Greater Power

"Ever you desire to appear lordly and wise as the kings of old."

There is no real purpose for me to put that quote on this blog today but I have had it stuck in my head today and I think it is a funny quote. This is what Denethor said to Faramir when Faramir told him he would not have brought the Ring to his father because of its ability to corrupt any man who tries to possess it. A wise decision right? Not to Denethor because he has been looking into the Palantir having his mind twisted by the Evil One. Thousands of years of wisdom and lore about this Ring and Faramir wants to heed it. How is this a trait to criticize? As I said Denethor's mind has been twisted and he has fallen into the same trap that Saruman the traitor fell into only his reaction was despair instead of lust for power.

Denethor began to think that he could do what no other man or elf in Middle Earth has ever been able to do: master the One Ring. He did not come to this decision out of pride but out of despair. He saw something was wrong and that there was a solution in reach albeit a far fetched solution. The trap, however is that his solution does not seem as far fetched as the solution that the Council came up with. Send the Ring into the country of the owner? How does that make sense? As Gandalf said "There was never much hope. Only a fool's hope." Even though it was only hope enough for a fool, it was the only avenue for complete and permanent victory. Denethor's plan, even if it had defeated Sauron, would have only rendered him temporarily disabled at best. It would have only resulted in one more delay and "watchful peace" as Tolkien so often put it, before Sauron mustered his strength again. Only the fool's hope was a chance for complete and final victory. As Denethor failed to recognize, and as the Grey Pilgrim so often reminded us, there were greater powers at work in this tale than even Sauron.

"The ring was meant to come to you Frodo, and that is an encouraging thought."

I find myself pitying Lord Denethor instead of hating him. He was able to look back on thousands of years of greatness and history and it was all about to come crashing down under his rule. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. How could I judge him? I identify with him. I find it difficult to trust in our own "fool's hope." How often do I, like Denthor, not trust or recognize that there are greater powers at work than even our own Evil One? How often do I place my plans in the hope of a diminished victory and temporary delay of the Enemy? More often than not sadly. How tempting to feel despair at being abandoned and passed over because defeat seems inevitable and the evidence of a plan or a victory is elusive?

However, whether or not I have the strength to be bolstered by this hope, victory: complete and final, has been decreed and executed and I cannot compromise this tennet.