Tag: fiction

The Good and Faithful Hobbit 

By Ken Yates on May 05, 2026 10:00 am

I, Pastor Scott, received this blog on Tuesday form one of the “Grace” sites I subscribe. I am sharing not, just, because I’m a big fan of The Trilogy, but also because the article makes a great point!

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the fate of the world rests on a ring. Forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, the Ring of Power corrupts all who possess it. It needs to be destroyed. Someone has to carry the Ring into the heart of enemy territory and destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom. 

The unlikely ring bearer is Frodo Baggins, a small hobbit from the Shire. As the story unfolds, the burden of the Ring grows heavier. It weakens his body. It clouds his mind. It isolates him from his companions. By the time he reaches the aptly named Mount Doom, he is staggering under the weight of the ring. 

But Frodo is not alone. He has Samwise Gamgee with him. 

Sam is Frodo’s gardener. He was not chosen to bear the ring. He is not given the “important” role. He begins the story as a servant, packing supplies, cooking meals, and worrying about potatoes. If you were assembling a team to save the world, Sam would not be your obvious pick. Yet anyone who knows the story knows this: Frodo would never have made it to Mount Doom without Sam. When Frodo collapses, Sam carries him. When Frodo despairs, Sam speaks hope. When the path disappears, Sam keeps walking. Sam fights when necessary, but more often than not, he simply serves.  

What was Tolkien’s inspiration for Samwise? He revealed it in an interview. Tolkien served as a second lieutenant in World War I, enduring the brutal conditions of trench warfare. In those trenches, he encountered a class of soldiers known as batmen. In the British army, a batman was an enlisted man assigned as a personal servant to an officer. His tasks were unglamorous: prepare meals, clean uniforms, maintain equipment, carry extra gear, make tea, run messages. In the mud of the trenches, they shaved their officers, washed their clothes, and set up their quarters.  

These batmen lived and served under shellfire, in the cold, with the rats, and experienced exhaustion. Their daily work often consisted of what seemed insignificant: cooking, cleaning, carrying. Tolkien saw them up close. And he never forgot them. 

In a 1956 letter, he wrote: 

“My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflection of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 War, and recognized as so far superior to myself.”

That sentence speaks to the profound impact these men had on Tolkien. “So far superior to myself.” Tolkien was the officer. By rank and education, he stood above them. Yet he believed the quiet endurance and loyalty of those ordinary soldiers surpassed his own. Tolkien understood something that war teaches quickly: Leaders cannot lead if no one serves. Commanders cannot function without someone to clean, cook, carry, and sustain. Armies do not move on speeches; they move on meals prepared in the mud.  

The great moments of history are built on unnoticed faithfulness. It is human nature to love the climactic scene, such as Frodo at Mount Doom. In the Bible, we are inspired by David facing Goliath. We love the dramatic language of spiritual warfare and the heroes listed in Hebrews 11. We gravitate toward the epic, the visible, the extraordinary. But most of the believer’s life is not lived at Mount Doom. 

It is lived in kitchens, laundry rooms, offices, and hospital waiting rooms. In these places, there are daily, repetitive acts of service that no one applauds: cooking a meal for a weary family member; showing up to work with integrity when no one notices; preparing Sunday school lessons; cleaning a church building; praying for someone who will never know you did; raising children in quiet consistency; serving aging parents; answering emails; paying bills; folding clothes.

In Luke 19, when the Lord describes His return and the evaluation of His servants, the praise He gives is striking: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Not “good and famous.” Not “good and influential.” Not “good and impressive.”  

Faithful. 

Faithful implies repetition. Showing up day after day and doing what was entrusted to you without needing recognition. It is not a single dramatic act. It is a word that describes a life lived consistently, like Samwise and the batmen who inspired him.  

The kingdom to come will not measure greatness the way this world does. It will not be impressed with numbers or noise. What will matter is whether we were faithful with what we were given, whether in great trials or small tasks. The steady obedience in the mundane may count for more than the single act of visible bravery. 

Frodo reached Mount Doom because Sam kept walking. 

Armies held their lines because unnamed soldiers known as batmen kept serving. 

And believers finish well, not because every day is epic, but because, in the quiet and the ordinary, they remain faithful. 

The post The Good and Faithful Hobbit  appeared first on Grace Evangelical Society.

The Story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody And Nobody


Recently I told a group of leadership executives a simple but meaningful story that you may have heard before. It’s the story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

Here’s the story, titled “Whose Job Is It, Anyway?”

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

The story may be confusing but the message is clear: no one took responsibility so nothing got accomplished.

It’s a story that plays out often in organizations and companies and on teams—anywhere there is culture that lacks accountability.

But how do you get people to take responsibly for their work? Different things work in different situations, but here are some strategies that have proven to be effective:

Become a role model. You can’t tell people what to do if you yourself aren’t willing to hold yourself to the same level. If you want people to act responsibly, you have to be accountable. Your team and your company look to you for direction.

Don’t make assumptions. Don’t assume that others know instinctively what to do and when to do it, or even what you expect from them. Before people can take responsibility for their work they require clear communication. The more you communicate, the better the results are likely to be.

Set the standard. If you expect excellence, it’s up to you to set the standards for results and performance. Make each task or goal measurable and set it on a reasonable timeline so it’s achievable. Give people a clear target and they’ll work to reach it—and maybe even surpass it.

Get the buy-in to go the distance. You need people to buy in and commit if you want to succeed. Each vision should be compelling; each goal should build toward the whole; each task should be laced with motivation. You need people to feel compelled, inspired and motivated to take responsibility.

Make regular check-ups. One of the biggest reasons people fall short is a lack of follow-through by leadership. Help people stay focused by setting up regular checkpoints—phone calls or meetings where everyone can communicate and catch up, staying focused on moving forward and being accountable. When people know there will be check-ups, they’re less likely to procrastinate and more likely to hit their targets.

Provide support and training. Especially with a start-up or a new initiative, people are taking on projects or tasks that they’ve never faced before. Make sure everybody has the training and resources they need to be successful, and provide help in resolving any issues that may arise.

Encourage candor. One of the worst things that can happen to a team is for people to feel uncomfortable discussing problems and expressing their honest opinions. Build a culture of candor so that people know it’s the norm to tell the truth, even when it’s difficult or awkward.

Concentrate on solutions and not only problems. If people are having problems or falling behind, expect them to come to you with possible solutions, not just the problems. Create an expectation that the first response to a problem is to start finding solutions.

Praise performance. Praise people for good results and be specific with your acknowledgment. Let them know what they did well and how their work is affecting others. If they fall short, coach them privately and let them know how they can improve. And if their performance does not improve, also address this with meaningful consequences that have been explained ahead of time.

To avoid having your team become Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody, commit to becoming the kind of leader who takes responsibility for your own life and leadership.

Lead from within: Don’t let Anybody (or Everybody, Somebody or Nobody) stop you from doing what you need to do to create the kind of leadership and life you can be proud of.

Of course you’ve heard this before… unless you haven’t!  Recently I realized that there are some “generalized truths” that don’t get passed down from generation to generation.  I don’t know if this is one of them, but I thought it’s too important not to share.  ~Pastor Scott