YOUR ROLE IN A TIME OF CRISIS
A MESSAGE FROM GANDALF
IN LORD OF THE RINGS
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
- Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Book 1, Chapter 2
We all have a role to play. We don't have a choice as to where or when we were born. But we have a choice as to what we do.
None of us wants to live through hard times.
But sometimes we don't have a choice.
When hard times happen, we can either panic, or we can do what we can with the time we have.
In most of the world's prominent religions and ideologies, there is a logic and an order to life.
We're not saying all these ideologies are the same, but we're saying they have a sense of man's purpose and destiny.
Actions have consequences. Inaction also has consequences.
Dharma is your role. Karma is what you do with it.
Everyone can do something. No matter how small.
That was the lesson of Lord of the Rings. This is why Tolkien's hero was a small hobbit, and not a powerful wizard or a big and strong warrior.
Tolkien wanted to make a point that even the small simple folk have the power to do something in the face of overwhelming evil.
People have a choice to do what they can to make things better. Or to not act, and watch them get worse.
This is the challenge we all face.
TOLKIEN QUOTES
Tolkien on Death and Eternity (Underground Web World)
Tolkien - Ancient Visions of Power (World Future Fund)
PICTURE ESSAYS
Facing the Dragon - The Courage to Fight (World Future Fund)
You are Not Alone (Underground Web World)
Life, Death and Judgment (World Future Fund)
Man's Place in the Universe (World Future Fund)