I finally saw “The Return of the King". It was awesome! I am still processing most of the movie and of course I have a few favorite parts that keep coming back to me. My last post was regarding friendship and the importance of it. I was reminded of that importance when I was watching the movie. One of my favorite parts of the movie was when Sam and Frodo were climbing up the mountain to destroy the ring and Frodo couldn’t go any further. Sam said something like, “Mr. Frodo, I can’t carry your burden but I can carry you", and he picked him up and put him on his shoulders and began to carry him up the mountain.

I was astounded at the level of committment that they had for each other. Friendship was such a big theme of this movie. I got to thinking about what John Eldridge calls “Intimate Allies” and how important having this kind of relationship is. Frodo did not go on his journey alone, he had Sam and a group of others to fight the fight with him. In saving Private Ryan a platoon of 8 went out with Captain John Miller to look for Private Ryan. Jesus took 12. You see every story has a bad guy and the bad news is our story has a bad guy too. He is out to kill, steal and destroy and we need “Intimate Allies” to fight alongside us. You cannot go alone. The enemy wants to divide and conquer. He wants to get us isolated and take us out.

What does having “Intimate Allies” look like? How can we offer this to others unless we truely know one another and their hearts? We can’t! Imagine you are surrounded by a small company of friends who know you and love you. Who understand that we are in a world at war and who are willing to do anything to battle for you at the drop of a hat.

God is calling together little communities of the heart to fight for each other and for the hearts of those who have not yet been set free. It is the little platoons that change the world. I wonder about the platoon of men who found Sadam Hussein and what a victory that was for them and what that must have felt like. I want to fight for the hearts of those I love and carry “my allies” as Sam carried Frodo. I know who will fight for me and my heart but the question remains, “Who will fight for your heart?’