Appreciation Post - There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.

Courtesy of Artem Sapegin on Unsplash

Greetings to old friends and new. Today is a special day for authors and readers like me, and if you've stumbled your way onto this post, I reckon it may be a special day for you as well.

Today. the third of January, is the day our inspiration was born. J.R.R. Tolkien.

Whether long expected, or unexpected, his birthday is a wonderful time to recognise the writing he gave to the world, his family who helped him in writing and publishing, and fellow Tolkienites, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, and Dúnedain.

So, maybe today is the perfect day to ambush an unwitting friend with a party and eat them out of house and home, or maybe to enjoy your breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper by yourself, or with family, warm and cosy wherever you like. You could tuck yourself away in the corner of a library and begin to read through the worn pages of The Fellowship of the Ring, or The Hobbit, or even the Silmarillion, or just some book you love. You can delve into the mines that all the young children of stone yearn for, or dance by moonlight in the trees, the call of Tinúviel ringing through the air. It's the New year, after all, why not start something you've always wanted to do that whisks you away to Middle Earth? You don't have to finish it. You don't even have to continue it after five minutes if you don't want to, but start it, and enjoy yourself doing so.

A human man, who was born unassuming, and yet his legacy lives on until today. Some of us read his writing every day, or barely spare a passing glance, but I'm willing to guess you've all heard of him at some point, or at least his work. He is remembered today as a great man, who fought evil, and through his work tells us of people like you and I, of servant kings and sacrifice. This time of year we celebrate his birthday, the beginning of a tale that as yet lives unended.

Whether I'm talking about Tolkien or Christ in that last paragraph is up to you. While Tolkien saved me in my teenage years through his writing, Christ has saved me for my whole life and afterwards. So, I say, Happy Birthday to J.R.R. Tolkien, and thank you for reminding me of the true Saviour!

“It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, 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 has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.” - Samwise Gamgee

-L.Hunt