Aragorn, And You Are...?

Kuis...kuis... (please ya, bukan kue...), siapa mau ikut? Ini ada kuis iseng yang meminjam karakter Lord of The Ring untuk mendefinisikan seperti karakter siapakah kita di film LOTR menurut kita. Buat yang tertarik silahkan klik saja link ini dan ikuti sampai selesai. I am scored as Aragorn, what about you?

My result: You scored as Aragorn, You're Aragorn! This ranger from the north is the personification of bravery. He always thinks of others before himself, and, though he becomes King of Gondor, he is not one to crave attention. "I would have gone with you to the end. Into the very fires of Mordor."

There is something addictive about watching Lord of the Rings. Be it the movie background with many imaginable creatures, the heroic scenes in the battles, the hope that stays strong when everything comforting fails, the story and messages it brings that resounds the Bible so much, I simply got so many things out of the movie, thanks to Mr. Tolkien! But getting the result of this quiz above, got me to think more of Aragorn (and watched the movie even more, hehehe!). And here is why I chose to write about Aragorn this time...

Aragorn was not my most favorite character, Samwise Gamgee was. I felt that I could identify more with Sam compared to Aragorn. Sam is the ordinary peasant halfling, simple, sincere, just the way he is with one outstanding characteristic that stands out throughout the movie, his unending loyalty to his Mr. Frodo, the centre of attention. I like the fact that he chooses to stay in the shadow of Mr. Frodo.

But Aragorn... born as an heir of the kingdom of man, something I did not feel I could identify myself with. But as I observed his character I came to realize that there are more of him that resembles me and I came to like him more. No,no... not for his manly figure or handsome (?) face, it does not count for this (but yes of course for Arwen!). So, here are some of my observations about him:

Born as an heir of the kingdom for mankind I, too, was born as an heir of the kingdom of God. Adopted through the sacrifice of Christ my Saviour, I am now a member of my heavenly Father's kingdom. It is a fact that I too often forget during the course of my earthly life. Thanks to the loving Father who keeps reminding me from time to time who I really am, be it through the joyous moments, but moreover through the grievous ones.

Lived in the shadow of his past Aragorn's early years was shadowed by his ancestors' dark past. Isildur's name was known as the only man enabled to defeat Sauron, yet decided to keep the evil ring that later destroyed him. Aragorn carried his past, hid in the kingdom of the Elf and be a lonely ranger, rather than assuming his true identity as the successor of the king of Gondor. But just like the hands of the Almight God that is able to bring good out of every bad things that happen, Aragorn's time as the lonely ranger had formed him to be a brave warrior for mankind. He was trained well during his harsh life!

The counsels of the wise Aragorn knew everything about surviving in this life. He even knew how to help others defending their own lives. But he was not one to think he knew everything. He listened to the counsel of his companions, even his lady, Arwen. He listened to the wise counsel of Gandalf and he worked as a team, never thought highly of himself. He believed in the fellowship of the ring and never once agreed that it was broken the day Frodo and Sam left to continue the journey on their own. He must have had memorized and lived out what he read in the Proverbs!

Thrown under the spotlight Aragorn was the center of attention. Not that he tried to be or do anything that would make him be. In this way, he is so much like Samwise with a little exception, Aragorn was under much bigger pressure as everyone's eyes were toward him. But he never craved such attention (gee, how I love him so much for this!). He kept choosing to remain behind the curtain. Even after he resumed to his true position as the heir of Gondor, this attitude remained with him. It is so often that we want the people's attention to fall on us, yet we forget all the beauty the people see in us is the LORD's!

"...into the very fires of Mordor" I will always remember two scenes of Aragorn . The first one is where he bowed to Frodo at Frodo's challenge that Aragorn took the ring. I was deeply moved when I saw Aragorn's eyes that said it all. He would never deceive or leave Frodo at any cost. Isn't it so with our Christian walk? This world with all its wonders tries its best to deceive the children of God. To consume them with devilish lies that this world has the best of everything for them.

The second scene was when having to face the multitude of Mordor's armies in the last battle, the remaining soldiers were staggering listening to the sound of the Mordor's armies. They were outnumbered. It was for sure that they would fight to death. But Aragorn, with unexpected bravery confronted and led them all to face the unwanted thing. He said there would be day when courage fails, when everyone would be run scatteringly, but it would not be that day... with a word he whispered "Elessar...", he led the last armies of men to face the fieriest battle of all. Just like what the king of Rohan said, "Yes, we will lose in the battle, but we will fight them nonetheless." It reminds me that our battle in this life is to be faced like that. To welcome even the most frightening thing that can ever happen to us. Because this is we must remember, the battle is not ours. The battle is the LORD's! His very own hands will deliver us to victory, for the sake of His glorious name.

Arwen and Eowyn If there are things I 'hate' from Aragorn is the way he related to Eowyn. He led Eowyn to have a hope for a deeper relationship through the way he looked at Eowyn at the celebrating party. Even the king of Rohan (who was of course a man) read the same sign from Aragorn to Eowyn. The only reason I can excuse his attitude is by remembering that he was raised a lonely ranger who did not relate to many people (let alone women!). So, he might not know what to do in dealing with Eowyn's attention. This 'theory' is confirmed by his frankness towards Eowyn later on that he could not give what she hoped for.

But pleaseee...., Aragorn, have a little more faith in yourself for Arwen's love! Be brave in love! She even chose to be mortal, leaving her elf kin to spend her life with you, even though she was not sure she could meet you again one day or not. She believed in you! And Aragorn..., hehehe I too like you, even worse when it comes to believe in my LORD Jesus Christ... I do believe Lord, please help my unbelief...

I can go on for hours if not days talking about LOTR! I don't feel that I am him whatever the quiz said. It was just a quiz. But this I will say to my LORD. Thank you LORD for letting me learn a lot about myself through the movie. Thank you for convincing me that your kingdom is real even as of now, that I have to live my life on this earth with the reality of Your kingdom. Until one day when I will see you face to face and run into Your loving embrace...!