My son & I are huge fans of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings movies (The Hobbit should’ve been shorter & better but…) Several times, we have gotten our "LotR nerd" on, and have discussed cinematographic flaws, theories & and overall "AWE!" with what Peter Jackson did with this classic novel.But what’s hilarious was, at the end of The Return of the King, Frodo & Sam stand inside Mount Doom, and all Frodo has to do is, throw the ring into Mount Doom’s fires, ending the current war between good & evil. But Frodo can’t do it - He holds onto the ring, powerless to let go, despite knowing the ring’s true destructive power.

From a storyline perspective, it’s brilliant (but over-used) - Just when you think the good guys win, something pops up to hold off the inevitably of the good guys winning. Although I can’t remember exactly, I’m sure that my son & I gasped at Frodo’s reluctance to let go of the ring. Despite the ring’s power, Frodo the hobbit from the Shire was able to withstand against it - 3 movies into it, you could see it taking its toll upon him, consuming him more & more, the longer he held onto it. You learn, by watching the movies, that the ring is enticing at the beginning, but it soon overwhelms you, and it then controls you. And after a while, it simply discards you away because it’s found someone else to latch itself onto, and continue the curse.

The obvious choice to discard the ring, and yet he doesn’t… knowing full well that this is a bad choice, is similar to us and our carrying of that deep & shameful sin, that secret addiction that brings us temporary belief from some pain… We think it helps but it ultimately leaves us worse off.

And anyone who find solace from the suffering of an all-consuming addiction, know that it’s far more complex than to simply say "no". The power to break free from addiction doesn't come from more "willpower", or praying harder when temptation knocks - Freedom comes through opening up to the invitation of Jesus (sometimes through others) to work through the deeply broken and traumatized places that we’ve tried to numb through our addictions.