One of my very favorite books is The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I viewed the release of the movie version with some trepidation. I have to say that I was NOT disappointed. Either Peter Jackson was channeling my imagination or J.R.R. Tolkien hit a chord in all of us with precision.
Probably my favorite part of the movie trilogy is the attack at Helm’s Deep. The Uruk-hai and the forces of Mordor are besieging the Rohan stronghold. Aragorn the Ranger, Gimli the Dwarf, and Legolas the Elf along with the Riders of Rohan and their king, Theoden, are defending the people of Rohan who have escaped there.
The forces of Mordor are prevailing largely because of complete disregard for their soldiers who are at best expendable. There’s always another Uruk-hai to replace the one slain. It is night, it is raining, the people of Rohan are in retreat mode. It is truly a dark time.
Now one of the strange phenomenons of nature is that it truly is darkest before the dawn (and coldest right after dawn). This phenomenon is illustrated in the dark moments of retreat before the Uruk-hai. There appears to be no hope, no way forward. And then…Gandalf arrives with more troops. And the dawn arrives with him. It is hard to tell for sure if he arrives with the dawn or the other way around.
But what is really interesting is what happens in those darkest moments. Aragorn challenges Theoden to “ride out with me” – to take the Uruk-hai and the forces of Mordor head on. And they do – in a display of courage and bravado and challenge.
We all need to be challenged to ride out in the darkest moments of our lives – when the “forces of Mordor” are winning. More importantly, we need someone to challenge us to ride out with them. Someone that moves us forward, who is at our side, and is fighting with us even when the odds are overwhelming, when no one knows when or if the dawn will come. But they refuse to let us retreat, retire, hide, collapse, play it safe. They speak to all that is good and right and courageous in our hearts – places that we had forgotten about or had sealed off.
Who does that for you? Who do you do that for? Who challenges you to live rather than exist?
Just Sayin' 