Thoughts Inspired by Tolkien

I spend hours driving alone in my car on my furloughs, so last time around, I got hooked on books on CD. Cracker Barrel has a great rental program with the latest bestsellers, and the public library has longer, unabridged classics (sometimes slightly damaged, but free). I also check at outlet malls for discounted audio books that I might listen to more than once. In 2004, I found the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on CD in a discount bin, and the value was even further increased by the fact that the audio trilogy is 57 hours long! That's a lot of drive-time entertainment. But before I could open them, I left for my term and they didn't make the final cut when I was packing my limited luggage.

Last month, I dug them out of storage, and I've just finished the 19 hour Fellowship of the Ring (book 1 in the series). Last week, I was listening to a dramatic portion in which the ring wraiths are attacking Frodo, his hobbit friends, and "Strider" as they make camp upon a high mountain. Strider is the only human, and since he is a warrior, he is most likely to fight off the ring wraiths. Frodo and the other hobbits are child sized and childlike in their personalities; they've never done battle in their lives. Strider grabs his sword and yells for them all to grab their short blades and face outward around the fire ring, preparing for the onslaught. I thought to myself, If that were me, I would've told Strider to do all the fighting. How could Frodo be expected to fight off the much more powerful ring wraiths? Strider was the only one truly prepared for battle, yet Frodo and his hobbit companions each fight valiantly, whether they were capable or not.

I'm not one of those people who find a spiritual experience in every page of Tolkien's masterpiece, but I did have a small epiphany:

I've never been asked to do spiritual battle alone. Through Christ, I am more than a conqueror, because I have Him fighting next to me, for me; I am not sent out against the Enemy alone or unprotected. However, I do not cower in hiding and expect Christ to do everything, either. We are all commanded to arm ourselves both defensively and offensively in preparation for spiritual warfare (Eph. 6). I won't be able to avoid a spiritual fight, whether I feel ready or not, but I will always have Christ by my side.