Blessed Are The Hobbits

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:5-9)

Poor little Bilbo Baggins. He’s a meek little Hobbit with a slightly wild streak that occasionally gets him in trouble, like that time almost a year ago when it caused him to go running after a party of dwarves - without even a pocket handkerchief, mind you - in order to be their burglar. And what was he thinking when he picked up the Arkenstone but kept it to himself and even lied about it, when all along he knew that it was the one thing Thorin was seeking above all else?

In the end, though, we see that he is and always has been a kindly, humble little soul, the peacemaker who tries his best to help end the siege of the Lonely Mountain by offering the Arkenstone as a bargaining chip, even though that makes it worse in the end. And when it ends in battle and death anyway, he is sorry to have been a part of it. “You are a fool, Bilbo Baggins,” he tells himself, “and you made a great mess of that business with the stone; and there was a battle, in spite of all your efforts to buy peace and quiet.”

Despite his own feelings about recent events, Bilbo is lauded as a hero by others, and Bard wants to reward him appropriately with treasure. He is exceedingly relieved, however, that it will not be the one-fourteenth share originally promised him by Thorin. “How on earth should I have got all that treasure home without war and murder all along the way I don’t know. And I don’t know what I should have done with it when I got home,” he says, when the battle is over and the division of spoils finally takes place.

Blessed are the characters like Bilbo Baggins, for they show us what the Beatitudes look like in person. And blessed are we when we recognize these characters and let them be an example to us in how to act and interact with others as we go through the world.

The Geeky Squirrel Reboot

Ok, so I know I said The Geeky Squirrel was returning a year ago, but I really mean it this time. This summer, writing is on my daily to do list and I'm making a special effort to spend time on it. So what's coming?

First of all, the end of the Hobbit series (for now). Three posts left, with the first dropping this Sunday, June 29 to restart the weekly posting schedule. There's probably tons more I could say about this book, but any other ideas I might have had I will save for my next read-through. I also have Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit by Corey Olsen on my "to read" list and I'm sure his commentary will reveal new topics/insights as well. And then there are these movies by some guy named Peter Jackson - you may have heard something about them - and thinking about the differences between them and the book takes me down all sorts of paths, too. But like I said, The Hobbit is getting a rest for now, as I tackle some of the other topics in my idea file.

As I scroll down the list of ideas in said file, here's what I see:

• Doctor Who. Lots and lots of Doctor Who. With the recent 50th anniversary of the show, I've watched a good bit of it lately, so that is primarily what my idea list consists of. I'll try not to bombard you with everything at once, though, I promise!
• Other SF television shows - Falling Skies, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Torchwood, and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (what a selection!).
• A real-life space story that really touched me when I read it - in fact, it will probably be the next thing I write about after I finish with Bilbo and Company. 
• Non-Hobbit Tolkien: a few themes from The Lord of the Rings, and I may also tackle a bit of The Silmarillion and other writings.

If you are new to The Geeky Squirrel, I would encourage you to check out the pages listed in the "Geeky Squirrel's Guide for Newbies" sidebar blurb over on the left. If you want to read the Hobbit series in preparation for the wrap-up posts, it starts with, funnily enough, "A Very Good Place to Start." You can also see a list of all the posts in the series on the Hobbit Series page. If you want to read posts based on a specific SF franchise or a specific theme or topic, check out the Tag Cloud on the right. 

If you like what you read, please follow my blog! Scroll down to the bottom of any post - if you do the RSS thing, subscription links are there, as well as a place to enter your email address so you can get The Geeky Squirrel emailed to you every time I post a new article. Also comment on posts if you have something to add to the discussion - everyone loves feedback!

Thanks again for your patience - the return is for real this time.

~Ann, AKA The Geeky Squirrel