Saturday, February 18, 2023

day no. 16,189: men are better than gates

"Men are better than gates, and no gate will endure against our Enemy if men desert it.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

A gate is only as good as the men behind it. Because a gate is designed to help discriminate between what gets in and what gets out, it is useless without men to oversee it. Without men, it swings back and forth indiscriminately. Men are better than gates. They are better gatekeepers than unmanned mechanisms. 

The apparatus of a gate is beneficial to a man in assisting his ability to enforce his discernment, but it is worthless without the man. It either remains closed to all or open to any and both of those are just as good as not having a gate. In the one, a wall would suffice, and in the other, an opening accomplishes as much.

Men are better than doctrines. No doctrine will endure against our Enemy if men desert it. But doctrines brandished in the hands of good and godly men are better still. God bless us with men who have eyes in their head and heat in their hearts, holiness in their souls and hardihood in their bones. Men who stand their ground. Men who are strong and courageous who defend the hot gates by putting themselves between the danger and their beloved.

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