What to Do with the Time That Is Given Us

In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, there is a quiet moment in Bag End that cuts straight to the heart of purpose. Frodo, overwhelmed by the burden of the Ring, says to Gandalf, "I wish it need not have happened in my time." Gandalf's reply has echoed through generations of readers: "So do I, 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."

Tolkien, a devout Catholic who lived through both World Wars, understood something about calling that we often resist: purpose is not the same as preference. Frodo did not choose his burden. He did not audition for the role. The task found him, and his only real decision was whether to be faithful with what had been placed in his hands.

We spend so much energy wishing for a different assignment — a different season, a different set of gifts, a different family situation. But the God who knit us together in our mothers' wombs does not make clerical errors. The Almighty does not hand us someone else's calling by accident.

Your purpose is not hiding from you. It is standing right in front of you, dressed in the ordinary clothes of this particular Tuesday, this particular life. The only question is what you will do with the time that is given you.