The Two Towers with Paul McDonald and Jay Heck

Paul McDonald and Jay Heck continue their discussion of the Lord of the Rings as they dive into The Two Towers (2002) starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, and Orlando Bloom (among many others!). They ask some hard questions: How do you maintain hope in the face of growing darkness? Are you listening to the voice of accusation or invitation? What mark do you want to leave on the world?

Join us as we discover our stories in this movie!

About Jay

Jay Heck is married to Heather, with son Baer (18 and off to college in a few weeks) and daughter Bozlie (17). He is the Director/Founder of Being Sons, an "Outfitter" of the masculine soul. God changed Jay when He invited him to follow the rabbit hole of identity as His son, and that changed everything. Now he creates content and adventures to help men discover their identities as sons.

Read more about Being Sons at their website: www.beingsons.com

Check out the Being Sons Podcast

Subscribe to the Being Sons YouTube channel - short videos to illuminate sonship

Adventures include:

• Boot Camps (for men only)

• First Tracks (1-on-1 adventures for father + sons 9-13)

• First Bloom (1-on-1 adventures for father + younger daughter)

• Trailhead (1-on-1 adventure for father + sons 14+)

Quotes

• The middle of the story is always the dark part. 

• It’s one thing to read a battle story, it’s another to be caught up in one. 

• The heroes always have chances to tap out. 

• Something has to die for something greater to be born. 

• Everybody comes under both accusation and invitation-which one will you listen to? 

• There’s an easy way out for everybody. 

• The Ring represents the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it’s our version of how the story should go. 

• By listening to the accusation that I am a bad father, and responding to it, I accuse my son of being a bad son. 

• The point of testing is not so that God can say, “Aha, you blew it.” It’s so that we can discover who we truly are. 

• “Adversity introduces us to ourselves.” –Dan Allender 

• Many women fear being put in a cage, left behind, not being a part of the adventure. 

• In our darkest moments, God sends us allies unlooked for and unhoped for. 

• The orphan heart doesn’t allow us to trust—we think everyone else is tricksy and false. 

• Frodo took pity on Gollum/Smeagol because he knew that he could become like that. 

• We have an invitation even in the moments of accusation. 

• We react and flail about in an effort to soothe the accusation. 

• The hobbits have been invited to engage in a story they are completely unprepared for, and their response matters. 

• The only reason the Ents entered the war was because Merry and Pippin showed up. 

• It’s not a great story to say, “Yeah, it got hard, so we gave up.” What makes a great story is, in that darkest moment, we hold on to the light knowing that the shadow will pass. 

• I don’t care how ill-equipped I am.  I want to become that kind of man. 

• I can hope to accomplish something, or hope to become a better man. 

• When I pass, I hope my children will say, “He was brave.  He was kind.  He was loving.  When he was scared, he did not back down.  When he made mistakes, he asked forgiveness.  He made amends.  He was perfectable.  He became a man I would like to be.” 

• Our lives are most touched by the people who love us well. 

 Themes

• Maintaining hope in the middle of the battle, in the face of darkness. 

• This movie is a reflection of the time we are in—evil is growing. 

• The great battle is in the face of a great evil—would you be able to hope? 

• When you do your best and done all you could, but still feel like failures 

• The fear that a small failure will be extrapolated into a larger failure later on. 

• The boy has to die for the man to be born. 

• Death leads to resurrection. 

• The voice of the enemy attacks us with fear and accusation. 

• The contrast of accusation (false self, preys on fear) versus invitation (true self, centered in love)—there are consequences to our response, to which one we listen to. 

• The hardest thing to do when under accusation is respond with invitation—our immaturity leads us to either lash out or check out. 

• Faramir is the overlooked son, the disappointment (despite his deepest desire to earn his father’s approval), but the whole story hinges on him doing the right thing. 

• Aragorn calls out Eowyn’s identity, and she engages with the community. 

• We are buoyed by companionship, even when the odds are not in our favor. 

• Frodo saved Smeagol’s life, but Smeagol saw it as a betrayal—how often do we mistrust the Father’s heart and actions towards us? 

• The great stories are the ones where the heroes didn’t give up (because if they gave up, they weren’t in a great story). 

• The hope of heaven helps us persevere in the darkness of the battle. 

• Picture of masculinity—denying itself and offering hope to others. 

Questions

• How do you maintain your heart? 

• How do we fight against losing hope, against losing your heart? 

• How is your identity called out by God?  By the enemy? 

• Where does accusation play a role in your life? 

• Where does invitation reveal your true heart? 

• How do you try to prove your quality, your worth? 

• How do you know when the Gollum voice is speaking to you? 

• Where will you leave your mark? 

• Where are you tempted to give up? 

• What kind of man do you desire to become?  What kind of man do you fear becoming?