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@gabriellepollack

I was a little bit in a hurry last time I responded, so I’ll go more into depth now. XD

So in the end, the Shire is pretty much turned into a mini-domain of Saruman’s, and he’s corrupted some of the hobbits, killed others, imprisoned some others, and turned the once beautiful land into an industrial wasteland, basically.

In the beginning of the Lotr series, the Shire is shown to be a safe, happy place full of joy, kindness, and very little spite/anger/hatred between hobbits(there is some, but nothing on the level near the rest of the world). It’s pretty much portrayed as an ideal home, and this idea is solidified throughout the series as the hobbits in the company frequently reminisce about the niceties of the Shire and how much they wished to return home at times.

The Shire is literally the physical embodiment if comfort. To me, it symbolizes the comfortable life of Christians today, how we seem to live separated from the world’s problems and not really giving any interest in the world, as long as we’re comfortable in our little homes and churches.

The hobbits that dared venture outside the Shire are like missionaries, venturing to save the world and shine a light in the darkness–or a literal light in the darkness, like Galadriel’s gift to Frodo. They venture outside comfort, to unknown and dangerous places where they can no longer afford to be ignorant or unwilling to learn the world’s dark secrets, and they are suddenly thrust from absolute comfort to strife and terror.

In turn, when they return home after successfully destroying the ring and effectively saving the world,  they find the Shire–the home and comfort they know and love–in chaos and destruction. The hobbits that had not dared to venture outside the Shire and learn the true state of the world had been attacked suddenly and swiftly, and so shattered. Saruman took over, and destroyed the comfort and safety they loved.

In the same way, if we Christians continue to live as we have been in comfort and false happiness, we will be taken by Satan and shattered. We were called to change the world, not to live comfortably. If we remain ignorant or unwilling to learn the problems that are destroying the world around us, we will be destroyed with it.

To put it simply, the Shire to me signifies the modern Christian life–comfort, safety, and ignorant certainty. And the destruction of the Shire? That signifies the doom that will surely come for most Christians if they do not realize that raising a hand one day in church is not what saves them–doing, understanding, and complying to the will of God, believing in Jesus Christ, and obeying his commands to tell the world are what saves us. (Note–I’m not saying that works are what save us, that’s a whole other topic–what I’m saying is that I don’t believe that you can be saved and then go back to sin and remain saved. It’s a daily walk with Christ that makes you saved, not raising a hand and praying once.)

So there’s my two cents, in extended version. XD