{"id":3711,"date":"2024-06-04T07:24:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T11:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3711"},"modified":"2024-06-04T07:25:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T11:25:13","slug":"worth-fighting-for-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/worth-fighting-for-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Worth Fighting For"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

Let\u2019s face it: Sean Astin is never going to live down Rudy.<\/em>

The 53-year-old actor is best known for playing the lead role in the 1993 film about Daniel Reuttiger, a real-life walk-on to the Notre Dame football team. 

He even lampooned himself in a commercial in which former NFL stars just can\u2019t help themselves: the only way they know how to relate to him is by chanting,\u201cRu-dy! Ru-dy!\u201d<\/em>

He\u2019s also known as \u201cthe guy with four fathers.\u201d They include Michael Tell (his biological father, with actress Patty Duke), John Astin (his adoptive father, who married Duke), Desi Arnaz Jr. (with whom Duke had had a relationship) and Michael Pearce (whom Duke married when Sean was 15). “I can call any of them on the phone any time I want to. John, Desi, Mike, or Papa Mike … my four dads.\u2019\u2019

That\u2019s almost as convoluted as the storyline in J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s Lord of the Rings<\/em> trilogy, in which Astin plays Samwise Gamgee the hobbit in the 2001-2003 films directed by Peter Jackson.

Sam\u2019s call is to accompany his hobbit friend Frodo, who is charged with carrying the Ring of Power to its demise in a churning volcano.

Along the way they endure incredible suffering. It seems certain they will perish in the attempt to do what is right.

In The Two Towers<\/em>, the second of the three films, Frodo has reached the end of his endurance: \u201cI can\u2019t do this, Sam.\u201d

Sam responds with the most moving statement in the entire Lord of the Rings <\/em>saga:

\u201cI know. It\u2019s all wrong. By rights we shouldn\u2019t even be here. But we are.<\/em>

\u201cIt\u2019s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn\u2019t want to know the end. <\/em>

\u201cBecause how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? <\/em>

\u201cBut in the end, it\u2019s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.<\/em>

\u201cBut I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn\u2019t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.\u201d<\/em>

Frodo asks, \u201cWhat are we holding onto, Sam?\u201d

Sam responds, \u201cThat there\u2019s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it\u2019s worth fighting for.\u201d

Check out the stirring way<\/a> Jackson staged this conversation in the film.  

Apart from a Story that gives meaning to our existence, our present circumstances can seem unbearable.

Scripture tells a Story \u2013 the greatest of all the great stories, as Sam might put it \u2013 in which the darkness will pass. It will be only a passing thing. A shadow. And a new day will come.

Here\u2019s how the Story ends: \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth\u2026 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u2018Look! God\u2019s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away\u2019\u201d (Revelation 21:1,3,4).

Between now and the finale of God\u2019s incredible Story, what are we supposed to be doing?

Our call is to hold on, even when we have chances to turn back.

Because there\u2019s some good in this world. 

And it\u2019s worth fighting for.<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Let\u2019s face it: Sean Astin is never going to live down Rudy. The 53-year-old actor is best known for playing the lead role in the 1993 film about Daniel Reuttiger, a real-life walk-on to the Notre Dame football team.  He even lampooned himself in a commercial in which former NFL stars… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,112],"class_list":["post-3711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-perseverance","tag-suffering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3711"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3714,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3711\/revisions\/3714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}