1/1/07
Why do these stories fill me with so much longing? I'm always sad when it's over, as though that's where life truly lies. But it's not. It's all fantasy, a huge world fabricated by one man: Tolkien. Why do they affect us so? Why do I love them so much?
Am I getting too wrapped up in the entertainment and fa
iling to see the useful truths? There are so many experiences that I can identify with, and also admirable qualities. I love Eowin, she is lovely and strong, full of grace, a leader of her people. She falls for the best of men, which is heartbreaking for her, but she was meant all along for Faramir who is just as honorable and good as Aragorn. I love Sam, for the strength that he gives to his friend. It reminds me of Rachel and I, striving together against sin.Tolkien has not written out of a complete vacuum. . . there is a King we await. He is good and true. A Healer. A Savior. He will come in battle to rid this world of evil.
Maybe that's what I long for. . . the happy ending, the righting of wrongs, the redemption and restoration of all things. Even so, come quickly! Working at the mall is such a constant reminder of evil. I hate sin! I hate what it does to people when they should be beautiful, like the mother and father of our race. Maybe Tolkien doesn't give me a blind eye to the real world as I thought before. . . Maybe he helps me see the world in its basic elements. Good and evil, beauty and ugliness, and a war between the two. [But I don't mean the sort of yin and yang dualism, where both sides are of equal strength. We know that God is the victor.]
We view the world at such a shallow level most of the time. "What decisions must I make to live godly this day?" or "How can I please myself?" Both are surface level things. When all the while there is a battle raging in some other realm. We go our merry way living in the Shire, unaware that the battle is on our doorstep and there is some part that we must play. Where is the urgency? In my new-found semi-Calvinistic ideas I lay down the Sovereignty card too often, ignoring any responsibility You've sovereignly laid on me.
But what is my post? If You tarry what would You have me do in this realm? How are we to fight the battle? Is it by "winning souls" as my fundamental conservative upbringing might say?? That is not ultimately the way You will win this war. The enemy can only be defeated by the King Himself. And You will defeat the enemy someday. But there are captives who need rescuing in the meantime, as though orcs could be rescued and brought to the good side before their destruction. "They were Elves once," as Saruman said. Maybe they could become Elves again.
If I know that all evil will one day be destroyed, love should constrain me to rescue all that can and will be rescued. The magic is the power of the Word, and the Holy Spirit. With all this in mind, why would I play around with sin, since it is the enemy's instrument?
