I will be speaking on The Lord of the Rings at a men’s retreat at a farm in the Chiltern Hills in England that will take place between the 19th and 21st June. I will be talking about the moment when the hobbits return to the Shire after all their adventures with a sense of foreboding about what lies ahead but with the comfort of knowing that Gandalf will be with them. Then comes the bombshell.

“I am not coming to the Shire. You must settle its affairs yourselves; that is what you have been trained for,”

So I will be thinking about the question of Initiation. How our life experience and all its adventures have prepared us for what lies ahead. And how we never quite feel ready for the next challenge until we get there.

The hobbits have everything they need to free the Shire from Saruman and his gang. We have everything we need to face the next challenge in our lives.

The retreat is run by a men’s fellowship called The Resonant Man that I have joined and which I value very much, It is convened by Matthew Green, formerly a foreign correspondent for The Financial Times, and Jacob Kishere, a young man living and working in Mexico who has become a good friend over the past year.

There are a few places still available so please scan the QR code on the link for more details.

There are around 2,000 readers each week on my blog and it would be so good to meet some of you in person.