Voice of infinite silence

On July 06, 2010, in Top leadership, by Neculai Fantanaru

Compete with yourself, before trying to change the influence of others in your own interest.

Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, gave his full confidence to Zedekiah, the eleventh King of Israel, making him the shepherd of his people on the land of Israel, but he betrayed him, secretly conspiring with the Egyptians, who in the days of old, held in slavery the people of Israel. King Zedekiah's greatest desire was to take back his lands, and to free his people from the yoke of Babylon. Despite the fact that his prophet warned him many times not to start the war against Nebuchadnezzar, but to ask him mercy for his mistake, Zedekiah remained faithful to his decision.

Nevertheless, fate was way too cruel with Zedekiah. His entire army was destroyed, and he, along with his three sons, Eliel, Achish and Amasai, were caught and put in chains.

Brought before Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah knelt down with his face to the ground, and begged him to spare the lives of his innocent sons, with the cost of his own life. However, Nebuchadnezzar showed no mercy. He killed cold-blooded the three boys, and Zedekiah, who was forced to witness at their torture, ordered to be pull out his eyes.

This was the price he had to pay because he yielded to the temptation of trying to change the influence of Nebuchadnezzar in his own interest. Based on the trust that Nebuchadnezzar granted to him, Zedekiah tried a hazardous, bodacious movement, which would have surprised and beat him. However, he has not well weighed the value of his actions, could not hold in his tendencies to infidelity, to blur the effect of the adverse reactions that could arise.

The sad voice of the heart

What could a person feel in such a cruel and terrifying moment of his life - to assist in the execution of his sons? Bitterness? Regret? A voice of infinite sadness and full of sorrow, springing from the depths of his soul, urged Zedekiah to suicide. The inner voice of his heart kept saying more and more intensely he no longer had a reason to live for. A silent and terrifying fight was unrolling inside his being. He felt like he was locked in an invisible prison, of which he could not escape from, but where he could only endure the burden of suffering and mental torture.

His last bridge, which still led to life, his last link with all of his feelings, all of his dreams, was destroyed. Nobody possessed a heart of exchange that would assuage his pain, which would put away his sadness, and would chase from his soul that bitter taste of disappointment in such a tragic moment. Not even a king. The perfect silence surrounded Zedekiah like a soft and hard cloak, his tears flowed freely. No voice, he could not utter a single word, so great was his pain. All his hopes of life were shattered. He had no energy and motivation to live.

The road to the world of darkness

Zedekia’s eyes have been pulled out, then he was enchained in bronze chains and taken to Babylon. This new torment, this humiliation was to be spread everywhere in the whole wide world. With no difficulty, no fate, condemned to solitude, he could only endure his life in darkness. Even so, the real agony he had to endure was the voice of his last child, from the moment of his death, which will always resonate in his memory. Whatever would happen with him since then before, nothing will torment him more than that tortured voice of his son.

Conclusion: In leadership, you sometimes step on quicksand. Therefore, in unforeseen situations, you must calculate well your steps and cautiously choose the path, which would allow you overcoming the future obstacles and achieving the proposed objectives. Because any step that you make could have the opposite effects of the expected ones.

Compete with yourself, before trying to change the influence of others in your own interest. That is to analyze your leadership potential in all respects, better assess your skills and limits without overestimating your ability to change others through games, intrigues and conspiracy, by making use of the power with which you have been invested by them. Are you a reliable man?

Weigh well the value of your actions in order to blur the effect of the adverse reactions that may arise from those who have placed their trust in you.

 

Note: Valerio Massimo Manfredi - Pharaoh Of The Sands, Editura Allfa, 2004.