We, The Brave?

Back in 2003 our family watched the movie, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, on DVD after having seen it much earlier at the theater when it was released. 

I was trying to live an impossible scenario at the time, and it was beyond my ability with which to cope or even to drag my feet through some days. As Sam and Froto struggled through their mission, they looked like I felt. Things seemed hopeless, and they were sinking into despair. Boy, could I relate. 

It had been a long haul, and although tempted to turn back, they kept on. Theirs were scary times. They were left doubting their strength to keep up the fight against a barrage of danger, struggle and deathly fear. I realized as this scene unfolded, that like them, I must and could keep on. Maybe God was trying, once again through the movies, to tell me something I would hear no other way.

Like the characters in the movie, it's easy to become overwhelmed by a dark and dangerous mission which I don't always see a way through, and of which I rarely feel worthy. Yet this scene marked a turning point for me, and I wrote about it at the time, watching the scene again and again so I could handwrite the words line by line (pre-youtube) to keep as a reminder. 

We can be just as easily overwhelmed by the mission of our Marines because of our personal and emotional ties... because of the reality of the stand they've chosen to take. Theirs is a mission set against a backdrop of danger and evil, where their strength, courage and love for liberty and the desire to protect it are tested in more ways than we can fathom. 

The story line unfolding seems frightening and overwhelming to us because our lives are intertwined with theirs in inexplicable ways of the heart. But as Sam says in that scene, "There's some good in this world, Mr. Froto, and it's worth fightin' for...". 

And our Marines know the good in this world, and it is something they are "fightin' for".

As the scene comes to a close, Froto notes something significant... (not shown in the video clip): 

"Froto wouldn't have got far without Sam, the brave.", he says.

And our men, our Marines, can and will not get far without us, the brave. We are in this together. Let's remember our part in their mission and take Sam's (and Froto's) words to heart.