Rather, I am referring to a scene toward the end of the third movie in the Lord of the Rings series ("The Return of the King"), where the enemy is marching en masse (and I do mean "en masse") on the city of Minas Tirith, which in the movie, is a symbol of human civilization. The leader (called the "Steward") of Minas Tirith has become corrupt and has actually (and secretly) come under the control of the "head bad guy", known as Sauron (who is a pretty good approximation of the devil).
The scene I am referring to juxtaposes showing the "mad" Steward carrying out some sort of twisted "suicide of honor" (taking his comatose son Faramir along with him in his despair) while the battle is raging at the main gate of the city. The sense, as you watch, is that the people of the city are looking to their leader to defend them, and he is not there. At one point, the Steward finally looks down from his lofty tower and sees the enemy army and is so struck with fear he panics and shrieks "Run for your lives, run for your lives!!!". As he says this, you see the confused (and confounded) looks on the faces of the soldiers who are trying to keep their nerve in the face of such overwhelming odds. In classic movie style, the scene finishes with the white wizard Gandalf striking the Steward down with his staff and in a strong, authoritarian voice (the voice of a commander), saying "Every man to his post". This command (and tone) brings the soldiers, who a minute ago were standing around not sure what to do, back to clarity - you see them start instictively moving in the way that they have been trained.
I sense that we are in need of a Gandalf right about now. There is a sense that we are in for some serious trouble. The economy is in a shambles, the political divide increases with each election, there's swine flu, there's nuclear Iran, there's environmental disasters, high school shootings, asteroids passing near the earth. The list goes on. It seems like, through it all, the TV blurts out "Run for your lives, run for your lives.". When I meet to talk about things with my peers, there is a lot of hand-ringing. I have to admit there are time it seems like it would feel good to see a newscaster hit over his (talking) head by Gandalf and to hear some words that make sense - "Every man to his post, work your job, save money, love your wives, raise your kids, keep the faith".
Now is not a time for panic, it's a time for falling back on what we know works - on what has worked for at least 2000 years, if not more.
Every man to his post!
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