Taking the Ring

In The Lord of the Rings, the hobbit Frodo has come into possession of a powerful magic ring. If this ring falls into the hands of the evil Dark Lord, all of Middle-earth will fall under his power. What is more, no one else can use the ring without falling themselves into evil, and the ring cannot be destroyed except in one way: it must be cast into the fire in which it was forged. Unfortunately, this fire is the fire of a volcano in the heart of Mordor, the Dark Lord's well-guarded land.

Frodo takes the ring to Rivendell, home of Elrond the Elf, where he listens as a council of wise and powerful representatives from many peoples and places of Middle-earth debate what to do about this ring. The council realizes that the only solution is for someone to secretly take the ring into Mordor and throw it into the volcano. But at that point the council is stymied. Who could do that? No one, it seems. At length Frodo speaks, almost in spite of himself.

"I will take the Ring," Frodo said, "though I do not know the way."

This is my favorite quotation in the entire three-volume story. I like to consider that taking the ring can stand for God's purpose in our lives. In that case, it is what every Christian is called to do. Frodo the hobbit is the smallest, least learned, least powerful person present at the council, yet he is the one who steps forward and volunteers, not even knowing how to accomplish the task.

And that should be our response to God. Sometimes we may feel he is asking us to do something too hard for us, or something we don't understand. But if God has asked it of us, he will give us the help we need. Indeed, Frodo received the help of eight companions who accompanied him as he set out for Mordor, including the wise and powerful Gandalf, and more help was given him on the way, but he did not know that he would have that help when he first spoke.

When the angel told Jesus's mother Mary that she would have a child before she was married, doubtless this seemed hard to her. But her response was not unlike Frodo's: "I am the Lord's servant," said Mary; "may it be as you have said." (Luke 1:38) I have often thought of that when God's will seems hard.

Now whenever I feel that telling people about God's amazing love is impossible in a climate where Christians are viewed as intolerant bigots, I also think of Frodo setting off on the road to Mordor to do a seemingly impossible job, and I say to God, "Nevertheless, I will take the Ring, God, though I do not know the way!"

On this blog, I hope to write about what I discover as God shows me the way to take the ring.