BLOG 5/8/18. FRODO: A MODEL OF FAITHFULNESS

It might surprise my readers, but I find the diminutive and rustic hobbit, Frodo, in J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic Lord of the of the Rings, to be a model for me of faithfulness to one’s calling in the most extremely unlikely circumstances. I know this will never get me into the hall of fame for teachers of spiritual formation, but let me explain. Professor Tolkien, of Oxford University, w wrote the three-volume epic on the classic theme of the battle between good and evil, darkness and light.

To do this Tolkien created the imaginary world of ‘middle earth’. There are two forces vying for the leadership of middle earth: one was the dominion of darkness and its leader Sauron, whose agenda was destruction and slavery and spoilage of everything it touched. The other was the authority of those forces committed to the stewardship of the good and true and beautiful in middle earth. Their leadership was centered in the Council and its leader Elrond and headquartered at a secure refuge called Rivendell. Ah! but also in middle earth was a quaint little village and culture known as ‘the Shire’. It was populated by a diminutive colony of folk know as hobbits, or half-lings. These rustic folk were content to tend the earth, drink beer, smoke their pipes, and live in a self-contained world of their own

At the heart of the epic was that in the early history of middle earth there had been created five magical rings which would give middle earth its character, … but one of these was the Ring of Power, which controlled all the others. The problem was that the Ring of Power had a corrupting influence on whoever owned it, but it had been lost in the shadows of past history. It was the great quest of the forces of darkness to find and own that ring. The Council, and its advisor, the wizard Gandalf, also knew the power of that ring.

As fate would have it, the ring was accidently discovered by a hobbit by the name of Bilbo, and ultimately came into the hands of the Council, who knew that if middle earth were to survive then that ring simply had to be destroyed, and that could only be accomplished by casting it back into the fiery volcano in Mount Doom in which it has been forged. But how to accomplish that when all the forces of darkness would be bent on forbidding it? And who could be trusted to bear that ring on such a perilous journey with himself being taken captive by its power?

And here is where Frodo comes in. Frodo was Bilbo’s nephew, and was self-effacing and simple-living, and the last person, the least-likely one would be apt to choose for such a daunting mission. But the Council saw in Frodo that integrity and commitment to faithfulness to the cosmic mission that would not be inclined to any self-aggrandizing grab for power. Hence, these three volumes are the story of Frodo and his faithful servant Sam, and a small band setting out from Rivendell to get to Mount Doom, with all the supernatural forces of darkness seeking to forbid it. In the course of the journey the others in the party got separated from them until it was just Frodo and Sam experiencing unimaginable temptations, sufferings, impossible odds, the wrath of the Dark Lord and his emissaries in the trek to get to Mount Doom. But they were faithful. Frodo would not be deterred, no matter how hopeless it all looked. He and Sam made it, fulfilled their mission, and thus destroyed the power that would have totally blighted middle earth.

I see in Frodo a model of faithfulness to mission in the midst of discouraging and often daunting odds. He’s the little guy, “the weak and foolish and of no prestige” that the Bible speaks of as those whom God uses. He’s a model to me. Life under the mission of God is seldom glamorous, or accomplished by grandiose figures, but by those ordinary little people who are faithful to the mission they have been given, to wear the garment of the Light and to demonstrate God’s New Creation and so displaying the power of God in simple lives in unlikely places.

[I always appreciate your comments.]