A Brief Smile

I just finished watching The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies tonight.  I love that with books and movies, there are always gems to find that both add value to and help us understand life.  

There is a scene near the end, at the end of the great battle, where Bilbo and Gandalf are sitting on a rock.  They are both exhausted and bloodied, and Gandalf starts scraping the inside of his pipe, trying to get it lit.  After a minute of Gandalf's annoying fidgeting, Bilbo just looks at him.  Gandalf looks over and gives a brief grin.

It lasts for maybe a second, but it speaks volumes.  

Both of them had just survived a great battle, and many harrowing experiences leading up to it... and both had lost much.  They both watched as allies and good friends died.  Both suffered the heartbreak of loss.

Gandalf's smile could have said a dozen things.  It could have said "Bilbo, my friend... I'm glad you're alive".  It could have said "in spite of everything that has happened, there is still much to celebrate."  It could have said "We're broken, Bilbo... and life will never again have the same innocent joy it once had... but it will go on.  We will continue to live and love through the end of our days, and each moment of peace and joy that we have will be savored that much more, because we know how fleeting and fragile life is.  We know the sweet, because we have tasted the bitter."

Maybe I used poetic license on that last one... maybe Gandalf wouldn't have waxed philosophical like that unless he had something REALLY good in that pipe of his.  But the point is true.

No one gets through life without being broken by something.... or any number of things.  Death of a loved one, loss of a friendship, betrayal, rejection, shunning, sickness, rape, violence, bullying... the list can truly go on forever.  Nobody makes it through this life without being broken in some way.

But the sun comes up again the next day, and life continues its relentless roll toward the next day, and the next... never pausing to acknowledge our pains and sorrows.  Life doesn't do THAT.  But others do... most often those who are also broken are the first hands that reach out to help us to our feet when we're on our knees.

That smile of Gandalf's meant a lot.  It was a reassurance... not that everything would be alright... but that eventually BILBO would be alright.

Reach out, smile... give that reassuring touch.  You've no idea the power you wield for good, nor whose prayers you may be an answer to.