Quote: The Fellowship of the Rings

Okay...I am hooked on Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" triliogy as portrayed by Peter Jackson's recent movies. I was watching the first, The Fellowship of the Rings, and was struck again by this interaction between the unlikely hero - Frodo Baggins - and the wise Gandolph the Grey.

(Frodo) "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

(Gandolph) "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."

The pain and suffering that Frodo had to endure, which was of no fault of his own, was very real and scarry! There was nothing 'happy' to say that would retranslate his situation into an 'acceptable' scenario. And yet, Frodo (representing all of us) still had a choice of what do with the time that he had.

Even in the face of suffering, I have a choice. It is still difficult, but choices still face us. Frodo chose his path voluntarily at the council in Rivendale to take the ring of power to Mount Doom. What a freightening choice, and yet what a courageous one. As I think about Gandolph's sage advice, I wonder if I too will make such a courageous choice when faced with such daunting odds.