As I watched yesterday's speech from President Obama, there were many feelings that went through me. One of them, which also one of my friends had commented, was the fact that of course he didn't want to come into the Presidency at such a troubled time but that was the hand that was dealt to him. We take inspiration from the most oddest of places...the reference that I made in my head when he did talk about this in his speech last night. Here is the exact quote:
What President Obama did say was very true, most presidents only have a few problems but the hand that was dealt to us at this time as a nation. We are troubled by many different situations but hopefully the goodness of humanity can shine through those of us who are stricken by greed and our personal desires. There are two quotes from Lord of the Rings that I want to make reference to in which I find the utmost inspiration. The first is when Frodo is speaking to Gandolf in the Mines of Moria:So I just want to help them get there. But I want to disabuse people of this notion that somehow we enjoy, you know, meddling in the private sector, if -- if you could tell me right now that, when I walked into this office that the banks were humming, that autos were selling, and that all you had to worry about was Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, getting health care passed, figuring out how to deal with energy independence, deal with Iran, and a pandemic flu, I would take that deal.
And -- and that's why I'm always amused when I hear these, you know, criticisms of, "Oh, you know, Obama wants to grow government." No. I would love a nice, lean portfolio to deal with, but that's not the hand that's been dealt us.
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.Whenever any one of us faces a dark time, we always question why this is happening to us at this exact time. But in the end, we just have to make the best of it. That is exactly what Obama is saying now; he didn't ask for all of this to happen and he would have been happier if there were only a few problems that he had to tend to. Yet this isn't the hand that has been dealt to him or the American people...and now the world. The flu is rampant and we're still facing a global recession but it is our generation that has been subject to it and there are still those who seek global prosperity and world peace. No matter what you think of his policies and no one knows if they will work yet, but he still yet inspires us to be patient and be confident that we will get through this time. It reminds me with another quote from Lord of the Rings, where Frodo is almost taken by the Nazgul and Sam reminds him that there still is some good left in the world...which is what we should remember and push for in our daily lives.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.
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