Faith....

"Sam: It's me. It's your Sam. Don't you know your Sam?
Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s 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. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going… because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for."

A friend of mine was just talking to me about this last line from Lord of the Rings....which hit a chord somewhere in me. It's the kind of line that leaves you with goose bumps for sometime as you ponder over what is it that touched you.

There's some good in the world.....some good in each human being, however inhuman they may have externally become! I think that's what keeps this world moving.....we have so much hope in our hearts, so much faith in this universe...that no matter how much misery we may see being displayed on tv, in movies, in the newspaper, on our own streets, we always believe that there is a way beyond all this. We are always looking at ways to overcome problems, we are always looking at solutions.....somewhere each human being is an eternal optimist...because without his optimism, without his faith in the universe, he would have given up long ago, this world wouldn't have been able to survive the thousands of wars and seen the millions suffering and still come out with lyrics like...."And i think to myself what a wonderful world..."

Even when I look at my own life, I see its because of this continued faith in something much bigger than myself that I gain the courage to take risks...to venture into spaces where Im not sure how deep the fall is! Just like Sam talks about it, even with so many chances to turn back from a risky path to a safer one, one doesnt do it because one is holding on to something. Even now, whenever I make a mistake or I take a leap into the dark and scary terrain of the unknown, it is with utmost faith that things will work out. It is this faith that allows one to surrender to something, and go with the flow of life rather than resisting the flow at each turn it takes. At each turn its like this need to shout out..."where are we going now!!??"...but when we can just sit quietly and move with it....then magic begins to happen, as you experience the brilliance and beauty of this phenomenan called life. All it asks you to do is hold on to the reigns of faith, sit on the seat of hope and take directions from your heart when necessary.

I may go through the hardest and darkest moments of my life, but there is unflinching faith that there will be a light at the end of that tunnel. It's also with this same faith in the goodness that resides in each human being, in each concious living entity that gives people a reason to get up every morning and do what they're doing, to play their small role in making a difference to this world. Because they live with the hope that even that little bit that they can contribute through the few waking hours....will help add a little to that good in the world we all hold on to.