My family are all Lord of the Rings fans. But we actually hadn’t watched the movies in a couple years, and in the past few weeks, we watched the extended editions for the first time. #quarantinelife, people. 😉
Ironically, the movies had some new lessons to teach me this time. And even if you’re not a LotR fan – and that’s totally fine – I’d like to think we can all take something away from the story.
WE ARE CLASS OF 2020 STRONG
I keep hearing “class of 2020 strong”, and as I am in the class of 2020, I can relate to it. The coronavirus crisis has short-circuited the senior year of thousands of high school students, and thrown future plans into limbo. As I’ve wrestled with this, I keep coming back to some Lord of the Rings truths.
“I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”
The Fellowship of the Ring
“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.”
We may not have chosen this, but here we are, and we have a responsibility to choose the best path we can for our future. Frodo didn’t choose to carry that burden – but he did.
And not to veer away from LotR here, but I love that scene in The Rise of Skywalker where Poe says he’s not “ready” to lead the Resistance. Lando replies and says, “Who’s ever ready?”
Seriously, though, whether you’re facing today’s global crisis from the perspective of a high school graduate or not, we are living in historical times. And no matter how afraid or frustrated you may feel, “There’s some good in this world . . . and it’s worth fighting for.”
NORMAL IS OVERRATED
This is something I’ve been struggling with, and it’s a new struggle for me, because until recently, I couldn’t have cared less about being “normal”. Being a slightly introverted homeschooler AND an only-child with food allergies doesn’t make for . . . well . . . normal. And maybe that’s just fine.
That line from Pippin is significant when you take into account who he was talking to (Faramir) and the fantastic character arcs they both had.
“Normal” is overrated. And if the COVID-19 pandemic or anything else in your life has made you feel like you can’t be “normal” in the world’s eyes, remember this one:
GOD IS SOVEREIGN
I love the word sovereign. And it brings me back to a phrase my youth group memorized last year. Resistance to God’s plan is no threat to His sovereignty.
And that is SO true.
And the final nail in the coffin for all the Lord of the Rings quotes EVER is this one:
Pain does pass. Hardship does pass.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5
So hang in there. And go watch LotR, because I couldn’t possibly fit all the amazing one-liners in here. 😂
Let me know – what is your favorite LotR quote? (Or Star Wars, if you prefer.)
We watched all the extended editions for the first time during quarantine too!! Who’s your favorite character…?? (Mine’s Aragorn…)
“And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?… Folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going.” *melts* That entire quote reminds me so much of the story I’m working on… 💔
and also “BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!!”
and also “I am no man…”
and also “HE’S TWITCHING BECAUSE HE HAS MY AXE EMBEDDED IN HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM!!”
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Oh my goodness, all those quotes!! ❤ ❤ Gimli had so many new lines in the extended edition.
I don't know, I think my favorite character is a tie between Aragorn and Sam. After all, Sam does give my favorite LotR speech in The Two Towers. 🙂 Who's your second favorite?
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It’s a tie between Éowyn and Arwen, but probably Éowyn, my warrior princess 😝😍
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YESSS!!!
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