Gollum: the Natural Man

Gollum is one of the most misunderstood character's in the books or the movies. Maybe because of his annoyingly scratchy voice. But the tragedy that is the story of Gollum is one of what happens when we let the natural man take over in our lives.

Gollum's story starts in the village of the Shire, but down among the Riverfolk. His real name is Smeagol. The story begins that he was a simple hobbit who enjoyed going down to the river. One day while fishing with his friend Deagol, Deagol had a fish bite his line which pulled him into the water. While in the water, Deagol found the ring. When he got out, Smeagol saw the ring and lusted after it. He desired it more than anything he had wanted before. It was Smeagol's birthday after all. He deserved it. Deagol wouldn't give it to him. So his coveting of the ring caused Smeagol to murder Deagol. He then took the ring. He caressed it calling it his "precious". It came to the point where he desired the ring more than food and more than companionship. For the next 500 years, Smeagol made the transition from carefree hobbit to disgusting creature living on the ring's power. He was addicted. The Ring became his master and created the Split personality of Gollum. it just goes to show what happens when we let the natural man take over and stop caring about what matters most.

We learn from the Book of Mormon that "the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." From this scripture, we can learn something that Smeagol never does learn: how to put off the natural man. We must apply the Atonement in our lives and become a saint. We must recognize that the things that matter most are not things but our loved ones. We must be submissive to the will of the Father in all things.

If we do these things, we will be able "to receive all that the Father has!" I know that these things are true. So let us be not like Gollum, sucking life from a lifeless object, but let us seek life from Him who brings us Everlasting life!

Into the West: Our Journey Back Home

At the end of Frodo's journey, After peace had been established in the land and the ring was destroyed, we find Frodo taking a journey into the west to the Undying lands. He had completed his mortal quest, and met every obstacle with resilient courage. He succeeded in what seemed like an impossible journey, and because of such he was given a sacred privilege; to live the remainder of his life among the elves.

It was Frodo's purity of heart and selfless character that qualified him for that great privilege, and we, like Frodo, after we complete our mortal quest, if we met it with courage and demonstrated our trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ by following his example, we will gain a similar reward.

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma speaks about what happens after we finish our mortal journey. He says:

     "And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

This is the reward promised us if we follow the teachings of Christ. And doesn't that sound great?!

 So, if we, like Frodo, press forward "with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men...[we] shall have eternal life" (2 Ne. 31:20).

Middle Earth: Our Life on Earth

So Frodo and Sam have left the comfort of the Shire. they walk into the unknown. Their trail to meet up with Gandolf again would continue to try and test them. They are chased by ringwraiths who nearly destroy them as they mistakingly light a fire to cook food. The ringwraiths, who were once men overcome with pride an power to the destruction of their souls, are now under the control of Sauron. Their ultimate purpose is to get the ring and they seek the bearer of the ring. They stab Frodo but are scared away by the mystical Strider. They get to Rivendale, where they find out the true nature of the ring and that it must be destroyed.

They then create a fellowship. They don't know what else is in store for them.
Navigating through the lands of Elves, Men, and Demons; crossing through the mines of Moria; and battling with Orks and Uruk Hai, Frodo realizes that this quest is almost impossibly hard. In one of the battles, he looks over to Sam and says, "I can't do this, Sam."

Sam replies, "I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."

To that Frodo asks, "What are we holding onto, Sam?"

Sam tells him, "That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."

As we are beset by the obstacles we encounter along our journey through earth, we must in hold onto the same thing that gave Frodo and Sam so much strength. No matter how hard our lives are, we have a hope of eternal life. Ether in the Book of Mormon stated it best when he said:

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" (Ether 12:4). If we hold onto this hope, we will one day complete our mission in this life, "to prepare to meet God" (Alma 34:32).

Introduction

This Blog is a blog about how Lord of the Rings, the famed book series by J.R.R. Tolkien, relates to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In this blog we will look at many of the similarities between this epic story and our lives as children of God. We invite all men everywhere to read this blog and ponder on the message that the Lord of the Rings can teach us about our Savior Jesus Christ. If you want to know more about the gospel, contact us on facebook.com or comment on our blog.  Elder Miller and I are very excited to be talking to people about something we love via Lord of the Rings, one of my favorite book series of all time.