This I Believe

Don’t worry I’m completely sane. I know it’s a fictional place full of fictional characters but I like to think it’s real, is that such a crime? People tell me that a world like that can’t exist but, figuratively, I think I’m living in it.

Does not the world of Tolkien reflect Earth now? Is it really so fictional? So you got me. We don’t have dragons or evil sorcerers (in the literal sense) but there are still all the struggles. When I look around I see Middle Earth; when I turn on the news I hear the story of Middle Earth. We have similar struggles. When I see that a fortune-five hundred company has laid off half its workers and sent their jobs overseas to make a couple extra million dollars I see corruption from greed and power, just like the corrupting power of the Ring as told in many stories on Middle Earth. When I think of the way things have fallen into decadence, like with the economy and moral issues, I think of the decadence of the Númenóreans kings or how Gondor has fallen into ruin. I also believe I see the residents of Middle Earth. I’m not going to mention any names, but I think I’ve seen Saruman with his silver tongue on television telling me things will be all right when he knows they won’t be.

I don’t just believe that I’m living in a ruthless Middle Earth but a virtuous one as well. I see the little guy standing up and becoming the hero, people like fireman and police men, these are average people who rise up and are seen as heroes. I see rough journeys with bright futures ahead, like our current economic condition. I see wars fought with bravery and sacrifice. I see bad people getting their just desserts.

I feel that by realizing these comparisons, I learn more about myself. What character will I play in this real life Middle Earth? How will I conquer evil or, if by some chance become it. Will I fight with the good guys or the bad guys? I see my tireless journey ahead of me. I see it coming closer and closer just like the evil in Middle Earth. But I am not afraid. Like the great characters, I will be an unlikely hero. I know I will fight evil not in the literal sense, of course, but in the metaphorical sense. By believing that I already live in Middle Earth I can accomplish daunting tasks, because in Middle Earth anything is possible. This I believe.