Kings

The news arrived yesterday of the death of two political figures: Kim Il Sung and Vaclav Havel. The former was an odious tyrant who oppressed and exploited his people, the latter a man who embodied his nation's yearning for freedom. About as far apart as two leaders can be in values, temperament, and priorities, and legitimacy, they did share in common one thing: their mortality. Even at the pinnacle of power, their reach was limited, their influence finite. Their finitude stands in contrast to that of the king whose arrival we anticipate at the end of this week: the ruler who appears as an infant, the one who assumes a throne to serve, the monarch who equates power with service.

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