It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.

– Gandalf to Frodo

One of my favorite authors is J.R.R. Tolkien. His books are not just full of adventure, and mighty battles, but of thought-provoking ideas about life and hope and human nature. Not only this, but his characters are caught up in a grand story that extends from far behind them and will continue on ahead of them.

At one point in their journey, Sam and Frodo crouch in the dark, resting a while before continuing on. The road has been hard, and the road ahead is harder still. Sam remarks, “‘I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?’ ‘I wonder,’ said Frodo. ‘But I don’t know…’” He remarks that we may know the end of a tale; but the people in it don’t and you don’t want them to. Sam replies,

‘No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours…And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We’ve got—you’ve got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we’re in the same tale still!…Don’t the great tales never end?’ 

Sam is comforted by thinking of their tale as only a small part of a greater story, instead of focusing on the misery of what they are currently enduring. When circumstances have plunged Sam and Frodo into dark places, hope is found in remembering the bigger picture because they know that regardless of what happens to them, the greater story will turn out alright.

Tolkien work creates a true picture of our life. We are called to live for a purpose and King far greater than we could ever hope for on our own. There will be times when our own strength will fail, but His never will. Therein lies the beauty of the story that Tolkien tells. Our life is a journey and if the King is our companion, we will traverse heights, explore lands, and cross bridges that would be impossible to cross on our own.

Join the journey!