Something I often say is that Christians are meant to help carry one another's burdens, and someone once asked me how. I will probably never forget the question, because I didn't know the answer. I have thought and thought and thought about how to explain the way that I delight in coming alongside others that have heavier burdens than I, and I think I have begun to grasp it, thanks to my dear chum Tolkien. If you do not know the ending of the story, do not keep reading... but if you have, continue. :) The best illustration of Christian fellowship that I can imagine is in the friendship Sam has with Frodo. Some people have told me that they think being compared to Samwise Gamgee would be more of an insult than a compliment, but I believe that he is my favorite character of all the hundreds you meet throughout the tale. Do you remember the scene upon the mountain? So near to finishing the task of destroying the ring, and yet so far? Here it is in Tolkien's words:

"[Sam] bent over Frodo, rousing him gently. Frodo groaned; but with a great effort of will he staggered up; and then he fell upon his knees again. He raised his eyes with difficulty to the dark slopes of Mount Doom towering above him, and then pitifully he began to crawl forward on his hands.
Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. 'I said I'd carry him, if it broke my back' he muttered, 'and I will!'
'Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr. Frodo dear! Sam will give you a ride. Just tell him where to go, and he'll go.'
As Frodo clung upon his back, Sam staggered to his feet; and then to his amazement he felt the burden light. He had feared that he would have barely strength to lift his master alone, and beyond that he had expected to share in the dreadful dragging weight of the accursed Ring. But it was not so."

As I watched this play out before my eyes, knowing the words well enough to say them before Sam even did, I found my heart praying "Oh Lord, let me be Sam to all the Frodos that I meet."

Now you perhaps will laugh, because that reveals the true depths of my geek-hood, but I can't help but find this a wonderful way to answer the question asked of me a long time ago. And if I can find that much hope in a story, imagine how much sweeter reality is when we consider that it is not I that am truly carrying my burdened brethren before the Lord, but Christ through me.

Thus ends part one of my ROTK thoughts. I actually have two or three to eventually write out. But for now, this was the most important one.