My husband and I were able to fill in last weekend as speakers in our sacrament meeting. I've been thinking about this topic for some time. Below is roughly what I said.
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| What should we do in a world of increasing darkness? |
The world was in peril. The forces of evil were overtaking the forces of good. Selfish leaders didn’t care about the good of others. Men were caught up in hatred, division, and disunity. Some betrayed their alliances and commitments. Some thought the best thing to do was to just leave altogether because the cause was futile.
Into the fray stepped four hobbits. They were small, unsophisticated, and not suited for the wars and battles about to commence. And yet, in part due to their valiant actions, Middle Earth would be saved.
We also live in a world like this, described in D&C 88:91 as, “And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.” As Elder Neil L. Anderson has said, “the world will not glide calmly toward the Second Coming of the Savior.”
When we feel our world is uncertain and we are too small to change the tides of war, pestilence, disaster and other calamities, what options are available to us? What should be our course?
One option is described by author Rod Dreher and called the Benedict Option. The idea is, roughly, that the tidal wave of the rising evil in the world cannot be directly countered. Instead, we need to withdraw from the wider world -- “Embrace exile from mainstream cultures and construct a resilient,” alternative, gospel-centered community." There is a lot of merit to this idea, and it could be argued that the strong imagery in the scriptures about Zion and her stakes can be seen as a way of embracing the Benedict Option. D&C 115 says, “that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” (D&C 115:5-6)
But today I want to talk about an alternative path forward suggested by the writer David Michael Phelps. He calls it the Gamgee Option and points to the character of Sam Gamgee, perhaps the most humble and unassuming of all the hobbits in Tolkein’s books. Sam wasn’t a warrior or a hero in the traditional sense. He didn’t go to battle or inspire men with great speeches. He didn’t have a huge circle of influence and he wasn’t even the one tasked with an important calling. Instead, he was absolutely humble, loyal and steadfast in lifting the burdens of his friend Frodo, and his small acts in important moments made all the difference.
Phelps describes the Gamgee Option in this way: “Here are its basic principles: Like Sam Gamgee, we know we are little things, incapable of moving the gears of the great. We know we are not the world’s saviors, but the companions of the world’s savior. We are, rather, the servants of him who walks a sorrowful road of sacrifice. We remember that it is our master’s job to save the world, our master’s to eradicate evil, to root it out, to burn it in the fires of his Sacred Heart. Because we walk alongside our master, his path is ours, and his death may well be ours as well. But our primary job is to be available to our master, to adopt the same humble attitude of Sam, the servant of him who bore the evil of the world, the little hobbit who “knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden…[that] the one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.”
There’s a lot that could be said about this humble attitude, but I wanted to point out just three lessons we learn from Sam Gamgee.
Into the fray stepped four hobbits. They were small, unsophisticated, and not suited for the wars and battles about to commence. And yet, in part due to their valiant actions, Middle Earth would be saved.
We also live in a world like this, described in D&C 88:91 as, “And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.” As Elder Neil L. Anderson has said, “the world will not glide calmly toward the Second Coming of the Savior.”
When we feel our world is uncertain and we are too small to change the tides of war, pestilence, disaster and other calamities, what options are available to us? What should be our course?
One option is described by author Rod Dreher and called the Benedict Option. The idea is, roughly, that the tidal wave of the rising evil in the world cannot be directly countered. Instead, we need to withdraw from the wider world -- “Embrace exile from mainstream cultures and construct a resilient,” alternative, gospel-centered community." There is a lot of merit to this idea, and it could be argued that the strong imagery in the scriptures about Zion and her stakes can be seen as a way of embracing the Benedict Option. D&C 115 says, “that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.” (D&C 115:5-6)
But today I want to talk about an alternative path forward suggested by the writer David Michael Phelps. He calls it the Gamgee Option and points to the character of Sam Gamgee, perhaps the most humble and unassuming of all the hobbits in Tolkein’s books. Sam wasn’t a warrior or a hero in the traditional sense. He didn’t go to battle or inspire men with great speeches. He didn’t have a huge circle of influence and he wasn’t even the one tasked with an important calling. Instead, he was absolutely humble, loyal and steadfast in lifting the burdens of his friend Frodo, and his small acts in important moments made all the difference.
Phelps describes the Gamgee Option in this way: “Here are its basic principles: Like Sam Gamgee, we know we are little things, incapable of moving the gears of the great. We know we are not the world’s saviors, but the companions of the world’s savior. We are, rather, the servants of him who walks a sorrowful road of sacrifice. We remember that it is our master’s job to save the world, our master’s to eradicate evil, to root it out, to burn it in the fires of his Sacred Heart. Because we walk alongside our master, his path is ours, and his death may well be ours as well. But our primary job is to be available to our master, to adopt the same humble attitude of Sam, the servant of him who bore the evil of the world, the little hobbit who “knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden…[that] the one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.”
There’s a lot that could be said about this humble attitude, but I wanted to point out just three lessons we learn from Sam Gamgee.
Three Lessons from Samwise Gamgee
Sam and Frodo accepted that this was the time and place they were given.
We all have a natural tendency to wish for different circumstances. In the book of Helaman, even the prophet Nephi, returning from a mission to find his people turning to wickedness, says, "Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord–yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren.” (Helaman 7:7-8)Some of us who've read 1st Nephi wonder if this time really was as peaceful as he thought! But nevertheless, we too often get caught up in wishing our circumstances away, wishing we didn't have a pandemic or certain leaders or wanting to go back to earlier times. We want to lament about the conditions we have to deal with.
So, too, our little hobbits were sometimes overwhelmed by the challenges in front of them. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” (Tolkien, the Fellowship of the Ring)
Sam and Frodo decided to do what was right, no matter what forces were swirling around them. We also need to avoid complaining about the times we live in. As President Hinckley’s father might say, we should “forget ourselves and go to work.”
So, too, our little hobbits were sometimes overwhelmed by the challenges in front of them. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” (Tolkien, the Fellowship of the Ring)
Sam and Frodo decided to do what was right, no matter what forces were swirling around them. We also need to avoid complaining about the times we live in. As President Hinckley’s father might say, we should “forget ourselves and go to work.”
Don’t get distracted from your purpose.
President Bonnie H. Cordon spoke at General Conference last week, saying “We all occasionally get distracted from why we are here and divert our energies somewhere else. One of Satan’s most powerful weapons is to distract us with good and better causes which, in times of need, may blind and bind us away from the best cause—the very work that called us into this world."Our eternal purpose is to come unto Christ and actively join Him in His great work. It is as simple as doing what President Nelson taught: “Anytime we do anything that helps anyone … make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.” And when we do His work together with Him, we come to know and love Him more.”
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee had a task to fulfill. There were many times they could have given up or become distracted by all the commotion in the world, but they kept pushing forward, no matter the obstacles. They were threatened, betrayed, and forced to endure difficult circumstances, but they were true.
If you’ll forgive a little detour, I think too many good people in the world today are distracted by what I will call the Alice Wendleken Option in reaction to the world. In the book and movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Alice Wendleken is the perfect child. She’s always Mary in the Christmas Pageant and she always has “her veil straight, her costume pressed,” and makes a lovely picture for every person to look at and think about Christmas and what it means. But in the book, the Herdmans, who were “the worst kids in the history of the world,” invade the pageant, threaten Alice if she so much as volunteers for anything, and end up being cast in the pageant in all the main roles. Alice is horrified, as are many others, but the director decides to do what she can to make the pageant the “Best One Ever,” and she’s says she's going to do it with the Herdmans. Instead of helping do her part from the choir loft and at the practices to help fulfill that vision, Alice Wendleken carries around a notebook, writing down each and every little bad thing the Herdmans say and do, so she can tell the world later about where and why it all went wrong.
Are we sometimes like Alice Wendleken? So horrified by the events and challenges of the world that we tend to get a little carried away in cataloging them? Are we prone to endless “doom-scrolling” about the world’s troubles? To vent and criticize even good people instead of extending charity? Are we addicted to outrage? Do we sometimes spend so much time lamenting the tribalism, the lack of civility or the disintegration of the family in our world today that we forget to spend time building bridges, being kind, and strengthening our own families?
Like Sam Gamgee, let’s spend time loving the people around us and making things better instead of getting distracted from the work God would have us do.
Like hobbits, we are small and there are a lot of forces we can’t do much about. But we each have a place and a circle of influence, and we can do a lot in our own personal “fields” to make a better world for others. We can be the salt that leavens the whole loaf. And we can make things better for those who surround us.
President Hinckley once quoted Harold B. Lee in saying, “”Survey large fields and cultivate small ones.””
Then he said, “My interpretation of that statement is that we ought to recognize something of the breadth and depth and height—grand and wonderful, large and all-encompassing—of the program of the Lord, and then work with diligence to meet our responsibility for our assigned portion of that program.
Each of us has a small field to cultivate. While so doing, we must never lose sight of the greater picture, the large composite of the divine destiny of this work. It was given us by God our Eternal Father, and each of us has a part to play in the weaving of its magnificent tapestry. Our individual contribution may be small, but it is not unimportant.”
Sam Gamgee wasn’t very powerful and his part in the story was small. Most of his acts were simple acts of kindness and concern for the burdens his friend Frodo was carrying. He cooked stew and made sure Frodo ate. He carried a sense of wonder at the beauty in the world. He reminded Frodo of their purpose and their home. He refused to give in to temptation. And he helped his friend through his hardest moments. When Frodo’s burden became too great, Sam carried Frodo. He couldn’t carry his friend’s burden, but he could carry his friend.
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee had a task to fulfill. There were many times they could have given up or become distracted by all the commotion in the world, but they kept pushing forward, no matter the obstacles. They were threatened, betrayed, and forced to endure difficult circumstances, but they were true.
If you’ll forgive a little detour, I think too many good people in the world today are distracted by what I will call the Alice Wendleken Option in reaction to the world. In the book and movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Alice Wendleken is the perfect child. She’s always Mary in the Christmas Pageant and she always has “her veil straight, her costume pressed,” and makes a lovely picture for every person to look at and think about Christmas and what it means. But in the book, the Herdmans, who were “the worst kids in the history of the world,” invade the pageant, threaten Alice if she so much as volunteers for anything, and end up being cast in the pageant in all the main roles. Alice is horrified, as are many others, but the director decides to do what she can to make the pageant the “Best One Ever,” and she’s says she's going to do it with the Herdmans. Instead of helping do her part from the choir loft and at the practices to help fulfill that vision, Alice Wendleken carries around a notebook, writing down each and every little bad thing the Herdmans say and do, so she can tell the world later about where and why it all went wrong.
Are we sometimes like Alice Wendleken? So horrified by the events and challenges of the world that we tend to get a little carried away in cataloging them? Are we prone to endless “doom-scrolling” about the world’s troubles? To vent and criticize even good people instead of extending charity? Are we addicted to outrage? Do we sometimes spend so much time lamenting the tribalism, the lack of civility or the disintegration of the family in our world today that we forget to spend time building bridges, being kind, and strengthening our own families?
Like Sam Gamgee, let’s spend time loving the people around us and making things better instead of getting distracted from the work God would have us do.
Lift where you stand. Embrace the part that you have to play and help lift the burdens of others.
In the Return of the King, Gandalf says, “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule” (The Return of the King).Like hobbits, we are small and there are a lot of forces we can’t do much about. But we each have a place and a circle of influence, and we can do a lot in our own personal “fields” to make a better world for others. We can be the salt that leavens the whole loaf. And we can make things better for those who surround us.
President Hinckley once quoted Harold B. Lee in saying, “”Survey large fields and cultivate small ones.””
Then he said, “My interpretation of that statement is that we ought to recognize something of the breadth and depth and height—grand and wonderful, large and all-encompassing—of the program of the Lord, and then work with diligence to meet our responsibility for our assigned portion of that program.
Each of us has a small field to cultivate. While so doing, we must never lose sight of the greater picture, the large composite of the divine destiny of this work. It was given us by God our Eternal Father, and each of us has a part to play in the weaving of its magnificent tapestry. Our individual contribution may be small, but it is not unimportant.”
Sam Gamgee wasn’t very powerful and his part in the story was small. Most of his acts were simple acts of kindness and concern for the burdens his friend Frodo was carrying. He cooked stew and made sure Frodo ate. He carried a sense of wonder at the beauty in the world. He reminded Frodo of their purpose and their home. He refused to give in to temptation. And he helped his friend through his hardest moments. When Frodo’s burden became too great, Sam carried Frodo. He couldn’t carry his friend’s burden, but he could carry his friend.
Samwise Gamgees in my life
Like Sam, we each have a small role to play in the unfolding story of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of the things God asks of us are not large and most won’t make headlines. But when we “lift up the hands that hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees,” (D&C 81:5) we are doing the work of the Savior.I’ve been blessed with many Sam Gamgees in my life, people who did small, simple things that lifted me and our family.
Elder Holland once described the kind of person I am talking about, when he said, “to the near-perfect elderly sister who almost apologetically whispered recently, “I have never been a leader of anything in the Church. I guess I’ve only been a helper,” I say, “Dear sister, God bless you and all the ‘helpers’ in the kingdom. Some of us who are leaders hope someday to have the standing before God that you have already attained.”
Let’s all be “helpers” in the kingdom. Examples I spoke about:
Elder Uchtdorf once spoke of a group of men trying to move a grand piano from the chapel to the cultural hall. “None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.
As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”
It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood.”
The Lord of the Rings is an epic story of good versus evil. But it’s also a personal story of lots of good people doing what they can to “stand close together and life where they stand.” No one character saved the world all by himself. They each played their parts.
My testimony is that the Lord is in charge and we can trust Him. We don't need to worry about all the things that are too big for us to fix. We can, instead, look around and get to work on the circles we inhabit. Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
*****
Elder Holland once described the kind of person I am talking about, when he said, “to the near-perfect elderly sister who almost apologetically whispered recently, “I have never been a leader of anything in the Church. I guess I’ve only been a helper,” I say, “Dear sister, God bless you and all the ‘helpers’ in the kingdom. Some of us who are leaders hope someday to have the standing before God that you have already attained.”
Let’s all be “helpers” in the kingdom. Examples I spoke about:
- Sue Ann Hill being at every funeral in our ward
- Friends who bring their kids to Church alone because their husbands are less active
- My brother-in-law sending Chinese food to us during each cycle of chemo
- Katy Lundquist making curry for Aaron when he could hardly eat
- Chantelle helping with flowers at Lillian's wedding
- My four hobbit friends helping set up for the wedding
- My friend and her husband who took time to drive to Manti for the wedding when I was sad about none of my family being able to come.
Elder Uchtdorf once spoke of a group of men trying to move a grand piano from the chapel to the cultural hall. “None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.
As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, “Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.”
It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood.”
The Lord of the Rings is an epic story of good versus evil. But it’s also a personal story of lots of good people doing what they can to “stand close together and life where they stand.” No one character saved the world all by himself. They each played their parts.
Final thought
David Phelps, the writer who spoke about the Gamgee option, quotes the original Benedict as saying, “There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord’s hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength. To do all we can with what strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: “The love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor 5:14)My testimony is that the Lord is in charge and we can trust Him. We don't need to worry about all the things that are too big for us to fix. We can, instead, look around and get to work on the circles we inhabit. Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
*****
Additional Quotes
I couldn't fit all the quotes into the talk that I liked. Here are some from the books that didn't make the cut:“‘Why was I chosen?’ ‘Such questions cannot be answered,’ said Gandalf. ‘You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.’”
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” Gimli — The Fellowship of the Ring
“This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.’ ~ Elrond
“But do you remember Gandalf’s words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end.. the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.”
****
I also loved the points made in this blog:
It seems foolish, which even Gandalf admits, but the folly of the endeavor is the one string tied to hope:
‘Despair or folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the enemy! For he is very wise and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning.’
‘At least for a while,’ said Elrond. ‘The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.’”
Because of how ridiculous the plan seems, Gandalf suggests that Sauron would never expect it. Those at the council would have not just the element of surprise, they would have a plan totally inconceivable to their enemy. Because Sauron does not just thirst for power above all other things. To him, there is no other thing. Power is all he desires. It is the lens through which he sees all things with his single great eye. So, while this eye can see to the far corners of Middle-Earth, it cannot see that the free people of its lands have other desires and loves.
But, even if one of Sauron’s servants told their master that there were those who would not use the ring, Sauron still wouldn’t understand. He would explain away this strange idea. All of their desires, he would assume, must be connected to power. Everything, Gandalf says, is weighed out on the “scales of his malice.” Even if he heard the plan, Sauron couldn’t comprehend it. This faith in Sauron’s single mindedness proves well founded. We never see any indication that Sauron understands Frodo’s intent. Even when he finally senses Frodo in the fiery heart of Mount Doom, he can only think in terms of power and possession. He focuses all his power on turning others to that purpose as well. And, so, all his dark designs are undone. Undone not by horses and chariots, not by sword and spear and hammer, not by the strength of the great, nor the power of a rival. But undone by weakness. Undone by selflessness. Undone by folly.
So it often is with evil. So it was with the “dark lord” of our own world, Satan, the prince of the air. His downfall was brought about by a plan that, to him, could only appear as folly. Obsessed with power, Satan could never imagine God emptying himself of all majesty and “taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). And Satan couldn’t imagine God choosing a poor young woman to be his vessel. And he couldn’t imagine this girl responding “Fiat mihi.” And he couldn’t imagine Christ choosing to conquer death by death. To Satan, the cross is folly. Selflessness is folly. Servitude is folly.
***
And one more quote from David Michael Phelps,
Humility, that child of “common hobbit-sense,” and the lack of presumption—these are the qualities that save us from the errors of Boromir and the misguided blinders of Bombadil. How exactly we live with humility and without presumption is, as I noted, largely a prudential and localized issue. But as we struggle to re-appropriate an understanding of ourselves as strangers living in a strange land, we can rest assured that it is our humble faithfulness, not our political success, not any lack of being bruised by our journey, which will be rewarded. And then, at the end of our journey, after (by God’s grace) we have remained as faithful as a Gamgee, we will be able, “with bewilderment and great joy,” to look out on what grace, and not man, has wrought in the world, and we can ask, “Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?”
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