Something Tookish: On Comfort and Adventure

The Hobbit Chapter 1: “An Unexpected Party”

Chapter Summary

Bilbo Baggins loved his comfortable life in the Shire—until Gandalf and thirteen dwarves arrived with talk of dragons, treasure, and a quest to reclaim their homeland. Their stories stirred something long dormant in Bilbo: an inherited love of adventure that conflicted sharply with his desire for safety and respectability. As Tolkien writes:

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine trees, and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.”

This tension between comfort and adventure isn’t unique to hobbits. It’s the central conflict of the spiritual life.

Comfort calls us to maintain the status quo and keep to well-known paths. Adventure urges us to blaze new trails and explore unfamiliar territories—both geographic and intellectual. Comfort whispers that we should protect our self-interest and guard our resources. Adventure challenges us to put others first and give generously to those in need. Comfort prefers to keep our understanding of God small, manageable, safely contained. Adventure invites us to dance with a wild God who exceeds all our categories.

Khalil Gibran warned that “the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul.” He was right. A life of pure comfort is a life unlived. But the cost of adventure is real too—it demands risk, uncertainty, and the willingness to be changed.

So which voice will you listen to today? What is your comfort costing you? What version of yourself are you refusing to become?

As Gandalf tells Bilbo: “There is a lot more in you than you have any idea of.” The same is true for you.

The question is: are you willing to find out what that “more” is?

Jim Cyr is a retired minister. He has had adventures as a pastor, crisis intervention specialist, jail and hospice chaplain, and a storyteller. His peregrinations have taken him all over the United States and to Canada, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Europe, and the Philippines. His wisdom teachers have included, his dog, good church people, alcoholics, drug addicts, thieves, embezzlers, murderers, sex offenders, mob wise-guys, out of control kids, parents at the end of their rope, bad bosses and good bosses, people taking their last breath, three wives, multiple step children, mystics past and present, Muslims, Jews, Christians, and stories.

Learn more about Jim’s spiritual companionship and storytelling at www.jimcyr.com./