The road goes ever on and on....

I recently came across this passage in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King:

"There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

Tolkien's success as a writer, I believe, lies in the fact that he combines intricate and compelling characters and story lines with elements of human nature that everyone can relate to.

True, none of us have ever been or will ever go to Middle Earth. True, we will never encounter a fight such as the one these characters encountered (thank God). But regardless of those facts, Tolkien wrote about human nature, and human nature doesn't change much. In fact; I'd venture to guess that human nature hasn't changed much in the last several thousand years.

We all want to live in a society that is good, rather than one which is evil - regardless of your political stance. Regardless of what you believe and who you support, the Founding Fathers designed a government which relies on the people in order to work.

In other words, it is our responsibility to each other to help keep the government in check. It is our responsibility to the government to make sure that the elected officials are working toward an end result we can support and believe in.

That responsibility can seem daunting when you stop to think about it. Yet, like everything else, even the smallest step keeps you moving forward. So I try to learn as much as possible, and to do as much as I am able. I don't try to overwhelm myself; I only do what I can.

Even if all I accomplish is as small a task as ensuring that someone good and noble serves as the chair of my local school board. Sometimes that small an effort can mean tremendous positive change in a community.

Back to that Tolkien passage, I can relate to Samwise Gamgee. I will never be the "hero" of any tale. I certainly have no intention of running for office; however, I will always be in the background, supporting those who are fighting for what is good and right. I will always be looking for that "white star of hope, twinkling" even if it only twinkles intermittently.