“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. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master’s, ceased to trouble him, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.” – The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, “The Land of Shadow” pg. 901
Whatever suffering we may endure, it is only a passing shadow. There will be a day when the Lord returns and makes all things new. Darkness will not have the final say, but will be crushed to dust and cast into the winds of nothingness. Let that thought, clear and cold, pierce you and bring peace as you walk through this land of Shadow.
Marc Sims 