadows,

502
00:33:18.635 –> 00:33:21.215
noble, proud, and terrible. His eyes glittered.

503
00:33:22.340 –> 00:33:25.860
Pride and despair, he cried. Dissound and I’ll think that the eyes of the White

504
00:33:25.860 –> 00:33:29.300
Tower were blind? Nay. I have seen more than thou knowest, gray

505
00:33:29.300 –> 00:33:33.034
fool, For thy hope is but ignorance, go then in labor and healing.

506
00:33:33.034 –> 00:33:36.635
Go forth and fight. Vanity, for a little space you may triumph on

507
00:33:36.635 –> 00:33:40.370
the field for a day, But against the power that now rises, there is

508
00:33:40.370 –> 00:33:44.210
no victory. To this city, only the first finger of its hand

509
00:33:44.210 –> 00:33:47.615
has yet been stretched. All the east is moving, and And even now the wind

510
00:33:47.615 –> 00:33:51.375
of thy hope cheats thee and wasps up Unduin with a fleet of black

511
00:33:51.375 –> 00:33:55.215
sails. The west has failed. It is time for all to depart who would

512
00:33:55.215 –> 00:33:58.600
not be slaves. Such counsels will make the

513
00:33:58.600 –> 00:34:02.360
enemy’s victory certain indeed, said Gandalf. Hope on then,

514
00:34:02.360 –> 00:34:06.085
laughed Edithor. Do I not know thee, Mithrandir? Thy hope is to rule

515
00:34:06.085 –> 00:34:09.764
in my stead, to stand behind every throne, north, south, or west.

516
00:34:09.764 –> 00:34:13.460
I read thy mind and its policies. Do I

517
00:34:13.460 –> 00:34:17.139
not know that this halfling was committed by thee to keep silence, that he

518
00:34:17.139 –> 00:34:20.179
was brought here to be a spy within my very chamber? And yet in our

519
00:34:20.179 –> 00:34:23.745
speech together, I learned the names and purpose of all thy companions.

520
00:34:24.125 –> 00:34:27.565
So with the left hand, that was used before a little while as a shield

521
00:34:27.565 –> 00:34:31.245
against Mordor, and with the right, bring up this ranger of the north to supplant

522
00:34:31.245 –> 00:34:34.990
me. But I say to the Gandalf myth

523
00:34:34.990 –> 00:34:38.590
Randir, I will not be thy tool. I am the steward of the house of

524
00:34:38.590 –> 00:34:41.955
Enarion. I will not step down to be the daughter chamberlain of an

525
00:34:41.955 –> 00:34:45.635
upstart. Even were his claim proved to me, still he comes with a line of

526
00:34:45.635 –> 00:34:49.310
a sealed door. I will not bow to such a one last of a ragged

527
00:34:49.370 –> 00:34:52.830
house long bereft of lordship and dignity.

528
00:34:53.130 –> 00:34:56.510
What then would you have, said Gandalf, if your will could have its way?

529
00:34:57.365 –> 00:35:00.985
I would have things as they were all the days of my life, answered Denethor,

530
00:35:01.285 –> 00:35:04.965
and in the days of my long fathers before me, to be the lord of

531
00:35:04.965 –> 00:35:08.470
this city in peace and leave my chair to a after me who would be

532
00:35:08.470 –> 00:35:12.310
his own master and no wizard’s pupil. But if doom denies this to

533
00:35:12.310 –> 00:35:16.070
me, then I will have naught, neither life diminish, nor

534
00:35:16.070 –> 00:35:19.725
love have, nor honor abated. To me, it would

535
00:35:19.725 –> 00:35:23.484
seem that a steward who faithfully surrenders his charge is diminished in

536
00:35:23.484 –> 00:35:27.320
love or in honor, said Gandalf. And at the least, you

537
00:35:27.320 –> 00:35:30.860
shall not rob your son of his choice while his death is still in

538
00:35:31.320 –> 00:35:35.145
doubt. At those words, Deothor’s eyes flamed again, and taking the Stone

539
00:35:35.145 –> 00:35:38.985
under his army drew a knife and strode towards Zabir, but Baragon sprang

540
00:35:38.985 –> 00:35:42.630
forward and set himself up for Faramir. So, cried Denethor, thou hast already

541
00:35:42.710 –> 00:35:46.329
Stole half my son’s love. Now thou stealest the hearts of my knights

542
00:35:46.710 –> 00:35:50.545
also so that they rob me wholly of my son at last. But in

543
00:35:50.545 –> 00:35:54.385
this, at least, thou shalt not defy my will to rule my own

544
00:35:54.385 –> 00:35:58.224
end. Come hither, he cried to his servants. Come if

545
00:35:58.224 –> 00:36:02.010
you are not all recreant. Then the 2 of them ran up the steps

546
00:36:02.010 –> 00:36:05.369
to him. Swiftly, he snatched a torch from the hand of 1 and sprang back

547
00:36:05.369 –> 00:36:08.890
into the house. Before Gandalf could hinder him, he thrust the brand amid the fuel,

548
00:36:08.890 –> 00:36:12.555
and at once it crackled and roared into flame. Then

549
00:36:12.555 –> 00:36:16.315
Denethor leaped upon the table, and standing there, wreathed in fire and smoke, he

550
00:36:16.315 –> 00:36:20.000
took up the staff of his stewardship that lay at his feet and broke it

551
00:36:20.000 –> 00:36:23.680
on his knee. Casting the pieces into the blaze, he bowed

552
00:36:23.680 –> 00:36:27.359
and laid himself on the table, clasping the palanineer with both hands upon his

553
00:36:27.359 –> 00:36:30.954
breast. And it was said that ever after, if

554
00:36:30.954 –> 00:36:34.634
any man looked in that stone, unless he had a great strength

555
00:36:34.634 –> 00:36:38.200
of will to turn it to other purpose, he saw only 2 aged

556
00:36:38.980 –> 00:36:42.740
hands withering in flame.

557
00:36:42.740 –> 00:36:46.405
Gandalf, in grief and horror, turned his face away and closed the door.

558
00:36:47.445 –> 00:36:51.205
For a while, he stood in thoughts silent upon the threshold,

559
00:36:51.205 –> 00:36:54.505
while those outside heard the greedy roaring of the fire within.

560
00:36:56.160 –> 00:36:58.660
And then Denethor gave a great cry and

561
00:36:59.920 –> 00:37:03.760
afterwards spoke no more nor was ever again seen by

562
00:37:03.760 –> 00:37:04.580
mortal men.

563
00:37:07.565 –> 00:37:11.165
So passes Denethor, son of

564
00:37:11.165 –> 00:37:14.290
Echtheleon, said Gandalf.

565
00:37:34.380 –> 00:37:35.600
So passes Denethor,

566
00:37:39.275 –> 00:37:40.415
son of Ecthelion.

567
00:37:45.250 –> 00:37:48.930
Remember I said Denethor was a mixture of Julius Caesar,

568
00:37:48.930 –> 00:37:52.665
King Lear, and Maccabeth all rolled into 1. Right? Denethor

569
00:37:52.665 –> 00:37:56.425
is also the opposite of what we saw or his behavior

570
00:37:56.425 –> 00:37:59.785
is the opposite of the behavior that we saw demonstrated in the 2

571
00:37:59.785 –> 00:38:03.460
towers by King Theoden of Rohan.

572
00:38:04.799 –> 00:38:08.195
Now Theoden dies, but Theoden dies in glory on

573
00:38:08.195 –> 00:38:11.815
the battlefield in honor. Denethor

574
00:38:13.075 –> 00:38:16.880
dies burning like the heathen kings of old in

575
00:38:17.819 –> 00:38:20.160
despair, pride, and misspent

576
00:38:21.219 –> 00:38:25.039
grief. There’s a lesson for leaders here. Right?

577
00:38:26.085 –> 00:38:29.785
You destroy the thing that you’re afraid of, and

578
00:38:29.845 –> 00:38:31.944
sometimes that thing is yourself.

579
00:38:35.630 –> 00:38:39.250
This is where the gnostic heresy gets you. Right? This is

580
00:38:40.510 –> 00:38:43.675
where looking too deeply or to greedily

581
00:38:44.215 –> 00:38:47.895
to know everything. This is where wanting

582
00:38:47.895 –> 00:38:51.355
to know more than what you can handle

583
00:38:52.210 –> 00:38:55.890
gets you into trouble. Leaders would

584
00:38:55.890 –> 00:38:59.430
do well to pay attention to the actions of the steward of Gondor

585
00:39:00.505 –> 00:39:03.005
who winds up on a pyre

586
00:39:04.905 –> 00:39:07.325
trying to burn his only son

587
00:39:09.270 –> 00:39:12.170
Or maybe murder might be a better

588
00:39:13.350 –> 00:39:16.730
term in a orgy of

589
00:39:17.670 –> 00:39:21.485
pride and willful action. Tolkien’s

590
00:39:21.485 –> 00:39:25.245
saying several things here. And, again, important for leaders to pay attention

591
00:39:25.245 –> 00:39:28.910
to the several things he’s saying. But the biggest thing that he’s

592
00:39:28.910 –> 00:39:32.670
pointing out here. And we see it in the battle in

593
00:39:32.670 –> 00:39:36.510
book 5 between the 2 titans of Gandalf and of

594
00:39:36.510 –> 00:39:40.135
Denethor is that as Denethor is declining as the

595
00:39:40.135 –> 00:39:43.755
steward, he could have declined in honor. He could

596
00:39:43.815 –> 00:39:47.420
have declined in glory, but he chose instead to decline in

597
00:39:47.420 –> 00:39:50.480
a different kind of way. As that declination,

598
00:39:50.940 –> 00:39:53.575
as the sun is setting on Gondor.

599
00:39:55.155 –> 00:39:58.295
Gandalf stands as the

600
00:39:59.155 –> 00:40:01.310
bearer not of a new thing.

601
00:40:03.050 –> 00:40:06.670
But the messenger of a new

602
00:40:07.130 –> 00:40:10.375
king, the messenger of the future. And this is

603
00:40:10.855 –> 00:40:14.375
What Dana Thor and many leaders like him don’t wanna

604
00:40:14.375 –> 00:40:17.915
hear. Look. When you

605
00:40:18.375 –> 00:40:21.890
retire from a role, let’s say it’s a role at a

606
00:40:21.890 –> 00:40:25.730
company. Let’s say it’s a leadership role of a civic organization. Let’s even

607
00:40:25.730 –> 00:40:29.085
say it’s a leadership role, in a government.

608
00:40:31.484 –> 00:40:35.005
You should have prepared other people to take your

609
00:40:35.005 –> 00:40:38.420
place. The graveyards

610
00:40:38.880 –> 00:40:42.720
are full of indispensable men. I believe it

611
00:40:42.720 –> 00:40:46.345
was Charles de Gaulle who pointed that out And, the leader of

612
00:40:46.345 –> 00:40:49.964
the French resistance and the eventual prime minister of

613
00:40:50.105 –> 00:40:52.685
France, after World War 2,

614
00:40:54.130 –> 00:40:57.270
And now the

615
00:40:57.570 –> 00:41:01.250
graveyard is full of Denethor who believed he

616
00:41:01.250 –> 00:41:05.005
was indispensable too. Someone will

617
00:41:05.005 –> 00:41:08.685
lead if you don’t. And if you don’t prepare people to

618
00:41:08.685 –> 00:41:12.529
lead as a leader, The wisest individuals will

619
00:41:12.529 –> 00:41:16.289
not lead. It will instead be the least ethical,

620
00:41:16.289 –> 00:41:18.869
the least moral, and the least capable.

621
00:41:21.005 –> 00:41:24.685
One other thing to remember, and this is very important, I think,

622
00:41:24.685 –> 00:41:28.525
for leaders. And Dana Thoreau gives a shadow of this, but, of

623
00:41:28.525 –> 00:41:32.200
course, When he does, you have to consider that Tolkien

624
00:41:32.200 –> 00:41:35.960
is constructing an idea.

625
00:41:35.960 –> 00:41:39.605
He’s world building an idea of monarchy that

626
00:41:39.605 –> 00:41:43.205
comes from, well, quite frankly, the British Empire. So we

627
00:41:43.205 –> 00:41:46.670
can’t take too much from this in our modern era. But

628
00:41:47.530 –> 00:41:51.210
here’s the but. One of the things that is that

629
00:41:51.210 –> 00:41:53.790
sort of winds through the story of Denethor,

630
00:41:55.055 –> 00:41:58.435
Faramir, Boromir, and Gandalf, they’re

631
00:41:59.935 –> 00:42:03.530
quadrangle of a dynamic. The thing that winds through all of it is this,

632
00:42:04.330 –> 00:42:08.170
Work is not your family. The work of

633
00:42:08.170 –> 00:42:11.530
being king was not Denethor’s family, but he

634
00:42:11.530 –> 00:42:15.255
couldn’t see it. And even if he could have seen

635
00:42:15.255 –> 00:42:18.855
it, he probably wouldn’t have accepted it. That

636
00:42:18.855 –> 00:42:22.599
was also part of the gnostic heresy. As a

637
00:42:22.599 –> 00:42:26.299
matter of fact, part of the gnostic heresy included being

638
00:42:26.440 –> 00:42:30.095
unable to accept that fact, being unable

639
00:42:30.095 –> 00:42:33.315
to put it down. Or as William

640
00:42:33.935 –> 00:42:37.350
Shakespeare infamously put the line in the mouth of Julius Caesar in

641
00:42:38.230 –> 00:42:41.910
Julius Caesar, always,

642
00:42:41.910 –> 00:42:44.010
I am Caesar.

643
00:43:06.724 –> 00:43:10.105
Back to the book, back to Lord of the Rings,

644
00:43:11.360 –> 00:43:15.119
the return of the king. We’re moving

645
00:43:15.119 –> 00:43:18.960
on to book 6. We’re around the corner here on the book. We’re

646
00:43:18.960 –> 00:43:22.395
gonna round the corner here the trilogy. We’re going to go to

647
00:43:22.395 –> 00:43:25.135
the cracks of mount doom.

648
00:43:27.115 –> 00:43:30.599
The light sprang up again, And there on the brink of the chasm at the

649
00:43:30.599 –> 00:43:34.119
very crack of doom stood Frodo, black against the

650
00:43:34.119 –> 00:43:37.965
glare, tense erect, but Still as if he had been turned

651
00:43:37.965 –> 00:43:41.505
to stone. Master, cried

652
00:43:42.205 –> 00:43:45.730
Sam. Then Frodo stirred and spoke with a clear Your voice indeed with a

653
00:43:45.730 –> 00:43:49.570
voice clearer and more powerful than Sam had ever heard him use, and it rose

654
00:43:49.570 –> 00:43:53.195
above the throb and turmoil of Mount Doom ringing in the

655
00:43:53.335 –> 00:43:57.015
roof and walls. I have come, he said, but

656
00:43:57.015 –> 00:44:00.670
I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I

657
00:44:00.670 –> 00:44:04.050
will not do this deed. The ring is mine.

658
00:44:04.670 –> 00:44:08.135
And suddenly, as he said it on his finger, he vanished from Sam’s sight.

659
00:44:08.615 –> 00:44:11.835
Sam gasped, but he had no chance to cry out for it. That

660
00:44:12.295 –> 00:44:14.875
moment, many things happened.

661
00:44:16.270 –> 00:44:19.070
Something struck Sam violently in the back. His legs were knocked from under him, and

662
00:44:19.070 –> 00:44:22.590
he was flung aside striking his head against the stony floor as a

663
00:44:22.590 –> 00:44:26.234
dark shape sprang over him. He lay still for a moment and all went

664
00:44:26.775 –> 00:44:30.315
black. And far away as Frodo put on the ring claimed it for his

665
00:44:30.694 –> 00:44:34.380
own even in Samoth and Aror, the very heart of his

666
00:44:34.380 –> 00:44:38.060
realm. The power in Barad dur was shaken, and the tower trembled from

667
00:44:38.060 –> 00:44:41.605
its foundations to its proud and bitter crown. The

668
00:44:41.605 –> 00:44:45.285
dark lord was suddenly aware of him. His eye piercing all shadows, looked across the

669
00:44:45.285 –> 00:44:49.045
plane to the door that he had made, and the magnitude of his own folly

670
00:44:49.045 –> 00:44:52.790
was revealed to him in a blinding flash. And all the devices of his enemies

671
00:44:52.790 –> 00:44:56.630
were at last laid bare, and his wrath blazed in consuming flame,

672
00:44:56.630 –> 00:45:00.345
but his fear rose like a vast black smoke to choke

673
00:45:00.345 –> 00:45:04.025
him for he knew his deadly peril and the thread upon which his doom

674
00:45:04.025 –> 00:45:07.870
went now hung. From all his policies and webs

675
00:45:07.870 –> 00:45:11.550
of fear and treachery, from all his stratagems and wars, his mind shook free.

676
00:45:11.550 –> 00:45:15.315
And throughout his realm, a tremor ran. His slaves quailed

677
00:45:15.315 –> 00:45:19.075
and his armies halted, and his captain suddenly steerless bereft of will

678
00:45:19.075 –> 00:45:22.375
wavered and despaired for they were forgotten.

679
00:45:23.420 –> 00:45:26.880
The whole minded purpose of the power that wielded them was now bent with

680
00:45:27.020 –> 00:45:30.619
overwhelming force upon the mountain at his summons, wheeling with a

681
00:45:30.619 –> 00:45:34.424
rending cry. And at last In the last desperate race, there flew

682
00:45:34.424 –> 00:45:38.105
faster than the wings, the Nazgul, the ring race, and with

683
00:45:38.105 –> 00:45:41.780
a storm of wings, they hurled southwards to Mount

684
00:45:42.080 –> 00:45:45.840
Doom. Sam got up. He was dazed and blood streaming from his head dripping

685
00:45:45.840 –> 00:45:49.600
in his eyes. He groped forward, and then he saw a strange and terrible

686
00:45:49.600 –> 00:45:53.275
thing. Gollum on the edge of the abyss was fighting like a

687
00:45:53.275 –> 00:45:57.035
mad thing with an unseen foe to and fro, he swayed. Now so near the

688
00:45:57.035 –> 00:46:00.640
brink that he almost tumbled in now drawing back, falling to the

689
00:46:00.640 –> 00:46:04.480
ground, rising and falling again. And all the while, he hissed, but

690
00:46:04.480 –> 00:46:07.645
spoke no words. The fires

691
00:46:08.105 –> 00:46:11.545
below awoke in anger, the red light blaze, and all the cavern was filled with

692
00:46:11.545 –> 00:46:15.310
such a great glare and heat. Suddenly, Sam saw Gollum’s long

693
00:46:15.310 –> 00:46:19.150
hands draw upwards to his mouth. His white fangs gleamed, and they snapped

694
00:46:19.150 –> 00:46:22.665
as they bit. Frodo gave a cry, and there he was

695
00:46:23.145 –> 00:46:26.985
Falling upon his knees at the chasm’s edge, but Gollum dancing like

696
00:46:26.985 –> 00:46:30.665
a mad thing held aloft the ring, a finger

697
00:46:30.665 –> 00:46:34.440
still thrust within its circle. It showed now as if verily

698
00:46:34.440 –> 00:46:38.119
it was wrought of living fire.

699
00:46:38.119 –> 00:46:41.744
Precious, precious, precious, Golub cried. My

700
00:46:41.744 –> 00:46:45.505
precious. Oh, my precious. And with that, even as his

701
00:46:45.505 –> 00:46:48.645
eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far,

702
00:46:49.539 –> 00:46:52.980
toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek,

703
00:46:52.980 –> 00:46:56.599
he fell. Out of the depths came his last wail,

704
00:46:58.020 –> 00:47:00.825
precious, and he was

705
00:47:02.485 –> 00:47:06.245
gone. There was a roar and a great confusion of noise. Fires leaped up and

706
00:47:06.245 –> 00:47:09.610
licked the roof. The throbbing grew to a great tumult, and the

707
00:47:09.610 –> 00:47:13.050
mountain shook. Sam ran to Frodo and picked him up and carried him out

708
00:47:13.050 –> 00:47:16.890
the door. And there upon the dark threshold of the Sabbath and Nahor,

709
00:47:16.890 –> 00:47:20.555
high above the Lanes of Mordor, such wonder and terror came on him that

710
00:47:20.555 –> 00:47:24.255
he stood still forgetting all else and gazed as one turned to stone.

711
00:47:25.150 –> 00:47:28.190
A brief vision he had of a swirling cloud in the midst of its towers

712
00:47:28.190 –> 00:47:32.030
and battlements, tall as hills founded upon a mighty mountain throne above

713
00:47:32.030 –> 00:47:35.225
immeasurable pits, great courts and dungeons, eyeless

714
00:47:35.445 –> 00:47:39.125
prison, sheer cliffs, and gaping gates of steel and adamant,

715
00:47:39.125 –> 00:47:42.370
and then all passed. Towers

716
00:47:42.750 –> 00:47:46.510
fell and mountains slid. Walls crumbled and melted, crashing

717
00:47:46.510 –> 00:47:50.215
down. Vast spires of smoke and spouting steam went billowing up until

718
00:47:50.455 –> 00:47:54.215
They toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came

719
00:47:54.215 –> 00:47:57.975
foaming down upon the land. And then at last, over the miles between, there

720
00:47:57.975 –> 00:48:01.819
came a rumble rising to a duffing in crash and roar. The earth

721
00:48:01.819 –> 00:48:04.720
shook. The plane heaved and cracked, and Ourodroon

722
00:48:05.180 –> 00:48:08.895
reeled. Fire belched from its ribbon summit. The skies burst into

723
00:48:09.215 –> 00:48:12.975
thunder seared with lightning down like lashing whips, felt a torrent of black

724
00:48:12.975 –> 00:48:16.735
rain and into the heart of the storm with a cry that pierced all

725
00:48:16.735 –> 00:48:20.550
other sounds tearing the clouds asunder, the Nazgul came shooting

726
00:48:20.550 –> 00:48:24.310
like flaming bolts as caught in fiery ruin of hill and sky. They

727
00:48:24.310 –> 00:48:27.714
crackled, withered, and went out.

728
00:48:29.694 –> 00:48:33.375
Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee, said a voice by his side. And

729
00:48:33.375 –> 00:48:37.079
there was Frodo, Pale and worn and yet himself again. And

730
00:48:37.079 –> 00:48:40.760
in his eyes, there was peace now, neither strain of will nor madness

731
00:48:40.760 –> 00:48:44.595
nor any fear. His burden was taken away. There was the

732
00:48:44.595 –> 00:48:48.355
dear master of the sweet days in the Shire. Master, cried Sam, and fell

733
00:48:48.355 –> 00:48:52.090
upon his knees. In all that ruin of the world, For

734
00:48:52.090 –> 00:48:55.770
the moment, he felt only joy, great joy.

735
00:48:55.770 –> 00:48:59.530
The burden was gone. His master had been saved. He was

736
00:48:59.530 –> 00:49:03.255
himself again. He was free. And then Sam caught sight of the

737
00:49:03.255 –> 00:49:06.695
maimed and bleeding hand. Your poor hand, he said. And I have nothing to bind

738
00:49:06.695 –> 00:49:10.135
it with or comfort it. I would have spared him a whole hand of mine

739
00:49:10.135 –> 00:49:13.330
rather, but he’s Gone now. Beyond recall. Gone

740
00:49:14.270 –> 00:49:18.030
forever. Yes, said Frodo. But do you remember

741
00:49:18.030 –> 00:49:21.865
Gandalf’s words? Even Gollum may have something yet

742
00:49:21.865 –> 00:49:25.545
to do. But for him, Sam, I could not have

743
00:49:25.545 –> 00:49:29.230
destroyed the ring. The quest would have been in vain even at

744
00:49:29.230 –> 00:49:32.450
the bitter end. So let us forgive

745
00:49:33.150 –> 00:49:36.775
him for the quest is achieved, And now all is

746
00:49:36.775 –> 00:49:40.315
over. I’m glad you are here with

747
00:49:40.855 –> 00:49:44.395
me here at the end of all things, Sam.

748
00:50:16.735 –> 00:50:19.320
At the end of all things.

749
00:50:20.760 –> 00:50:24.600
Yeah. And so we are at the end

750
00:50:24.600 –> 00:50:27.724
of the return of the king and thus at the end of the Lord of

751
00:50:27.724 –> 00:50:31.484
the rings trilogy. Couple of things to take from here

752
00:50:31.484 –> 00:50:34.944
as we think about staying on the path,

753
00:50:36.500 –> 00:50:40.120
with using the words of JRR Tolkien to help us out.

754
00:50:42.260 –> 00:50:46.065
At the Cracks of Mountain Dew, evil got a vote. Right? And

755
00:50:46.065 –> 00:50:49.744
I’m I’m fond of saying this, and people don’t really like it because

756
00:50:49.744 –> 00:50:53.045
it sounds like I’m proving something, but I’m really stating a

757
00:50:53.880 –> 00:50:57.240
fact of reality. Evil does get a

758
00:50:57.240 –> 00:51:00.815
vote. You know, bad people do

759
00:51:00.974 –> 00:51:04.415
yet to have an opinion. They do get to take action. They do get

760
00:51:04.415 –> 00:51:07.474
to engage in the world. Bad

761
00:51:08.095 –> 00:51:11.900
actors are going to do the things they’re going to do.

762
00:51:12.920 –> 00:51:16.600
But that doesn’t mean that good actors and good people don’t get

763
00:51:16.600 –> 00:51:20.385
a vote, and it doesn’t mean that Good people are

764
00:51:20.385 –> 00:51:24.005
less powerful, though they may be less effective and more

765
00:51:24.465 –> 00:51:27.990
naive than bad people, But it doesn’t mean

766
00:51:27.990 –> 00:51:30.970
they’re powerless or completely ineffectual.

767
00:51:33.349 –> 00:51:37.125
See, evil may get a vote, But justice, which is

768
00:51:37.184 –> 00:51:40.704
outside of the hands of either good or evil, no matter what we may think

769
00:51:40.704 –> 00:51:44.330
of that term in the west or in humanity and general

770
00:51:44.870 –> 00:51:46.970
justice, justice gets the final

771
00:51:48.710 –> 00:51:52.545
word. That is a justice that is meted out by people or

772
00:51:52.545 –> 00:51:56.225
by entities that are much that are at a

773
00:51:56.225 –> 00:51:59.670
much higher transcendent level than we are

774
00:51:59.990 –> 00:52:03.349
And who know well, who know all

775
00:52:03.349 –> 00:52:03.849
ends.

776
00:52:09.184 –> 00:52:12.944
Frodo quotes from Gandalf there about Gollum’s role at

777
00:52:12.944 –> 00:52:16.550
the end of all things, but he forgets

778
00:52:17.030 –> 00:52:20.790
the first part of it or or maybe Tolkien didn’t

779
00:52:20.790 –> 00:52:24.315
wanna pull it back because it probably wasn’t necessary. His readers at

780
00:52:24.555 –> 00:52:28.255
time when he originally wrote this, were fairly sharp. But I

781
00:52:28.474 –> 00:52:32.234
think I think in our era, we need to restate it and

782
00:52:32.234 –> 00:52:35.050
make it plain. Even the wisest,

783
00:52:35.990 –> 00:52:39.450
the most intellectual, the most knowledgeable, the

784
00:52:39.829 –> 00:52:43.325
smartest PhDs on the planet. And by the way, I would argue that they

785
00:52:43.325 –> 00:52:46.305
are merely strategically and,

786
00:52:46.925 –> 00:52:50.730
tactically smart. I wouldn’t argue that they are wise, but, okay, if you wanna

787
00:52:50.890 –> 00:52:54.490
Throw them in there. You can. Even the wisest of folks

788
00:52:54.490 –> 00:52:57.850
cannot know will not know all

789
00:52:57.850 –> 00:53:01.585
ends. There are small evils

790
00:53:01.585 –> 00:53:05.285
and there are large evils. And, again, we don’t have a good eschatology

791
00:53:05.585 –> 00:53:09.390
of evil. We don’t have a good understanding of evil because Once you get

792
00:53:09.390 –> 00:53:13.230
rid of god, thank you, Nietzsche, at the foundational

793
00:53:13.230 –> 00:53:15.825
parts of the west, then you get rid of evil too.

794
00:53:17.185 –> 00:53:21.025
It becomes psychological and sociological. The devil made

795
00:53:21.025 –> 00:53:24.730
me do it, switches to mommy didn’t hug me enough. And now all of

796
00:53:24.730 –> 00:53:28.330
a sudden, you’re off to the races. But, anyway, there are

797
00:53:28.330 –> 00:53:32.010
minor evils, and there are large evils. And Gollum Gollum

798
00:53:32.010 –> 00:53:35.625
was a small evil, And it took a small

799
00:53:35.765 –> 00:53:39.465
evil to defeat a much, much larger

800
00:53:40.085 –> 00:53:42.720
evil, kind of similar to what happened in the hobbit

801
00:53:43.680 –> 00:53:47.119
with that dragon Smog, who was also a

802
00:53:47.119 –> 00:53:50.960
small evil. A preview of coming attractions such as it

803
00:53:50.960 –> 00:53:54.795
were with Sauron looming or maybe that’s

804
00:53:55.035 –> 00:53:57.935
maybe it’s lurking in the hobbit in the background.

805
00:53:59.710 –> 00:54:03.150
There’s a line in the Bible, in the book of Amos, and,

806
00:54:03.630 –> 00:54:07.250
doctor Martin Luther King Junior was want to say this,

807
00:54:08.135 –> 00:54:11.915
that justice will roll down the hills like

808
00:54:13.575 –> 00:54:16.900
water, and it will put out all the fires. This is Haysad

809
00:54:17.299 –> 00:54:20.980
Adding on, it will put out all the fires. It will

810
00:54:20.980 –> 00:54:24.740
quench all the thirsts. It will drown all the devils, and

811
00:54:24.740 –> 00:54:28.415
it will purify the land. Whether that land

812
00:54:28.415 –> 00:54:32.115
is middle earth or the land is, well,

813
00:54:32.735 –> 00:54:36.380
the United States of America or the west.

814
00:54:38.040 –> 00:54:41.800
Justice will roll down the hill like water, and

815
00:54:41.800 –> 00:54:45.395
it is side of our control.

816
00:54:46.895 –> 00:54:50.415
What is inside our control as leaders

817
00:54:50.415 –> 00:54:53.290
is, As Gandalf told Frodo,

818
00:54:55.190 –> 00:54:58.425
seemingly a long time ago, what is up

819
00:54:58.825 –> 00:55:02.505
To us is to decide what we will do with

820
00:55:02.505 –> 00:55:05.245
the time that is given to us.

821
00:55:06.349 –> 00:55:09.490
Will we do good or will we do

822
00:55:11.150 –> 00:55:14.690
evil? We stay on the path by doing

823
00:55:15.390 –> 00:55:19.235
good and letting justice work itself out.

824
00:55:22.335 –> 00:55:26.020
And well, That’s it for

825
00:55:26.020 –> 00:55:26.520
me.

826
00:56:48.465 –> 00:56:51.850
Thank you for listening and subscribing to the Leadership Lessons from the Great

827
00:56:53.370 –> 00:56:56.890
podcast. If you’re listening to this on any of the major podcast players

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829
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830
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little bit in there. A couple of sentences is good enough. That

831
00:57:08.049 –> 00:57:11.490
actually helps us gain those algorithms that I was

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00:57:11.490 –> 00:57:15.089
just maybe addressing, and, of course, it

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00:57:15.089 –> 00:57:18.675
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that need to be listening to this show that this show exists.

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00:57:26.540 –> 00:57:30.380
By the way, if you wanna get started on the leadership path yourself

837
00:57:30.380 –> 00:57:33.260
or you know some people who need to go on the leadership path,

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00:57:37.445 –> 00:57:41.045
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And we’ve got leadership development solutions for your civic group,

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847
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848
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You don’t like videos? You don’t like training? But you really like the

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book. Matter of fact, I’d recommend reading my most recent book,

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00:58:22.710 –> 00:58:26.550
12 Rules for Leaders, the Foundation of Intentional Leadership. You can get

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the audio just is the same with the video.

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Alright. That’s it for me.