More Lessons From The Two Towers

Good morning! There is nothing so constant as change. Yesterday I ended up NOT going to kindergarten to make sherbet and today Cedric does NOT have two soccer games. Sherbet will most likely happen next week and the soccer games will be next Saturday. I’m guessing the weather has something to with the lack of soccer games today and I know that Mrs. LaRose being gone yesterday had something to do with sherbet.

I had a good bike ride, three, actually. The first one was nice because I got to watch The Return of the King. Well, 30 minutes of it, anyway. The first was nice because it was happening. I couldn’t watch more of The Return of the King because Laura was using the DVD player to do my Pilates thing. The third ride was in the evening and boys were being rather entertaining which in this particular case was not a good thing.

Laura didn’t get off until 9:00 last night and Joanna was not home and we couldn’t convince Jonathan and Elizabeth to stay so Paul and I didn’t go out. Second week in a row. Last week he brought home Chinese. This week we had steak cooked at home. I sautéed some peppers and onions to go with it and finished off the strawberry rhubarb lemonade. I haven’t figured out calories yet, but I’m sure they were sufficient that the third bike ride was a good thing.

I did some reading and a lot of laundry and a little cleaning in the bedroom and that was pretty  much my afternoon.

On tap for today we have some baking, more laundry, hopefully Seth’s last soccer game and whatever else might happen.

From the end of The Two Towers, I have some observations. First, just before the Battle of Helm’s Deep commences, an unexpected boon appears in the form of a friendly army. It is an army of elvish archers from Lothlórien, led by Haldir. He bears a message from Elrond in Rivendell and reminds them that there once was an allegiance between elves and men and they have come to honor that. Granted, many elves perished in the ensuing battle, but without their help, the entire battle would very likely have ended differently.

Sometimes, help comes when we least expect it. We should always be aware and we should always be grateful. We should also lend our help when opportunity arises because we never know when our actions might help turn the battle for someone else.

Second, when the battle at Helm’s Deep appears to be at an end, Aragorn convinces Théoden to ride out with him. Théoden could have not gone, he could have accepted defeat and attempted to retreat to the mountains as the women and children in the caves had been instructed to do. But he saw some wisdom in Aragorn’s move and joined him. As a result, they slew many orcs who otherwise would have lived to carry out Saruman and Sauron’s evil designs.

Aragorn is reminded of what Gandalf had said as he was leaving a few days earlier. “Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn ... look to the east.”  This is first light on the fifth day and who appears above the plain but Gandalf. With Gandalf is Éomer and the riders of Rohan. While their 3,000 are not as many as the 10,000 or more of the orc army, many orcs have been slain and they do not expect to see the Rohirrim. They turn the tide and the Battle of Helm’s Deep is won.

The lesson to learn from this is that even when things appear to be very bleak, when it seems that all is lost, there is help. Sometimes all we have to do is take one step into the darkness. Sometimes we may have to take many steps in the darkness. In the end, however, victory is certain even when the odds seem to completely overwhelm us.

Have a wonderful day!