The Lord of the Rings is probably my favorite story I've ever heard. There's just so much to love! One of the things that I find most intriguing is the way the characters relate to us. For being set in a land of elves, dwarves and magic I can relate to it quite easily. There are characters that I see myself in and in whom I wish I could see more of myself. There are themes that resonate in my life and in my thoughts and there are questions that get raised by this strong mythology that I find myself forced to answer.
The question that I want to start to talk about in this post is simply the idea of kingship. Throughout the story of Lord of the Rings there is an understanding that nothing will be set right until a king is on the throne of Gondor. There's an idea that evil will continue to triumph until the true king can put things right. I identify with this. Almost daily I look at my life and the world around me and realize that the evil I see in the world will continue until the day that the true King is on His throne. This may sound cheesy, and as though I'm dumbing down the problems that the world faces. But, humanity knows of its brokenness, and we are constantly trying to fix it. We try to combat evil in our own ways, but in our hearts we know that ,by ourselves, we are powerless against the corruption in our world. It is only when the true King sits on the throne that the tide of evil will be stemmed. Just as the evil of Sauron can not be stopped until Aragorn takes his place as king and rallies the armies of Gondor. There is an imminent fight, and they need a leader. They need a king.
Boromir is a true son of Gondor. He's a son of the steward of Gondor, He's brave and strong. Even he is defenseless against the onslaught of evil that he faces. He cannot defend the city that he loves. He is helpless in this. He tries to fight evil in his own way, by trying to force Frodo to give him the ring of power. He sees this evil object as a means to save his city and to be the hero. He succumbs to the evil that is the one ring. He becomes the evil for a moment. Boromir starts with the best of intentions, but midway through the struggle he succumbs. He is powerless against this evil.
For so long I wanted to look in the mirror and see Aragorn, someone who rises above his own weakness and doubts. Someone who is powerful, steadfast, wise, fair and unflinching in the face of evil. In the hubris of my younger days I thought I could see that! But, the older I get the more I realize that I'm just like Boromir. I may have one or two good qualities, but I'm weak, and vulnerable to deceit. Though I start out with the best of intentions, I inevitable lose sight of what I'm supposed to be. For years I've set out to rid my world of evil. I've combated it every way I could think of. But I am utterly powerless against the evil that besets my world. I can not save my city, just as Boromir could not save his. There have been times where my pure intentions become muddled, and they are no longer beneficial to my world or those around me.
The way that Boromir sought to protect his city and combat evil, was in fact a perpetuation of evil.
How often do we lose track of our motives and start to do things we normally wouldn't do because we see it as a means to an end? Are we combating evil? Or are we ,in actuality, adding to it? Do we recognize that the king is the only one who can truly defeat evil?
