Frodo
I need to forewarn you of a couple things today.
1.) I am a total nerd for classic literature
2.) I LOVE lessons through imagery
I'm feeling a little brainwashed right now because I have been watching The Lord of the Rings movies on and off all day. I genuinely at this moment feel like everything I need to know about life is in the Bible and then The Lord of the Rings. Everything else is just extra. I kid, of course, I know it is just a story BUT as I have watched there has been so much in the imagery that has spoken to my heart.
You see, Frodo is on a journey...and so am I. And just like Frodo, I want my life to tell an incredible story.
A friend of mine and I have a long standing joke that I am Frodo and she is Samwise. If you know anything about the book/film, Sam is Frodo's faithful companion. He is a relentless friend who always shows up in the knick of time to help his friend Frodo with the heavy burden he is carrying. My friend is definitely a Samwise. She always takes such good care of me just like Sam. As I have been watching though, I began to question if I was actually Frodo. Frodo kind of gets the credit as being the hero of the story and I don't really feel like much of a hero most days.
As I watched, I began to think, perhaps I am more of a Pippin. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar, Merry and Pippin are rather silly characters. Pippin loves a joke, is very curious, often finds himself in difficult spots and love a good meal. I mentioned my theory this afternoon to my friend that perhaps I am just the jolly hobbit who is always getting into scrapes, it seemed accurate. My friend however said resolutely, No you are a Frodo.
Now this may all seem silly to you, but to me it was a study of my character through this character.
What makes me a Frodo?
As I watched I became overwhelmed by the things I noticed.
Frodo was carrying a heavy weight. The ring of power to be exact. (For those of you who are less informed in all things Tolkien.) It wasn't a weight that anyone else could carry for him. They could support him, protect him, but they could never understand the weight of what he carried. It was a lonely road for him in many ways. Even when he was surrounded by his companions he was somewhat isolated because of his burden.
In an odd way, I relate to this. I think that we are all Frodo's to some degree.
Today, I had a long overdue chat with a dear friend about life. She asked me how I was doing and I struggled with a response.
"I'm good...but life has been heavy."
I think about sums up my response. Then I proceeded to break down some of the heavy things that have happened in my life of late. Deep, heavy, spiritual warfare kind's of things.
My friend, encouraged me as she recognized that the work that I do on my job naturally loads my heart down with heavy things.
Just a couple weeks ago after all the heartbreak we walked through, we spent sometime in a counseling session as a staff. One of the only things that I could voice in that session was that sometimes it feels very lonely doing the job that we do, because no matter how much you can share with people, they can never fully understand the weight of what we see on a daily basis.
On any given day I might:
I could go on and on. Telling people that I witness those things always invokes emotion but their is a different weight in hearing and seeing. It cannot be helped.
As I watched Frodo struggle to carry the ring today, I realized once again that the ring has to represent sin.
The heavy load that we all carry is sin, The heartbreaking things that I see every single day are all a result of sin.
When Frodo finally got to the fires of Mount Doom, freedom was available from the burden if he would just let go. But he struggle. He hesitated.
I get that. I constantly struggle to let go of my sin. More than that however it hit me, I have to be able to let go of the dark sinful things I see and therefore carry as well. Sometimes they are so dark and so heavy its hard for me to let them go into the hand of the Savior, I feel like I have to hold them all or fix it all but I can't. Sin is its most powerful when we have a tight grip on it. If we would let it go we can find freedom.
Many of us help others by shouldering the weight of sin, but it will destroy us if we do not learn to let go, just like Frodo.
Like Frodo I am often tempted to "slip the ring on" so to speak and become far more consumed by the weight of my sin or the sin around me than I have any reason to be. It is a choice that I make, sometimes consciously and sometimes without ever realizing it. Frodo did the same thing, sometimes he slipped the ring on because he wanted to or thought he needed to, other times it was like he was in a trance and HAD to. Either way the moment it was on his finger it made him vanish from the sight of those who could help him and become fixed in the gaze of those who sought to destroy him.
I think we are all a little bit like Frodo.
I hope however, that we are all a bit of Samwise too, ready to help our friends toss away the things that weigh them down and being willing to carry them when they can't. Sometimes our friends don't want that help and even respond in intense anger or push away. Sometimes I don't want help. I want to keep it close. I want to hold onto it. Because letting it go seems somehow like I am admitting that I am very weak. But we are all weak. If we want, however, to be the hero's of our story, we have learn how to keep moving forward, like Frodo and Sam. Even when the burden is heavy and the odds are against us. Never give up until the day when we finally learn, once and for all how to let it go and have total freedom.
I want to be like Frodo...and Sam. I want to be the hero of my story. Unrelenting, always moving forward, fighting everyday to shoulder the burden placed on me, but not hold onto anything that is not mine to hold.
1.) I am a total nerd for classic literature
2.) I LOVE lessons through imagery
I'm feeling a little brainwashed right now because I have been watching The Lord of the Rings movies on and off all day. I genuinely at this moment feel like everything I need to know about life is in the Bible and then The Lord of the Rings. Everything else is just extra. I kid, of course, I know it is just a story BUT as I have watched there has been so much in the imagery that has spoken to my heart.
You see, Frodo is on a journey...and so am I. And just like Frodo, I want my life to tell an incredible story.
A friend of mine and I have a long standing joke that I am Frodo and she is Samwise. If you know anything about the book/film, Sam is Frodo's faithful companion. He is a relentless friend who always shows up in the knick of time to help his friend Frodo with the heavy burden he is carrying. My friend is definitely a Samwise. She always takes such good care of me just like Sam. As I have been watching though, I began to question if I was actually Frodo. Frodo kind of gets the credit as being the hero of the story and I don't really feel like much of a hero most days.
As I watched, I began to think, perhaps I am more of a Pippin. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar, Merry and Pippin are rather silly characters. Pippin loves a joke, is very curious, often finds himself in difficult spots and love a good meal. I mentioned my theory this afternoon to my friend that perhaps I am just the jolly hobbit who is always getting into scrapes, it seemed accurate. My friend however said resolutely, No you are a Frodo.
Now this may all seem silly to you, but to me it was a study of my character through this character.
What makes me a Frodo?
As I watched I became overwhelmed by the things I noticed.
Frodo was carrying a heavy weight. The ring of power to be exact. (For those of you who are less informed in all things Tolkien.) It wasn't a weight that anyone else could carry for him. They could support him, protect him, but they could never understand the weight of what he carried. It was a lonely road for him in many ways. Even when he was surrounded by his companions he was somewhat isolated because of his burden.
In an odd way, I relate to this. I think that we are all Frodo's to some degree.
Today, I had a long overdue chat with a dear friend about life. She asked me how I was doing and I struggled with a response.
"I'm good...but life has been heavy."
I think about sums up my response. Then I proceeded to break down some of the heavy things that have happened in my life of late. Deep, heavy, spiritual warfare kind's of things.
My friend, encouraged me as she recognized that the work that I do on my job naturally loads my heart down with heavy things.
Just a couple weeks ago after all the heartbreak we walked through, we spent sometime in a counseling session as a staff. One of the only things that I could voice in that session was that sometimes it feels very lonely doing the job that we do, because no matter how much you can share with people, they can never fully understand the weight of what we see on a daily basis.
On any given day I might:
- Witness a drug deal or have an encounter with a dealer, pimp or John.
- Encounter someone moments after they have been raped.
- Welcome a woman bruised and battered from domestic violence.
- Watch someone leave and go back with their abuser.
- Witness mother's screaming in frustration or even being violent with their children.
- Hear children spew profanity and lewd things because they have already seen so much.
- Welcome a mom and her brand new baby into the shelter because she has no safe place to take her newbron.
- Rock a child in my arms moments before the child is removed from their parents perhaps forever.
- Help a woman through the painful after affects of having just had an abortion.
I could go on and on. Telling people that I witness those things always invokes emotion but their is a different weight in hearing and seeing. It cannot be helped.
As I watched Frodo struggle to carry the ring today, I realized once again that the ring has to represent sin.
The heavy load that we all carry is sin, The heartbreaking things that I see every single day are all a result of sin.
When Frodo finally got to the fires of Mount Doom, freedom was available from the burden if he would just let go. But he struggle. He hesitated.
I get that. I constantly struggle to let go of my sin. More than that however it hit me, I have to be able to let go of the dark sinful things I see and therefore carry as well. Sometimes they are so dark and so heavy its hard for me to let them go into the hand of the Savior, I feel like I have to hold them all or fix it all but I can't. Sin is its most powerful when we have a tight grip on it. If we would let it go we can find freedom.
Many of us help others by shouldering the weight of sin, but it will destroy us if we do not learn to let go, just like Frodo.
Like Frodo I am often tempted to "slip the ring on" so to speak and become far more consumed by the weight of my sin or the sin around me than I have any reason to be. It is a choice that I make, sometimes consciously and sometimes without ever realizing it. Frodo did the same thing, sometimes he slipped the ring on because he wanted to or thought he needed to, other times it was like he was in a trance and HAD to. Either way the moment it was on his finger it made him vanish from the sight of those who could help him and become fixed in the gaze of those who sought to destroy him.
I think we are all a little bit like Frodo.
I hope however, that we are all a bit of Samwise too, ready to help our friends toss away the things that weigh them down and being willing to carry them when they can't. Sometimes our friends don't want that help and even respond in intense anger or push away. Sometimes I don't want help. I want to keep it close. I want to hold onto it. Because letting it go seems somehow like I am admitting that I am very weak. But we are all weak. If we want, however, to be the hero's of our story, we have learn how to keep moving forward, like Frodo and Sam. Even when the burden is heavy and the odds are against us. Never give up until the day when we finally learn, once and for all how to let it go and have total freedom.
I want to be like Frodo...and Sam. I want to be the hero of my story. Unrelenting, always moving forward, fighting everyday to shoulder the burden placed on me, but not hold onto anything that is not mine to hold.
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