1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
~Psalm 121
As we begin our new journeys, it’s easy to look at the most difficult parts to come first. We look to the hills and wonder, “my God, how can I possibly get over this?” We begin our journeys feeling unprepared for what is to come. And maybe we are. Completely unprepared that is.
Being the big geek I am, I think of Frodo from the Lord of the Rings franchise as he is setting out on his journey. Much like almost all of the other less-than-extraordinary hobbits (other than that strange fellow Bilbo) Frodo has spent his whole life in his home of the Shire. In his ignorance to the dangers, he is excited to set off on a journey feeling as though he, much like Bilbo, was called to a life of adventure! But he finds out, very quickly, just how underprepared he his for all of the metaphoric and literal hills he will have to climb on his long walk.
But throughout his quest, he has a fellowship of companions that he finds to lean on. Rarely is he alone in this calling. He is nearly always followed close behind by his companion, Samwise, no matter how difficult the journey becomes. Even as the journey comes to a close, he is not alone.
We aren’t expected to be all knowing or prepared for all of the complications of this life. It’s not possible. We would stress ourselves into the ground in doing so. Instead, we rely on one another and the gifts that we all bring in recognizing that we aren’t doing this journey alone. God has placed ‘Samwises’ in you life that are close behind ready to lift you up. Likewise, you are to be a Samwise to another. For it’s those around us that give us the confidence to say, “I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way.”
