There And Back Again...A David's Journey

I don't know if you've ever read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien before, but if you have you know the pure joy of the story about a little hobbit who gets swept up into an adventure of a lifetime and comes to realize that there is lot more to him than he ever imagined.

The story is set in a fantastical land where dwarves, elves, men, dragons and a whole host of other very inventive characters live. But what I find the most intriguing, is that Tolkien uses characters which are in fact make believe, yet which have the very same personality traits that you would find in all the kinds of people that we come across in our daily lives.

I finished reading The Hobbit earlier this year, but when I saw the first pictures of the actors who are playing some of the dwarves in their costumes, for the upcoming Hobbit movie that Peter Jackson (The writer, producer & director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.) is making, I was blown away and decided that perhaps I should read it once again.

I can honestly say that this is the one book (Besides the Bible.) that I can pick up and read and immediately I am swept up into the story, and no matter how many times I read it I enjoy it just as much as the very first time that I read it. Not many books can lay claim to that in my library, but this one sure does.

A couple of years ago, I read the book with the mindset of really following the main character Bilbo Baggins. What I mean by that is that every time as I was reading the story and it involved Bilbo, I watched his reactions, his demeanor and what he was thinking about himself a the time. While I did this, a very interesting thing happened, I began to see Bilbo as a type and shadow of my Christian walk with God. Now I know that this is not a Christian book in the sense of using chapter and verse, but the Lord did use it to show me some things about myself. And if he could use a talking donkey in the Bible, why not a Hobbit in another book?

Since I don't want to spoil the story for any of you that perhaps have not read this book, I will not tell you what I found out. If you are curious to know, email me at godsfirstknight@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to tell you. The first of two movies is due to be released in 2012 click here to find out more about that. Let me just conclude by saying, if you have not read this book, then I highly recommend it. If you have read it, then what about picking it back up and giving it another read? I think you'll be glad you did.

What Movies Do You Love, And Why?

There is one thing that I have always loved, and that is movies. And I don't just like some movies, I like them all; action, science fiction, dramas, comedy, chick flicks, you name it I like it. What I really enjoy the most about them are the stories that they tell, and movies are the easiest way for me to enjoy stories. Don't get me wrong, I love to read a good book as well, but it may take me three to four weeks to finish one and if I watch a movie I can get most of the same information and entertainment in just a few hours of my time.

"Once upon a time", is one of the best phrases that has ever been written down on a page. There is just something about those four simple words that are full of wonder and adventure. And unless you read past them you never get to know how the story goes. And after all, who doesn't love a good story? Story is written on our souls, it's the way we relate to everything and everyone isn't it? I mean, when you sit down to a meal with friends, do you interact with math equations, or filling out forms? No. When you sit down with friends to enjoy a meal, there is always conversations and stories about what has been going on with each

person.

The thing that I really love about movies are what I call the "teachable moments". These to me are the things in a movie that can teach me something about how I should live my life. When my kids were little and we would watch The Lord of the Rings, there is a part of the movie where Samwise Gamgee runs off into the river to chase Frodo Baggins to continue the journey to Mordor, even though Frodo has decided to travel on alone.

Every time we would watch this movie together, I would pause the

DVD at this scene and tell the kids about how Hobbits were suppose to be afraid of water, and that they could not swim very well because they just tended to sink. And that when you see Samwise willing to go to his death rather than leave Frodo alone to his quest, that is what a real friend would do. I would tell them if they were fortunate enough to have one friend like that in their lives they would be blessed for sure.

Movies have truly played a huge part of helping me to become the man that I am. I understand things about myself because of scenes that I have watched being played out in front of my eyes. And I have in turn, used those same scenes to then teach others what I have learned. Movies are more than just entertainment for me, they are a tool that is used to make me a better person. So how about you? What movies do you love, and why? What do they teach you?

Okay, so there's that, let's go learn about ourselves so that we can in turn help others.