The call to adventure
Modern humans have a quandary. We sit in our safe, comfy suburban homes, eat, drink, may die, and reproduce all on repeat. But what is the purpose? Where is the sense of wonder, our curiosity, and our sense of adventure? Life is often depicted as a journey or a quest to achieve something. However, what if life is a calling, a call to adventure? The call to adventure is a universal calling; it is a call to step out of one's comfort zone! It is a call which requires sacrifice, duty, and love.
One of the fictional works best at displaying the call to adventure is the Lord of the Rings. LOTR displays the call to adventure most clearly in the four hobbits- Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Frodo is the ring bearer. He is the one who is given the ring and who willingly bears it. He never longs to leave the Shire, yet the call to bear the ring, the call to duty, the call to do something noble outside of one's own natural ability, the call to adventure compels him to leave. Frodo is the best picture of duty and responsibility. When the Council of Elrond convened, Frodo was the hobbit who said “I will take the ring to Mordor though I do not know the way.” Frodo also recognized that he had to be the one to bear the ring.
The other hobbits had a sense of duty as well. Sam sticks to Frodo’s side to the very end of the quest to destroy the ring. Merry commits to be a servant of King Theodean and Pippin commits to be a servant of the steward of Gondor. Duty, however, is not the only aspect of the call of adventure the hobbits emulate. Sam emulates aspects of true sacrifice, true friendship, and laying one’s life down for his friends. Sam is so devoted to the wellbeing of Frodo that he even offers to bear the ring, so Frodo does not have to bear the burden alone! In the words of Frodo, he would not have gotten far without Sam. Sam also carries him on his back on Mount Doom!
Merry and Pippin do not take the Ring to Mordor, but they have an adventure on their own. Merry is the brave stout hobbit! He is the one who takes on the Witch King with the lady Ewon. Pippin on the other hand, shows the sense of wonder that the call to adventure can bring. He is the hobbit most excited to set off on a quest. Pippin has that childlike wonder and curiosity. It often gets him and Merry into trouble. Even though Pippin was excited to leave the shire and see the world, he regrets leaving the Shire as the journey progresses. It is when he is made a servant of the Steward of Gondor that we see the most growth in Pippin. In fact, all the hobbits grow as a result of their adventures. They come from humble beginnings, and yet they accomplish extraordinary feats.
Hobbits are the most ordinary creatures in Middle Earth. They are not great kings, or warriors, or sages. No, they are farmers, fishermen, and the like. Yet these were the creatures of Middle Earth that saved the world. It is not an accident that Tolkien chose to write about hobbits. It is to highlight that even the ordinary is chosen for the call to adventure. The ordinary just might be the ones best suited for the task.
What does this talk of hobbits have to do with us humans in the 21st century? How does this give us meaning and purpose in our lives? When I see the ordinariness of the hobbits and the extraordinary tasks accomplished by them, I cannot help but think of the original followers of Christ and how God came into the world. The followers of Christ Jesus were not the most gifted or talented folks. There was nothing on the outside that made them seem special. In fact, they were made up of fishermen, tax collectors, and the like.. Not queens and kings, or priests, or great religious figures, (they certainly became great religious figures but they were not at first). No, God had something different in mind. He called all people, but what makes the difference between those who are called and those who do not accept God’s call? The difference is the response. They answer God’s call.
Jesus did not just call disciples who are ordinary, but He came into the world in an ordinary way! He came as an infant, as a human being He grew up in the small town of Nazareth. God does his greatest work as a 30 year old son of a carpenter. The king of the earth chooses to be born into the world, in a lowly way in a manger and he dies a criminal death, on a cross. God likes to do extraordinary work in ordinary ways!
The call to adventure is made not just for the gifted, or talented, or extraordinary. No, it is the ordinary that are called. They are transformed on the journey just as they are disciples transformed on the journey with Christ! Just as the hobbits are called on an adventure so, we too are called to join him on the adventure with Christ. We may not be hobbits, but we humans are called to an adventure, a quest with Christ. This quest is joining Christ in the proclamation of the gospel. The adventure is humans realizing their identity and purpose, being made in God’s image, being God’s children Who is ready for an adventure with Jesus?
