The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most well-known stories of our age. It is a tale of adventure – full of mountains and goblins, villages and quests, good and evil. It is the sort of tale that inspires it's reader to participate in the adventure. But so often we stay hidden in our home, reading the book, feeling too insignificant for that grand of a journey.
Recently, the prequel to this familiar story has become a major motion picture. The story before the story – the call to begin. It arguably strikes a chord in the human heart much deeper than Frodo's journey to destroy the ring in Mordor. It's a story of a little hobbit, choosing to do the unfamiliar thing and begin this multi-generational adventure. Someone seemingly insignificant, making the choice to change the world.
On the World Race, we often talk about how abandonment is the first step to the journey. Leaving behind your old life and its comforts, and stepping into the story God has for you. Perhaps some of Bilbo Baggins' tale of the "going" will give you company as you consider the great cost of abandonment and the great reward of the adventure tale God has penned.
"I'm not entirely sure you're at the right house," said Bilbo, staring at the giant wizard. How could someone so great and powerful expect a little old hobbit to go on an adventure? "No adventures, they make you late for dinner."
Bilbo promptly stormed in the house and sat down for his dinner, smiling as he tucked his napkin into his shirt. His home was just lovely. Bag End was his favorite place in all the Shire – beautiful, peaceful, and familiar.
Little did he know that by nights end, he would be arguing with a gang of dwarves and the same giant wizard, still refusing to join their quest. Even the dwarves agreed – this was no adventure for a measly little hobbit.
"The wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves," said one of them.
The powerful wizard retailiated, "I have chosen him. He's got a great deal to offer more than any of you know, including himself."
As the argument escalated, little Bilbo fainted with a mix of fear and inadequacy. After he awoke and rested for a bit, he was still begging "No, no, let me sit."
"Bilbo Baggins. You've been sitting quietly for far too long. When did your mother's dishes and doiles come to mean so much to you? Your stories are not in books – they're out there in the world. You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back, and you'll never be the same."
Desite the powerful call, the spirit of inadequacy spread past the little man with big feet through to the small dwarf army.
"We're tinkerers and toymakers – hardly the stuff of legend," said one.
The wizard would have none of it. "When I called, you answered. All I ask for is loyalty, honor, and a willing heart."
But still, their small army set out in the morning, hobbitless. As Bilbo awoke, he realized he had said no, gotten his way, and was free from the call to leave behind all he knew for the quest. But a seed had been planted in his heart. He'd tasted the possibility of a journey, an adventure. A story about more than his mother's dishes, doilies, and a quiet dinner in the Shire. So, he went. He began his story – his adventure.
And we all know the story of what happens because he made the decision to put his inadequecy behind him.
To abandon the quiet familiar. And to start his adventure.
Can you imagine if he didn't?
This particular blog brings me to tears because it is the exact feeling that I, a future WORLD RACER!, felt (and sometimes currently feel) when I was first called to GO.
“Bilbo Baggins. You’ve been sitting quietly for far too long. When did your mother’s dishes and doiles come to mean so much to you? Your stories are not in books – they’re out there in the world. You’ll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back, and you’ll never be the same.”
That is my full expectation. When I return, I’ll never be the same. AMEN!!