Live courageously from your heart!
I love the scene from J. R. R Tolkien’s “The Return of the King” where Aragon is desperately outnumbered. He looks fear right in the eye and finds the strength to inspire his men against what seems like an almost certain defeat against the massive forces of the enemy. Standing firm and riding in front of his army, he declares,
I have in my files a copy of a letter written by Major Sullivan Ballou, a Union officer in the 2nd Rhode Island. He writes to his wife on the eve of the Battle of Bull Run, a battle he senses will be his last. He speaks tenderly to her of his undying love, of “the memories of blissful moments I have spent with you.” Ballou mourns the thought that he must give up “the hope of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grown up to honorable manhood around us.”
The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!
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I had the honor of being a guest on Purposeful Pathways Radio with Caroline Gavin; Christian business coach, speaker, author and radio host. Join our conversation as we walk through places in my book Heartstone: A Journey Out of the Midnight of My Soul and some things I learned from life’s struggles.
Join me as I share my journey in Jesus…and how to live courageously from the heart!
In one of my favorite scenes from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Galadriel turns to Gandalf and asks “Why the halfling?”
Gandalf turns to face the camera and replies: Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.
This scene caught my attention. Listen to Galdalf’s narrative, “…I’ve found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay…”
