I’ve been a Tolkien fan from way back. My girls called me a nerd when I told them that my friends and I used to speak Elvish to each other. My CB handle used to be “Arwen Evenstar”. They were freaked out. Chalk it up to another uncool mom thing. I read books, too. Oh, no!
Anyway, this weekend, the girls and I are watching “The Hobbit”. Every so often one of them asks for clarification on people and places that coincide with “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy. We are watching the scene when Bilbo finds the ring and meets Gollum. My fourteen year old daughter asks the question, “Mom, why didn’t Bilbo become like Gollum if he had the ring for all those years?”
She doesn’t really know it but that is a very good question. In fact, isn’t it one of the big questions of life? When two people are given similar circumstances, what is it that makes one person head for the light and another head for the dark? She knows from previous movies that Gollum used to be like Bilbo. But he had become a faded, withered, evil caricature of his formal self. She is asking why the evil ring of power didn’t do the same thing to Bilbo.
So we begin an important life discussion. She doesn’t know that but I do. Here is one of those amazing teaching moments that life gives us if we are paying attention. We talk about the different ways the ring was obtained. Bilbo simply found it. Gollum had murdered his best friend for it.
We talk about how it was used. Bilbo used it to escape danger and to help other people. When he returned to his peaceful, beloved home, he rarely used it at all.
On the other hand, right from the beginning, Gollum had used it to snoop and steal and deceive, falling ever deeper in to its evil power. He wore it almost constantly, remaining in the world of shadows that came with it. Eventually he began to hate the light and all that lived under it. He took himself deep into the mountains and stayed there many, many years, killing and festering in his own twisted thinking.
We come to the conclusion that in Gollum’s case evil desires already lurked deeply within until he took the ring. That and his consistent choice to use the ring for evil opened the door for the ring to take hold of his heart and soul.
We also come to the conclusion that Bilbo had no evil lurking in his soul. He found a magic ring. He used it when in need but although the ring tried it could not snare him in quite the same way. It installed an unhealthy attachment but that was as far as evil could go in this good hobbit.
I use the moment to share that evil works the same way in our world. The only way that it can enter our hearts and souls is if we open the doors and let it in. Once we have done that we usually continue to make choices that allow evil to ensnare us in its slippery, strong tentacles from which escape is can be almost impossible.
Or we can be like Bilbo focusing on the happy, good things of life. We can follow the Light and learn to live in goodness and love. We can keep those doors firmly closed to anything that wants to come in and destroy us. We can resist the evil all around us by continually making the kind of choices that bring inner peace and strength. This choice is always ours to make.
I told her as I tell you today that evil is constantly around us in many different forms. It can only enter if we open the door and let it. There is another knocking at those doors. If we let Him in, He can keep the evil at bay and show you the way to go. He can also light your way through the darkness to help you find a way out if you are in the clutches of those dark tentacles. Again, the choice is always ours. Who will you open your doors to? That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?
Anyway, this weekend, the girls and I are watching “The Hobbit”. Every so often one of them asks for clarification on people and places that coincide with “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy. We are watching the scene when Bilbo finds the ring and meets Gollum. My fourteen year old daughter asks the question, “Mom, why didn’t Bilbo become like Gollum if he had the ring for all those years?”
She doesn’t really know it but that is a very good question. In fact, isn’t it one of the big questions of life? When two people are given similar circumstances, what is it that makes one person head for the light and another head for the dark? She knows from previous movies that Gollum used to be like Bilbo. But he had become a faded, withered, evil caricature of his formal self. She is asking why the evil ring of power didn’t do the same thing to Bilbo.
So we begin an important life discussion. She doesn’t know that but I do. Here is one of those amazing teaching moments that life gives us if we are paying attention. We talk about the different ways the ring was obtained. Bilbo simply found it. Gollum had murdered his best friend for it.
We talk about how it was used. Bilbo used it to escape danger and to help other people. When he returned to his peaceful, beloved home, he rarely used it at all.
On the other hand, right from the beginning, Gollum had used it to snoop and steal and deceive, falling ever deeper in to its evil power. He wore it almost constantly, remaining in the world of shadows that came with it. Eventually he began to hate the light and all that lived under it. He took himself deep into the mountains and stayed there many, many years, killing and festering in his own twisted thinking.
We come to the conclusion that in Gollum’s case evil desires already lurked deeply within until he took the ring. That and his consistent choice to use the ring for evil opened the door for the ring to take hold of his heart and soul.
We also come to the conclusion that Bilbo had no evil lurking in his soul. He found a magic ring. He used it when in need but although the ring tried it could not snare him in quite the same way. It installed an unhealthy attachment but that was as far as evil could go in this good hobbit.
I use the moment to share that evil works the same way in our world. The only way that it can enter our hearts and souls is if we open the doors and let it in. Once we have done that we usually continue to make choices that allow evil to ensnare us in its slippery, strong tentacles from which escape is can be almost impossible.
Or we can be like Bilbo focusing on the happy, good things of life. We can follow the Light and learn to live in goodness and love. We can keep those doors firmly closed to anything that wants to come in and destroy us. We can resist the evil all around us by continually making the kind of choices that bring inner peace and strength. This choice is always ours to make.
I told her as I tell you today that evil is constantly around us in many different forms. It can only enter if we open the door and let it. There is another knocking at those doors. If we let Him in, He can keep the evil at bay and show you the way to go. He can also light your way through the darkness to help you find a way out if you are in the clutches of those dark tentacles. Again, the choice is always ours. Who will you open your doors to? That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?
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