Hobbit Habit#4: Valuing of FriendshipFriendship is one of the beautiful themes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Fellowship was not just a group, a bunch of individuals on a mission, but they were friends. They were friends who were ready to die to protect each other.
Frodo would have never destroyed the One Ring if it was not for his friends, especially Sam. From the beginning, his friends was with him, whether he liked it or not. And they stuck to him till the end. It was their friendship that kept them together when things got rough.
How many times Sam, Merry and Pippin risked their life so that Frodo may live and continue his mission? Merry and Pippin made themselves bait to the Uruk-hai so Frodo could escape. Sam risked his life time and again to protect Frodo. Sam faced orcs and a giant spider just to save Frodo.
Sam is the greatest icon of friendship in the Lord of the Rings. No matter what Frodosaid and did to Sam, leaving him and casting him out, Sam always remained faithful to Frodo. Sam was always there to the rescue. And in the end, when Frodo did not have the strength to continue the journey to Mount Doom, Sam literally carried him on the rest of the journey.
No Hobbit is left behind.
Sam reminds us of John of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry the cross. A friend is not just someone there for the merry making, but is there to help you carry your crosses. The sign of a true friendship is the willingness to suffer for the other and vice versa.
In this “user-friendly” culture we live in, real friends are a gem, more precious than silver or gold. Gold and silver will not die for you, but a real friend would.
“Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” –Aristotle
We Christians are called to be friends of Christ. This means that we must be ready to shed our blood and give our life to our Friend. Like the Hobbits, we must be ready to set ourselves aside for the sake of the Other. We must remain faithful to our Friend at all cost, especially amidst adversities.
We live in a world where Christ is continually persecuted and banished from society. To be His friend means take His side, even if that means to be persecuted by the world. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” - John 15:18.
Real friends don’t bail out on each other.
Lastly, Jesus is our Friend, the perfect friend. He is the Friend that not only suffers for and with us, but a Friend who paid our debts with his very blood, his very life. Christ sings to us “You just call out my name and you know where ever I am I'll come running to see you again.” He is a Friend that is always, as in eternally always, there for us.
And yes, we are friends of Christ.
“I no longer call you servants… Instead, I have called you friends.” - John 15:15
Written by Daxx Bondoc
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