Thursday, Jan. 08, 2004 | 10:02 AM

WARNING: There is another LOTR spoiler in this entry.

What follows is a really amazing quote by Tolkien re Frodo�s �failure� to bring the ring back to Mordor himself. I�m bold facing the part that for me means the most.

Frodo indeed �failed� as a hero, as conceived by simple minds: he did not endure to the end; he gave in, ratted. I do not say �simple minds� with contempt: they often see with clarity the simple truth and the absolute ideal to which effort must be directed, even if it is unattainable. Their weakness, however, is twofold. They do not perceive the complexity of any given situation in Time, in which an absolute ideal is enmeshed. They tend to forget that strange element in the World that we call Pity or Mercy, which is also an absolute requirement in moral judgement (since it is Present in the Divine nature). In its highest exercise it belongs to God. For finite judges of imperfect knowledge it must lead to the use of two different scales of �morality�. To ourselves we must present the absolute ideal without compromise, for we do not know our own limits of natural strength (+grace), and if we do not aim at the highest we shall certainly fall short of the utmost that we could achieve. To others, in any case of which we know enough to make a judgement, we must apply a scale tempered by �mercy�: that is, since we can with good will do this without the bias inevitable in judgements of ourselves, we must estimate the limits of another's strength and weigh this against the force of particular circumstances.

I do not think that Frodo�s was a moral failure. At the last moment the pressure of the Ring would reach its maximum - impossible, I should have said, for any one to resist, certainly after long possession, months of increasing torment, and when starved and exhausted. Frodo had done what he could and spent himself completely (as an instrument of Providence) and had produced a situation in which the object of his quest could be achieved. His humility (with which he began) and his sufferings were justly rewarded by the highest honour; and his exercise of patience and mercy towards Gollum gained him Mercy: his failure was redressed.

We are finite creatures with absolute limitations upon the powers of our soul-body structure in either action or endurance. Moral failure can only be asserted, I think, when a man�s effort or endurance falls short of his limits, and the blame decreases as that limit is closer approached.

As I�ve stated previously, I really think that LOTR, far more than any church or self help book, is particularly instructive concerning how to live life in the most authentic and positive way possible. There is just so much there, and each of us have all of those archetypes inside ourselves. I truly believe it is possible for people to transcend all kinds of things�their circumstances and even their inherent dark sides. It�s not a matter of talent or birthright or anything people assume it to be�it�s simply a matter of choice. If we all woke up every day and made a conscious decision to be the very best people we can be�and that doesn�t mean flagellating ourselves or letting other people get away with murder or any of that other crap; it really means being the fucking shining stars we are�if each of us pushed ourselves past our fears consciously and employed our God given gifts, think what this world could be like?

I think there is such a tendency to see ourselves and our desires or actions as being either meaningless and irrelevant (e.g. Golum) or at the other end of the spectrum far more important than anyone else�s (Saruman). And neither of these view points are correct�it�s really a synthesis. We are all interconnected. We all play a very important role in the continuing story of this universe, and because of that, because the greater good of this world is dependent on those connections, what each of us choose to do with our lives is of VITAL importance. The trick is to see the importance of what you do with your life in terms of the GREATER GOOD (i.e. Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gandolph, etc.) as opposed to the good of your own ego (Denathor, Saruman, Golum, etc.) When you do what is good for the continuing positive evolution of the universe, you also do good for yourself. For example, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry saved the Shire. This benefited them and every other Hobbit as well.

It is important to know, in order to serve the collective good, what your talents are and use them accordingly. Frodo�s natural humbleness, intellectual ability, and his un-hobbit like curiosity about life beyond the Shire coupled with his pure hobbit heart made him the perfect ring bearer. He accepted this responsibility with humility and grace. If you have a gift�whether it�s being a really talented songwriter and guitarist, or sculptor, or athlete, etc.�it is your God given responsibility to share that with the rest of the world. To not do so is a sin. Again, it always comes down to knowing yourself and not letting your ego get in the way. If you can�t sing, but are great with numbers, serve humankind by being an accountant and don�t torture everyone by warbling nonsense in the subway. I think we all know if we look deep into our hearts what we are here to do.

Imagine if Frodo hadn�t recognized his destiny and thought he wasn�t �good� enough to be the ring bearer. Imagine if he just sat around and puttered in the Shire working at a stupid job or getting caught up in the minutia of life. Eventually Sauran would have taken over all of Middle Earth and all would have been lost. And we can continue that line of thinking to every other character in the book�if Sam hadn�t sworn to protect Frodo, would Frodo have made it to Mordor? No. Hell�if Golum hadn�t followed Sam and Frodo to Mordor, would the ring ever have been destroyed? NO! We each have our own destinies and all of them are part and parcel of the collective destiny of humankind.

I see so many people around me with so much to offer the world and somehow this belief that what they do isn�t all that important and doesn�t matter that much. It�s so easy to play it safe, to come up with excuses, to deprive the world at large of the glory of who you are. That is the antithesis of what we are all here to do. I believe we each have something that is our highest destiny but it is our choice whether we achieve it or not. Fate and free will are not mutually exclusive�they exist in symbiosis and are interdependent. And like Goethe says, if you make a choice with commitment, providence will step in and move things along.

OK�that�s my sermon for today. I love you all and wish nothing but wonderful things for you.