Deep Lord of the Rings

So, Andrea and I just finished rewatching the LOTR trilogy (extended edition, as if there were any others) for about the 400th time. I know that makes us complete geeks, but I challenge you to find any other movie or book with so much in it. It has an exciting story, character development, fantasy, strength, weakness, stuff blowing up, heads flying off, a funny-looking blonde dude saying "A diversion...", everything.
I've read all three books, the appendices, and the Silmarillion and the thing that strikes me most about the books as a whole is the sheer expanse of time. They are some of the only books I've read that approximate history. Think of Aragorn. We meet him as some "Ranger from the North" and follow him through his acceptance of his lineage. We see him fight and love. We grow attached to him and are triumphant as he is crowned. We meet his son in a vision from Arwen. And everyone is supposed to live happily ever after. But they don't. I hate to break it to you, children, but Aragorn dies. The books mention that after a long Numenorian reign of peace, the king grows old and dies. After all that fighting and struggle and victory, life and death continue their cycle. That seems sad at first, but it tends to give me comfort that even in the worst times, I know that life goes on.

I was at a funeral this weekend of a woman who was called home to God unexpectedly. It was sad to see a husband lose his mate (I pray that I never have to go through that). I guess the only comfort I would be able to have during that time would be to look and see that life goes on. Sadness has come to everyone alive prior to this instant and yet here the world is...