Where hope lives

'Far above the Ephal Duath in the west, the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear an cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.'

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Edwardian Literature and Tolkien

Got to thinking about the relationship between Edwardian Literature and the works of JRR Tolkien the last few days. I guess it was because of a recent episode of The Librarian the was a take off on King Solomon's Mines. It was interesting to see an up dated version of the this classic. Of course the main character in The Librarian is no Allan Quatermain, but he still sets up a great story.
Tolkien moved away from the proper gentleman to raise up the dignity of the pastoral farmland character . This is of course is seen mostly in the Hobbit race,
Now I need to think about how the enolution of the race of elves plays into the equation.
If you are lucky.

Trees in The Lord of the Rings for an Advent Reflection

Opening meditation
"Abundant life in God was unraveled in a story. Why a story? Perhaps because there is an intimate link between the Incarnate Word and incarnating words. Every story is a birth, an incarnation." (Halm)
"We, as Christians are called to be servants willing to give birth again to the Word, allowing incarnations to happen in our daily living that tell the story of our life in Christ." (Halm)

Week One, Tree One, The Party Tree: Advent is the beginning of an adventure and "you never know where the road will take you." (Bilbo) Before Bilbo sets off on his last adventure he hosts a party for the entire community. The Party Tree, as a gathering place for the community, is a celebration of life. But there is something restless in side of him that calls him to a new adventure, a new journey, "and then find somewhere where I can rest."
Goal for the week: Recapture the spirit of journey in Advent and approach this week with a sense of wonder as you contemplate the road ahead.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, In your virginal conception you began a journey in full communion with all of creation as one of us. May we honor, respect, and defend all life in our communities and where ever our journey takes us.
Amen

Week Two, Tree Two, Old Man Willow: During our journey we discover things that we need to leave behind. Old grudges and anger have no place on this journey towards new birth. And, when we are overtaken by unexpected grief, some times all we can really do is cry out for help: "But Frodo, without any clear idea of knowing why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help!" And help comes in a most unexpected way.
Goal for the week: Journeys don’t always go the way we expect them and “even the very wise cannot see all ends” (Gandalf), so keep your eyes open and expect help in unlikely places.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, in the darkness of your mother's womb and the darkness of your last moments on the cross, you committed yourself with full trust to the will of your Father. May we learn that same trust from you that our cries to the Father are always heard and answered.
Amen

Week Three, Tree Three, Treebeard the Ent: Perfect for Gaudate Sunday! We make it to the "halfway point" of moving through the dark time and pause to celebrate the coming joy and light. As we rush headlong to Christmas, Gaudate Sunday calls us to pause and remember what the journey is for. "We must not be hasty. I have become too hot. I must cool myself and think; for it is easier to shout stop! then to do it." (Treebeard)
Goal for the week:Skip, dance, or walk with a spring in your step just knowing you are loved. Pause, slow down and share a smile.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, in your quickening in the womb of your mother you leapt for joy and rested under her loving heart. In your patient waiting to enter the world teach us to recognize times for joy and times for rest.
Amen

Week Four, Tree Four, The White Tree of Gondor: Here can be used first the dead tree that stands in the courtyard (fourth Sunday) since it is revered, honored, and still cared for as it calls to mind the promise and hope that the line of the king will not die out. "Many folk like to know beforehand what is to be set on the table; but those who have laboured to prepare the feast like to keep their secret; for wonder makes the words of praise louder. And Aragorn himself waits for a sign." (Gandalf)
Goal for the week: Touch a tree that has lost all its leaves, but remember that there is life there that it is only waiting for the breath of Spring.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, soon to be born into the world, rekindle in us the child like joy of Christmas morn. Who would have expected the Lord of creation to come to us in such a way? We marvel and adore the promise of ages.
Amen

Christmas Day, Final Tree, The New Sapling: (many people put a white candle in the middle of the wreath to represent Christmas). "Turn your face from the green world and look where all seems barren and cold!" (Gandalf) It is on the stony slopes and wastes that Aragorn found the new sapling, "and upon its slender crown it bore one small cluster of flowers whose white petals shone like the sunlit snow." After bringing the sapling to the courtyard to replace the old tree, which is buried with honor, the new tree is planted and "gladly it began to grow." Yet Advent is not the end of our story, but only the beginning, and the words of Aragorn read like a prayer: "'The sign has been given...and the day is not far off.' And he set watchmen upon the hills."
Goal for the week: Gift your Christmas joy in unexpected ways.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, newly born into the world, you bring sunlight from the shadow and the promise of life eternal. By your humble birth we know that we are not forgotten and no longer need be lost. Continue with us on the journey until we, with you, rest safely in our mother's arms.
Amen

Tolkien the Pelagian?

Reading The World of the Rings by Jared Lobdell today and I came across a very interesting thesis point tied into the idea that Tolkien's Middle-Earth is not only pre-Christian, but a pre-lapsarian state where the fate of the Children-of-God (Iluvatar) has yet to be determined. Yes, there is evil in the world, most clearly embodied in Sauron the chief lieutenant of Melkor, but there is no "fall" story for the establishment of the Christian concept of Original Sin (please note the Jewish people have never seen Genesis as a "fall" story and have no concept of "Original Sin." This is strictly a Christian construct). It would be possible to raise many arguments with substantial support on both sides of this issue.
However, consider that the author's point may be in line with Augustine's statement that before the fall that humanity was in a state of posse non peccare. In other words, it is possible to NOT sin--tempation is not sin, it was present even in the garden of eden. Augustine goes on to say that after the fall, humanity's state is non posse non peccare (not possible to not sin), this is where we are living now and is part of Augustine's defense for our dependence on the grace of God over/against the Pelagian view that Adam's sin affected Adam alone and that infants at birth are in the same state as Adam was before the Fall. Pelagius also argued that though grace may facilitate the achieving of righteousness, it is not necessary to that end. Also, he insisted that the constituent nature of humanity is not convertible; it is indestructively good. Is Tolkien's world the perfect example of the Pelagian defense of absolute free-will? Lobdell goes on to describe the experiences and the journey of the four Hobbits of the fellowship as "progress[ing] toward spiritual awareness, toward the gift of knowledge if you will, indeed toward the gifts of the Holy Spirit generally." (p.56)
Did Tolkien accidentally create the perfect Pelagian world? If so where does a Savior/Redeemer come into play? Will some desendent of Aragorn become an Abram figure or do we really need to try and push the idea that Tolkien presents for us a pre-history of our own world to the point where the two meet? Tolkien presents a unique creation mythology and it therefore follows that the creatures of that creation would follow a different path to ultimate union with God (Iluvatar).
At another time I will try to tie this in with Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth from Morgoth's Ring: The History of Middle Earth, Volume X, in which some have seen a prediction of a Christ like figure presaged to come to Middle- Earth, when "the One himself will enter Arda."

Horns of Plenty

A student stopped into my office recently and asked if I have ever considered the correlation between the use of horns in LOTR and in the Bible. The more I thought about it, the more intriguing it became.
First, where do we see the use of horns in LOTR, what are the circumstances, how are they described, and what impact do they have on the broader story.
Second, placed within the cultural context of Middle Earth how do the characters understand the various roles of horns; what does this tell us about the culture of the people?
Third, as we examine each of the occurrences is it possible to draw scriptural parallels?
And finally, when using LOTR as a personal spiritual reflection what might each presentation be trying to say to the reader?

Pilgrim's Progress NOT

Tolkien was highly insistent that his writings about Middle Earth were not to be seen as allegory. In light of this, certain things need to be taken into account. First that the Christian representations are not always obvious but are a subconscious part of the story derived from Tolkien's own Catholic Christian life. Tolkien himself verifies this point. Second, Frodo's "odyssey" is not a personal event for the thrill of the quest or a desire for adventure. It is a selfless undertaking to destroy the ring on behalf of the free peoples of Middle Earth. Because it is an odyssy, The Lord of the Rings is filled with segues, correlations, symbols, stories, and characters that can fortify the Christian and Catholic Faith (this is a paraphrased from something I read, but I do not have the reference). This is why the story takes over one thousand pages to tell. If it were any less it would be incomplete. We are therefore lead into a deeply spiritual message in which each character, even Gandalf, deals with a personal struggle. Frodo, of course, has the most profound struggles and it is no wonder that by the end we see that there are some wounds for which he can find no healing.

Alternate History

What is the importance of Bilbo's judgment of Frodo's character which lead to his adoption? How does this reflect the truth about the the difference between what kind of person some one is meant to be and and what kind of person they can be?
If Bilbo had not adopted Frodo he most likely would not have been in position to be a ring bearer. Although this does not mean that any quest to destroy the ring would have failed, it does change the events of the task. Or does it? What is the the role of providence here that we can see as presented by Tolkien? We must keep in mind at all times that the writings of Tolkien, especially those that deal with Middle Earth, are an insight into his understanding of how the universe works on both the physical and the spiritual planes; or, to borrow from the Nicene Creed, "all things seen and unseen." Keeping this in mind gives us a "roadmap" for proposing alternate historys in the story of Middle Earth. This is a worth while verture, for in doing so we may not only discern more about the mind of Tolkien, but even gain a perspective on life as we live it.