Bilbo Baggins, Super Heroes and Me

I am currently re-reading The Hobbit for the I don't know how manyeth time. (Yes, I am aware that "manyeth" is not a word, but it fit my need for it here.) I love this little book, and no matter how many times I read it I am caught up in the wonder and truly amazing entertainment value of it every time.

I was probably sixteen the first time I read of Bilbo's exploits with the Dwarves and Gandalf. You see I have always loved a good story, and as a kid I was introduced to science fiction and super heroes in comic books too! Something about all of these types of stories just grabs my heart and imagination unlike anything else.

I wasn't the kid that read these imaginary stories and just wished for super powers, no that was never the intrigue for me, not that those powers wouldn't have been cool mind you, that was just not the part of the stories that I gravitated to the most. What always got me, was the sheer unlikeliness of the characters and how fate chose them to carry those powers and what they did with them.

In most stories the hero is not the person that you would expect to come through in the end.

They typically wanted to either stay home or stay out of the limelight. There was the occasional one who wanted a little glory for themselves (Like Peter Parker in Spider Man.) but we would always be a witness to how that choice was the poorest of choices. (Like causing the death of Peter Parker's beloved Uncle Ben.)

The thing that I would see in these stories is how it wasn't the "special" or "popular" people that were usually the ones who became heroes. It was people who were just living their lives and something extraordinary happened which propelled them to the place where they could make a huge difference in the world. And that's what always hooked me. You see one of the things that I want more than anything is to make an impact on the world around me, and I often wonder if in fact that is happening.

These stories helped me to see that anyone can make a difference if they are willing to give it a try. One of the things I love about Bilbo Baggins the most is how he really feels inferior to the Dwarves once the adventure begins, but as he progresses through the journey it is actually he that makes it so that the Dwarves have the ability to make it to the Lonely Mountain. I love that Gandalf saw something in Bilbo that he didn't.

And this is something that the older I get, the more I look for. I am always on the look out for those people in my life that see things in me that I either can't or don't see in myself. Who we are on the inside, and who we "see" on the inside is very important and I am ever so thankful to those who speak into my life in this way. I want to know that at the end of my life I will have been able to have become the person that I was suppose to be. And I am thankful to J.R.R. Tolkien and all the countless other authors who have inspired me through their stories to look to those who can help me become who I am suppose to be.

Well, get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!