maybe it's because i'm an official "adult" now. maybe it's because i've been reading Lord of the Rings. maybe it's because it keeps popping up here and there. or maybe it's simply indigestion.
maybe it's none or all of the above.
seems like the concept of desires and dreams, and refusing to settle for the status quo keeps coming up. perhaps, it's as a result of having more of a routine life. 9-5, Monday through Friday. 2 weeks vacation. the typical American.
maybe it's because i read "Radical" by David Platt. (that book will mess you up.)
9-5 isn't bad. don't get me wrong. it's nice to have structure. it's when the structure becomes the end-all, be-all that things go awry.
the question is, do i still get the "itch?" do i still want to step outside of my home at Bag End? do i sense that there's something "more" out there?
i am a contributor to a larger-functioning kingdom. this kingdom is wild and ever-changing. is my contribution for the advancement of this fiery force? or am i dampening its effects?
i fight the urge to grow complacent and go through the motions. if, for a moment (or several 1,000 moments), i allow myself to indulge in this, i realize that it's not really all that satisfying. there's still a nagging feeling i can't quite get rid of. (thank goodness.) i hope that feeling never goes away. if it does, i am to be pitied, for i have lost my way.
i pray that you get that "itch" too. although it can be uncomfortable and very inconvenient at times, it's what keeps us MOVING. it may require sacrifice (actually, if it's a deep down itch, it probably will), but what's there to gain otherwise? so, relish in the feeling and don't ignore it. if you neglect it long enough, it may eventually disappear. who knows, it may even take a piece of you with it...
so, while there's time, let's open the door and step outside. let's be willing to participate in the journey ahead of us. as Tolkien penned in the Fellowship of the Ring:
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
may we be swept into places where light penetrates darkness, chains that once bound are broken, and lives one enslaved are renewed and set free. here we go...
