LFTT Part 1 -Power
6.11.08
Ok, so here's part one of an indefinite series of posts on the Circle Trilogy, and some of the lessons from it. I'm open to (read: desperate for) your thoughts and comments.
06/11/08
Lessons from the Trilogy
Part One
Black opens with a rather sinister pair locked in a power play. The fate of billions of people world wide could rest in their hands. Could. If they play their cards right. Carlos Missirian ans Valborg Svensson. If they succeed in this, their names will go down in history. If they fail, who will ever know? And frankly, with the right weapon, their chances of failing look pretty slim. All Earthly power is within their grasp. The ultimate struggle will soon begin.
And what are they after?
"[Svensson] was driven by an insatiable thirst for power, and the men he worked for even more so. This was their food, their drug."
Did you know that power is addictive? How many people, after tasting just a little power, are willing to fade back into obscurity? How many are even willing to stop at a taste of power? The more power a person wields, the more they desire to wield power. I believe that was one of the main driving forces behind most of the wars in history. Behind most crimes committed today. Power is a very powerful drug, and in the wrong hands, I think it's the most dangerous.
You've heard the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Have you ever heard of a totalitarian regime that didn't become corrupted very quickly? Power is a corrosive. It literally eats at the soul of the person wielding it. Why?
Possibly for the same reason that it's hard for a rich man to enter Heaven. If we feel self-sufficient, if we feel self-important, if we feel that we are in charge, that we control the Earth...where is our focus? We get puffed up and start thinking in terms of 'I can...' and 'I will...' and 'I am...'.
But we weren't created to bring glory to ourselves. We are created to think in terms of 'G-d can.', 'G-d will.' and 'G-d is.' He is our definition. We are nothing, absolutely nothing without Him. The reason power is so corrosive is that it makes us forget who we are. rather, it makes us forget whose we are. And without that distinction, why should we care about others? Why shouldn't we rape and steal and murder? If I have the power, and I have no god, I become my own god.
It's the oldest struggle in the book, one that always ends in suffering and death. Power belongs in G-d's hands, and we would do well to remember that.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As for Carlos and Svensson, and the man they work for, if you've finished the books you know what happens, where their choices take them. If you haven't finished reading I won't spoil it for you. But what did their power get them?
Is the power worth the pain?
What profit is there to a man who gains the whole world but loses his soul?
06/11/08
Lessons from the Trilogy
Part One
Black opens with a rather sinister pair locked in a power play. The fate of billions of people world wide could rest in their hands. Could. If they play their cards right. Carlos Missirian ans Valborg Svensson. If they succeed in this, their names will go down in history. If they fail, who will ever know? And frankly, with the right weapon, their chances of failing look pretty slim. All Earthly power is within their grasp. The ultimate struggle will soon begin.
And what are they after?
"[Svensson] was driven by an insatiable thirst for power, and the men he worked for even more so. This was their food, their drug."
Did you know that power is addictive? How many people, after tasting just a little power, are willing to fade back into obscurity? How many are even willing to stop at a taste of power? The more power a person wields, the more they desire to wield power. I believe that was one of the main driving forces behind most of the wars in history. Behind most crimes committed today. Power is a very powerful drug, and in the wrong hands, I think it's the most dangerous.
You've heard the saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Have you ever heard of a totalitarian regime that didn't become corrupted very quickly? Power is a corrosive. It literally eats at the soul of the person wielding it. Why?
Possibly for the same reason that it's hard for a rich man to enter Heaven. If we feel self-sufficient, if we feel self-important, if we feel that we are in charge, that we control the Earth...where is our focus? We get puffed up and start thinking in terms of 'I can...' and 'I will...' and 'I am...'.
But we weren't created to bring glory to ourselves. We are created to think in terms of 'G-d can.', 'G-d will.' and 'G-d is.' He is our definition. We are nothing, absolutely nothing without Him. The reason power is so corrosive is that it makes us forget who we are. rather, it makes us forget whose we are. And without that distinction, why should we care about others? Why shouldn't we rape and steal and murder? If I have the power, and I have no god, I become my own god.
It's the oldest struggle in the book, one that always ends in suffering and death. Power belongs in G-d's hands, and we would do well to remember that.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As for Carlos and Svensson, and the man they work for, if you've finished the books you know what happens, where their choices take them. If you haven't finished reading I won't spoil it for you. But what did their power get them?
Is the power worth the pain?
What profit is there to a man who gains the whole world but loses his soul?
November 7, 2008 at 12:59 AM
See my post on DOE. :)
I'll just add here that many times we will accept the pain as the price for the power.
We think the gain of power will offset the pain. We don't think the pain will be as bad as it is. The gain of power is immediate, but the pain may not come till much later.
Long term thinking doesn't always affect our decisions.
And it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world if he lose his soul. Better the little that the righteous have than the gold and silver of the wicked.