Folks, I am walking to Mordor. I set off just over a week ago, and the lights of Hobbiton are already far behind me. Frodo made better time on this journey, but that’s ok. I’ll get there. I’m about 20 miles from that comfortable hole on Bag End, with only 1,760 miles to go.

I should clarify. I am metaphorically going to Mordor. Or rather, I downloaded an app that measures my steps each day as if I were taking the same route as Frodo in Lord of the Rings. According to research posted online, Frodo averaged about nine miles per day. I am doing closer to two at the moment.

Along the way, I am also re-reading Lord of the Rings. Or rather, listening to it for the first time. Because what is better on an 1,800-mile journey than roughly 60 hours of audiobooks? Well, some of the time I am listening to the LOTR movie soundtrack. I’m making it an immersive experience. Going a bit overboard? Eh, maybe.

Why am I going on this journey that will take me to see Tom Bombadil, gaze at the wonders of Rivendell, scurry out of Khazad Dum, and finally to the very fires of Mt. Doom itself? Well, I needed a long-term goal (quest?) that would encourage me to get off my ass. Plus, LOTR was on my mind quite a bit lately, largely because folks have been posting quotes from it on social media, including:

“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” – Samwise Gamgee

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Given the outcome of the recent election, we know that dark times are coming. Part of me wants to crawl back into my own hobbit hole and hope the shadows don’t reach me. There are days I feel tired and “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

But I can’t do that. I can’t bear the thought of giving up. In the end, there are too many people I care about. I need to be active, and keep my mind focused on the idea that, in the words of Dr. King, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Frodo and his companions face dark, hard times. During that journey, friends were lost, and it seemed many times that those who sought cruelty and harm were on the precipice of victory. We’re going to face similar times in the years to come. Except it will be immeasurably worse because we live in reality, not the pages of a book.

Those who we thought were friends will betray us. They will praise cruelty and laugh at our distress. Darkness will press down upon us to the point that it is hard to breathe. There will be days when it’s hard to get out of bed, let alone put one foot in front of another.

But whether our heroes are in fantasy books or history books, we know that we must persevere. We must push forward. We must find beauty and goodness around us, and fight for decency and justice. Each of us will react to the next few years in our own way. Some may lead protests against injustice. Others will write words of resistance, or bring to life new heroes we need to meet this moment. Still others will do the quiet work of caring for neighbors, family, and friends harmed or threatened by cruel acts and policies.

I’m not sure where your road will take you. And to be honest, I’m not sure where my road will lead. “It’s a dangerous business,” Bilbo told Frodo, “going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

Yet we all need to step out that door. We all need to put our feet on the road and move forward, day by day. Because while there may be orcs and trolls out there, we will also encounter new friends, new allies, and hopefully an army of like-minded folks who will join us in pushing that great moral arc towards justice.

I’m stepping out that door. And I hope you join me. And while we do it, we can hum a little song.

The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can.