Heeding
the Call
As in all myths and fairy tales, the world created by Tolkien is much more
black and white than our own. Still, Frodo and his band [in The Lord
of the Rings] have been brought together for a
special mission. While the idea of mission in our cynical age seems romantic at
best, the record of history is filled with moments where it
becomes clear to a person or a small group of people that injustices are
afoot and something needs to be done about it. Whereas in most times and
places people more or less sleepwalk into their life’s vocation,
in times like these, people find their vocations thrust upon them with
a sense of inevitability. One thinks of Martin Luther and his namesake
Martin Luther King, Jr. as two real-life individuals in situations similar
to that of Frodo and the fellowship of the ring -- not to mention Jesus
and his disciples. If The Lord of the Rings has a moral, it’s
that there is such a thing as the "fullness of time" and that
each of us has an obligation to respond when our time comes.
--from "The
Lord of the Rings: A Commentary by John Tintera"
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