He's Named SamWISE Gamgee for a Reason

After our wonderful Symphonic Band concert this night I was randomly pondering the poetic beauty behind Lord of the Rings Quotes. From what is truly the greatest Trilogy of all time I have learned that there are many truly profound words spoken by these harrowing characters we have come to grow and love. I would like to share two with you all today (technically tonight, Bah!).



#1: Starting off is master Samwise Gamgee. Always the courageous one, I believe the following quote truly teaches eternal principles of why we are here in this life. Maybe Van Orden's English class is rubbing off on me a bit too much, but I can't help but think about the beauty behind all these words. It makes me rather emotional as most of you should expect from me :)

"Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.
Sam: 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.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEMdXhfO-Wk&feature=player_embedded

Sam understands that we do what we do in this life because we have purpose behind it. As long as we have a purpose then we have a reason to live. I many purposes of why I'm here, but I'll save that for another late night. Honestly, this quote speaks for itself almost entirely. It brings hope and faith for a bright future and strength to press on.

#2: I couldn't find the actual written quote itself, but this video has it down perfect. Gandalf speaks of eternal truths and this is so inspiring to me. It's always been one of my favorite parts of the whole Trilogy. I love how Peter Jackson sometimes takes some time to step outside of the chaos and really deliver some delicious lines from Tolkien himself. 

I like to parallel the banging against the gate from troll to our lives. Sometimes Satan comes knocking on our doors and tries to bring us down to his level. He doesn't want us to succeed, he wants us to suffer and live miserably. We would all be enslaved if we submitted to him, just like how Middle Earth would've been enslaved had Sauron won, but the inevitable eternal truth of all these things is that Good shall prevail! Especially, after this life, our journey simply continues on. We all live in the midst of one small step along the path that God has planned out before us, but what we have ahead is beautiful beyond description, which words cannot adequately describe. Gandalf talks about all of these things and more if you listen for it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoa4lGKxbw4

These 2 parts are but a small testament to the true greatness of these movies, and even more so, the power of Tolkien's writing. I encourage anyone who hasn't watched AND read the Trilogy to donate the necessary time to them. They are works of art. Masterpieces.

Hold Onto the Rod, or Glass

I wanted to make sure I preserved my experience in Sunday School today and rather than writing about it in my journal I thought I would share it with the world. This is one of those posts that more "meaningful" than it is "spam," so let's get to the point.

My Sunday School teacher is Sister Monson and today she taught us from 2nd Nephi 1-2. I actually did the reading beforehand, so I came prepared to feel the spirit. She is by far the best teacher I've ever had in church. She has lived her life in such a way that she can relate to and share with us her powerful experiences.

Today she used an intense demonstration. She reached inside this massive box she had with her and pulled out a beautiful glass. On it was engraved an 'M' in gorgeous calligraphy. She told us about how this was the last glass she had of that kind in her family. She used to have a big set of them, but after ~56 years of marriage, all the others had been destroyed. This was the lone survivor of raising all her children and of her loving marriage. This glass obviously had a history.

After elaborating on the value of this glass to her, out of the blue, she threw it into the box from full height (she's ~6' 3" I would guess) making a loud BANG! as it smacked it. We all stared in utter shock and disbelief. She reached inside quickly and grabbing the mildly chipped glass, threw it again. This time when she pulled it back out it was in pieces. This once beautiful glass was now a remnant of its former beauty. Might I add a personal note: I'm a really jumpy person, so when she did all of this it scared me badly!

She then made this profound connection. Our spirits are like the glass. She had carefully taken care of, polishing, cleaning and protecting it; just as our parents do these things as they raise us. Yet as teenagers we listen to our parents less and less. We try to rebel and think they don't know anything. We think we are better than them. Because of these false beliefs, just as she shattered her prized glass, we shatter our spirits and make stupid decisions. We throw away the precious gift given to us. Spiritual Death.

This is a very real thing. I'm not telling this story to scare anyone or be morbid by any degree. I wanted to share with you this powerful lesson of how fragile our spirits are. If there is anything in our lies that will limit or compromise our relationship with our father in heaven then STOP IT! It's not worth it. Don't break your glass for some petty mortal pleasure or short-sided desire. Widen your perspective, look farther ahead. If we can simply live our lives to the highest degree possible then the Lord will reward us with AN ETERNITY OF JOY. Think about it. Think about the biggest conceivable thing you can possibly comprehend. The Sun? The Galaxy? The Universe? CHILD'S PLAY I TELL YOU! In the grand scope of things, our mortal minds cannot comprehend Eternity itself, but we can comprehend the concept of it and appreciate its power.

Let us all preserve our glasses. Polish them. Clean them. Preserve them inside of this tumultuous world. If we do this, then we can drink of the fruit of our labors as we embrace our Father in Heaven, even Jesus Christ, Amen.