Little Things
Five Minutes That Could Change The World
written by: Glen McKenzie
@justabitfurther
“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.”
Gandalf to Galadriel – “The Hobbit”
Not too long ago, for some unknown and exceedingly strange reason, I started to re-watch the first installment of the “The Hobbit” trilogy movies. At one particular point in the narrative Gandalf, the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen) eloquently delivers the above quote to Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) after she asks him, “Why Bilbo Baggins.”
Why Bilbo Baggins?
Well, why not Bilbo and why not us?
Isn’t Bilbo at this point in the movie adaptation much like you and I. Just ordinary people or a Hobbit in his case along for “the ride.” Seeking adventure and a life that has meaning and purpose. All the while, but never in his wildest dreams think that whatever he does will have any impact on anything.
But, he does make a difference as Gandalf alludes to Galadriel in this heartfelt moment in the movie.
And isn’t that an end goal that we all have to some extent? To get to the last page of our days here on Earth and to know that somehow our life made a positive difference in the world. Even in a world where we assume, “it doesn’t matter what I do, I’m only a tiny gear in a massive machine. I won’t have any impact at all.”
For many, the world can seem like it is almost unconquerable in terms of the evilness that can rear its ugly head on a day-to-day basis. I admit, that sounds a bit harsh, but aren’t we inundated with news clips and sound-bites almost on an hourly basis with stories from close to home to the furthest reaches of the planet? Each particular clip detailing terrible tragedies and of ongoing conflicts that defy imagination.
All the while, it seems that world leaders turn a blind eye to what’s going on and continue to push agendas benefiting only their own interests and that takes us even closer to the precipice of destruction.
Leaders of the most powerful nations on Earth have their fingers on or at least near to buttons that can launch weapons that will destroy and annihilate each one of us many times over. It appears that some of them may be crazily following a script bent on mutual destruction.
It’s easy to shrug our shoulders and give up.
But, then a few lines of dialogue from a movie start to put things back into perspective. Maybe it’s just a momentary escape from reality, but nevertheless, there is something in those words.
“The small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
Small acts of kindness and love.
Seems somewhat simplistic if you screech to a halt and think about it for any more than a few seconds.
There isn’t much that you or I have control over in this world. However, the one thing I can control is this. “What I do and how I react or don’t react to what happens around me.”
That force, the one thing that trumps over evil each and every time is kindness and love and the actions that exhibit that love and kindness to those we come in contact with.
So, here’s a something to mull over for a while.
What if each one of the 7.6 billion people living on this little blue gem of a planet undertook to complete just one small deed to keep the darkness at bay. To stem the tide of evil that is pervasive throughout all nations across the planet.
Small acts of kindness and love from ordinary people.
People just like you and me.
All of this might be some fanciful dream on my part. You may be sitting there now reading this and thinking, “Wish he would wake up and get a grip on reality.”
But, what is the alternative when we give up? When we assume that all hope is lost.
What is left?
Sitting in our homes or wherever and not opening the doors of kindness and love and allowing it to flow from our front porches and flooding the whole world over, ultimately gives evil a chance to win.
The easiest and default thing to do is nothing. Evil always prevails when good people sit back at doing absolutely nothing. Won’t even give the light of day to “the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
Or is it?
Maybe it’s simply a choice?
A choice to be kind, loving and showing those qualities through a simple and ordinary act on our part. It can’t possibly be that much of a challenge for humanity? But, on the other hand, it might be the hardest thing any of us has to do.
What if there was a movement that started with just ordinary people who made the decision to keep evil in check. That they would designate a day across the world and take five simple minutes and convert that time into “the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
What if the power in that force, generated by millions, if not billions of people was harnessed and focused directly at the evil in this world for that short time?
That five minutes might make all the difference in the world?
“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.”
What can you do in 2019 to make “the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay? Small acts of kindness and love” happen?
Gandalf had faith in an ordinary Hobbit to keep darkness at bay. Perhaps now is the time for ordinary people like you and me to do the same.
Hiking, canoe tripping as well as other outdoor adventure activities, can be seen as a metaphor for living. Both are journey’s filled with scores of good and not so good steps. Highs and lows; successes and failures.
Over the years, have realized that spending time in the outdoors pursuing whatever type of outdoor activity you choose opens up a wonderful and life-changing array of lessons on living and ourselves if, we are willing to stop, observe and listen.
Come and join me.
- Today I Cried - November 24, 2021
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- The Worn Path of Souls - July 3, 2021
