How Far Would You Go to Keep a Promise?

While I was looking up a quote that I wanted to blog about, Boromir's dying words from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001 Film), I spotted another quote from that movie that I now want to blog about instead.

Here's the context: When Gandalf the Grey sent Frodo Baggins on a stay-off-the-roads road trip to the village of Bree, he sent Samwise Gamgee (Frodo's gardener) with him. At some point before they left, Gandalf told Sam, "Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee," or words to that effect, and Sam promised that he wouldn't. Fast forward a couple of months. Their quest has taken them from Bree to Rivendell, from Rivendell to Moria, from Moria to Lothlorien, and finally to the western bank of the Anduin River near the Falls of Rauros, hundreds and hundreds of miles from home. So far, they've fought goblins, wraiths, a cave troll, Uruk-Hai (which are like orcs, but bigger and stronger), and a Balrog (an enormous, flaming demon-creature who, by all appearances, killed Gandalf). It has been obvious up to this point that the Hobbits Frodo and Sam have only survived this long because they were surrounded by skilled warriors who did most all of their fighting for them. Now Frodo has got it in his mind to finish the journey to Mordor alone, so he slips away from the others, hops into a boat, and is already half-way across the river by the time Sam catches up to him. Sam, ever faithful and devoted, attempts to follow Frodo across the river without a boat, despite his inability to swim. He nearly drowns, but Frodo pulls him into the boat at the last moment, and then Sam gives Frodo the explanation of his nearly-suicidal behavior, "I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise! 'Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to! I don't mean to."

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we make promises all the time. We call these promises "covenants," and through them, we pledge to always remember our Savior Jesus Christ, to keep His commandments, and to make any sacrifices necessary to keep these promises and the many other promises we've made to God. Yet, how many of us are truly willing to be as faithful and courageous as Sam was? How many of us would have tried to cross the river, and how many of us would have stood at the bank and lamented, "The river is too wide and I cannot swim. I cannot keep my promise"? How many of us would still be willing to keep our promise to follow the Savior even if that road seemed to lead to certain death? I'm sure I wouldn't have dared to try to cross.

We are not often placed in situations where doing the right thing involves a risk to our lives, but we frequently find ourselves in situations where choosing the right involves a risk to our popularity or position, our friendships, our sanity, or at least our comfort. Are we willing to sacrifice comfort, friendships, and popularity in order to keep our covenants? Sam risked his life to keep a promise. How far are we willing to go?