Decide What to Do with the Time Given to Us
I started rereading The Lord of the Rings recently and was struck by a set of simple yet profound lines Gandalf speaks to Frodo in the second chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring:
“I wish it need not 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 to us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black…”
It would be overly generous to say that our time, here and now, is beginning to look black because the beginning part is already far behind us.
Our time is black. Full stop.
Like Frodo, we may wish it had not happened in our time, but it has, and this in and of itself is more significant than most dare contemplate. We had no decision about being alive during this time, but we have the immense power to decide what to do with the time we have been given.
Curse or blessing goes far deeper than a matter of perspective.
“I wish it need not 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 to us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black…”
It would be overly generous to say that our time, here and now, is beginning to look black because the beginning part is already far behind us.
Our time is black. Full stop.
Like Frodo, we may wish it had not happened in our time, but it has, and this in and of itself is more significant than most dare contemplate. We had no decision about being alive during this time, but we have the immense power to decide what to do with the time we have been given.
Curse or blessing goes far deeper than a matter of perspective.
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