And Samuel grieved. And the Lord was sorry. ….The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve?” Life moves on, I have a new plan….” (1 Samuel 15:35 –  16:1-13. )  “How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand there is no going back. There are some things that time can not mend. Some hurts that go too deep… that have taken hold.” (Lord of the Rings) “Life moves on, I have a new plan….” (1 Samuel 15:35 –  16:1-13. )

I think the answer to “how long will you grieve” is that Samuel will grieve forever. The threads are never completely mended; the hole remains.  And still the Lord calls me forward into the new plan. Before I want to move forward.  In directions I don’t want to go. I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. 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. Like the folks in 1835 and 1837.  Do what I can. The appearance is that the call arrives before I am prepared. Resting on the promise that God qualifies the call, that I always have what I need.

No grand statements here.  Just a simple call to a single, little ole me. I cannot do this alone. You are a Ring-bearer, Frodo. To bear a Ring of Power is to be alone….This task was appointed to you, and if you do not find a way, no one will. I know what I must do, it’s just that… I’m afraid to do it. Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

In the end, my response will be. I will take the Ring…. Though… I do not know the way.  And trust. One foot in front of the other.  Loving. Calling myself forward. Calling us forward.  Morphing the grief into action.  Live because life comes through living.  Find the rays of light.  They ARE there.