When the Music Ends

"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "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."

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

It’s strange how history feels like something that happens to other people until it doesn’t. Then, one day, you wake up to find yourself right in the middle of it. On days like today, it’s easy to feel like we’ve crossed into uncharted territory—and not the bright, exhilarating kind. But here we are, trying to make sense of it.

Frodo, caught in his own world-shifting moment, captured it well: “I wish it need not have happened in my time.”

And Gandalf’s reply—a reminder for all of us—is just as timeless: “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.”

Gandalf doesn’t deny Frodo’s feelings. Instead, he reminds him and us that our response matters more than our circumstances. The world may change overnight, but our values and how we choose to act on them are within our control.

Right now, deciding what to do with the hand we’re given doesn’t mean solving every problem. It means asking what we each stand for and how we’ll live that out. Be a good person, the best and most genuine version of yourself, even in small ways. Stretch your hand out to a stranger, and stay engaged in difficult conversations. Small acts that, over time, make a difference.

As a species, we have evolved to survive tough times. We did it by focusing on what we could control—by making deliberate choices, even when the path forward was unclear. We’re not the first to wish we’d been dealt a different hand, and we won’t be the last. But every generation has the chance to define itself by its response. That’s our choice, and it’s enough to get started.