The End of All Things

This is my last “free” journal of the Semester, and I suppose it would be fitting to take a gander at my wonderment with seasons of life in which things “end.” I am a desperate J.R.R. Tolkien fan, and let me tell you, it is a spiritual exercise for me to read that work, and I purposely do so about once every two years.
One of the closing chapters in The Return of the King is entitled, The End of All things… which alone is both ominous and stirring. In this chapter, Frodo finally accomplishes the task he was set upon – the destruction of the evil ring of the Dark Lord, and thereby ending the desperate fight for survival against the forces of evil for all free peoples of Middle Earth. I cannot read (or now watch) that part of the story with simply being amazed at the essence of the story being pulled out: that sacrifice is the ultimate expression of good, and a potent weapon against which evil has no defense.
And we need such a weapon, because just like the Fellowship, our situation looks dire indeed. In RotK, the a few of the righteous Men of the West, grossly outnumbered and battle weary, are chosen by the newly returned King Elessar (Aragorn) to mount a last assault on the Black Gate, the entrance to the realm of the Enemy. As hostile armies march out against them, numbers upon numbers uncounted, the Men, now united under their returned King fall back upon a barren hill of slag to draw the enemy out. The battle is joined, and the situation is grave indeed. Aragorn leads the Fellowship into combat, as their position is surrounded and broken upon by a sea of Black. Meanwhile, the path to victory has been made clear and certain by Aragorn’s ruse for our two Hobbits, who are already in the middle of the Enemy’s domain. The story is, brilliant and inspiring.
As the Ring falls into the lava, a shattering crack sounds through the domain, and once impenetrable fortresses begin to be broken into shards no bigger than your hand. The earth splits, and fire engulfs all the land and life marred by the corruption of the Enemy, and the burden is finally lifted – and the enemy assaulting the King and the Fellowship are beaten and scattered by the destruction of their power; their Dark Lord. Fear is crushed and Hope shines through clearly, unobstructed by the filth spewed into the air by the Dark Lord… The day is won, and a slow quiet of finality descends upon our heroes as one solitary truth descends: That all they have known in pain and struggle and fear is gone, and a new day has come.
And so it is with us, I feel. It’s so easy to look at the news, and to watch friends be struck by black arrows, and to feel as though your arms could not parry one more blow from enemy blades. We seem surrounded, and so many horn calls are not our own, surrounded by a Sea of black, it seems as though each surge claims a few more of us. But our King is lovely, His voice is clear and His banner is bright – and in our case, His victory is assured and we will share in it, if we endure and fight on. So as Hebrews says, let us look to Him and resist! Let us resist to the point where we shed our own blood! And let us strengthen our weak knees, and lift our weary limbs in joy to join the fight! I know what it is to feel as though the fight were desperate, and that we’re losing, that dawn could not come soon enough. But when I consider Him, my bright and lovely King, and that in our End of All things the result will be beyond compare to the greatest of stories, my heart is filled, and by His mercy I raise my sword again. His Kingdom is near, and our “New Day” is not as far now as it seems. So fight on, brothers,(and sisters) because the Enemy’s will yet shatter and be put to shame, and hope is not held in vain.