Tag Archives: J.R.R. Tolkien

Chapter-a-Day

A Scared Child Clinging to His Father’s Hand

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Sis Holding Dad's Hand
(Photo credit: brainwise)

Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
Psalm 73:23 (NLT)

My family will tell you that I’m a “letter” guy. It’s one of the (many) quirks to which I cling. In a world of instant electronic communication I still enjoy pulling out a postcard or sheet of stationery, writing a handwritten letter, picking out a postage stamp, and sending it by snail mail. I find it more polite, personal, and intimate. Letters, in their own subtle way, are works of art.

I have also found in recent years that I enjoy reading the letters of others. I have read the letters of Vincent Van Gogh (and abridged version) and I have recently been reading the letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Letters reveal a lot about the writer. They are more intimate and personal than a work of literature and in a letter people tend to share more directly than they would in a work for public consumption. In Tolkien’s letters I’ve discovered a man of deep and reasonable faith. I’ve found a man who avidly appreciated long hours of decent ale in small pubs with a small group of good friends in deep conversation. I’ve also discovered a man grieving the industrial age and a world at war like an ent eschewing the destructive contraptions of Saruman.

As I read the lyrics of Psalm 73 this morning, I felt like I was reading a very personal letter. Asaph shares the tale of his personal journey with a deep sense of intimate confession:

  • I stumbled along the way
  • I have envied those who had more than me
  • I longed to enjoy the fantasy world of the rich and famous for myself
  • I heard the mocking of those who scoff at the notion of God, and I listened
  • I doubted, and wondered if my faith was a joke
  • I felt regret for choosing to follow God’s ways
  • I became embittered and torn up inside

I’ve written before that the faith journey is not a sprint but a marathon. I’m now beginning to realize that it’s more than that. You can even try to use the metaphor of an Iron Man Triathlon and it comes short. In comparison the faith journey is far more epic in proportion. Asaph is giving us a glimpse in his own personal account. It is not uncommon for those who choose it to encounter along the way: stumbling, trip-ups, doubts, envy, regrets, inner turmoil, and intensely personal questions which hinder a person’s resolve.

I loved Asaph’s conclusion: “I still belong to you.” Despite all of the difficulties, mistakes, questions, and doubts Asaph clings like a scared child to his Father’s hand. This morning I identified with Asaph’s description of his faith own journey. I get it. I understand. And, it encouraged me to continue on, even if there are days that I am nothing more than a scared child clinging to my Father’s hand.

Chapter-a-Day

Abraham, Typology and the Tolkien Geek

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Minas Morgul as depicted in Peter Jackson's Th...
Minas Morgul as depicted in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chapter-a-Day Genesis 22

 “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you.” Genesis 22:16-17a (NLT)

I confess that I am a Tolkien geek. I read or listen to the unabridged audio of The Lord of the Rings every year or so and have since college. I can’t speak Elvish, so I’m not that kind of Tolkien geek, but when Wendy throws out the occasional trivial question related to the story or the movie (e.g. “What was that haunted castle place in the movie that glowed and the orc army came out of it?”) I generally know the answer (e.g. “Minas Morgul”) and will usually offer some elucidation (e.g. “It means ‘City of the Moon’ and it was actually built by the good guys as a fortress meant to keep the bad guys inside the evil land of Moria, but as Sauron and his evil grew in power, Minas Morgul was captured and given by Sauron to the chief of the Nazgul [a.k.a. the Black Riders] who was actually once a human king from the north subverted by Sauron and the power of the “nine rings for mortal men doomed to die” as referenced in the One Ring inscription and he eventually became known as the “Witch King of Angmar.”) at which point Wendy rolls her eyes, laughs, and says “You’re such a geek.” I know. I’ve confessed this.

So it is that I find myself spending time on the road listening through a series of lectures by The Tolkien Professor, Corey Olsen which are freely available on iTunes. Olsen, an English Professor at Washington College, takes a scholarly route through Tolkien’s works and, as a Tolkien geek, I’m utterly fascinated. In a moment of synchronicity, I was listening just last week to one of Professor Olsen’s lectures on the nature of Evil in Tolkien’s writings and he brought up the subject of Typology and referenced the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac from today’s chapter. Tolkien generously used typology in his writings and stories of Middle Earth. Suddenly I was transported back to being a student in Biblical Hermeneutics class and the study of Typology.

In simple terms, Typology is the study of Old Testament references that foreshadow or echo New Testament events or realities. God is “the author of life,” and as the creative artist and author, He sprinkles the Great Story of history with foreshadowing. So in today’s story, Abraham sacrificing his “one and only Son” is a type of God sending His “one and only Son” to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world. “God providing the ram in the thicket” becomes a type of God providing the sacrifice for our sins through Jesus who becomes “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” As I’ve argued in the past, it’s not until you wade into the Old Testament that you gain a full picture of the depth of the whole story God is revealing.

I believe Professor Olsen would make a parallel argument that those who enjoy The Lord of the Rings do not have a full picture of the depth of the whole story Tolkien was telling without wading into the stories Tolkien penned in The Silmarillion and other works. It is no wonder that Tolkien’s works would use this kind of Typology. Tolkien was a professor of Medieval Literature at Oxford and the Christian study of Typology reached its height during the High Middle Ages.

Today, I’m laughing at myself and what a dweeb I can be. I’m also appreciative of a creative God who is the ultimate artist, author and story-teller. I love that all good stories are an echo of the Great Story (or as Tolkien would say, all tales are “leaves off the Great Tree of Tales”). I love when things tie together and tiny moments of unexpected synchronicity occur in life. I love being fascinated.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 7

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Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobb...
Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

[The wicked] dig a deep pit to trap others,    
     then fall into it themselves.
The trouble they make for others backfires on them.
     The violence they plan falls on their own heads.
Psalm 7:15-16 (NLT)

I just finished the unabridged audio version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings…again. Listening to the epic tale is sort of an annual pilgrimage I make while I spend time on the road. Over the years I’ve come to appreciate the many themes Tolkien developed within this “leaf” he claims to have pulled  “from the tree of tales.”

I was struck once more by the very theme David brings out in the lyrics of today’s Psalm. Evil digs its’ own grave. The trap that the wicked lay for others springs back on themselves. The orcs at Cirith Ungol kill one another, allowing Sam to find and rescue Frodo. Saruman’s indescriminate attitude towards nature brings the unexpected wrath of the Ents which, in turn, brings ruin down on the kingdom he’d created for himself. Even Gollum, driven by his self-seeking addiction to the ring, ends up bringing an end to himself and it.

To that end, Tolkien weaves an interesting change in Frodo towards the end of the story. When the hobbits return back to their beloved homeland, they find it overrun with evil men and ruffians under the influence of the broken wizard, Saruman. While Pippin and Merry raise the Shire, realizing that the ruffians will only be driven out by armed force, Frodo becomes a voice for tolerance in the conflict. He refuses to take up arms. He stops fellow hobbits from indescriminate killing. He refuses to allow Saruman to be killed by a hobbit, choosing to let Saruman go to find his own evil ends (which he quickly does when his own wicked protege slays him).

Over time, Tolkein’s story, along with passages of God’s Message like today’s chapter, have influenced how I view and perceive others in whom I perceive wickedness of thought and action. I still have more questions than answers. Nevertheless, the older I get the more my scales of thought tip towards obedience to Jesus’ command not to judge others “for even the wise cannot see all ends.”

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day John 16

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"The eagles are coming! The eagles are coming!"

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. John 16:20 (NLT)

Grief suddenly turned to joy. Deliverance in the midst of catastrophe. J.R.R. Tolkien coined a term for this: eucatastrophe. Tolkien himself used eucatastrophe throughout his stories. At Helm’s Deep when the wall is breached and defeat is certain, dawn arrives along with Gandalf, Erkenbrand, and the Huorns. At the gate of Minis Tirith when the black sails of the evil Corsairs sail upstream and the cities defenders are certain it is the last nail in the coffin for the city. In an unexpected surprise Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli come bounding off the evil ships with unexpected reinforcements. At the Black Gate when the allied forces make one last pitiful foray against impossible odds only to experience an improbable chain of events with the arrival of the eagles, Gollum’s desperate last attempt to seize the ring, and the fulfillment of the ring bearer’s quest.

Yesterday in Easter worship our pastor used eucatastrophe in his description of Jesus’ resurrection. The parallel is an apt one because Tolkien himself believed and commented that the resurrection of Jesus was the ultimate example of eucatastrophe. Jesus even describes it in today’s chapter. Eucatastrophe is grief suddenly turned to wonderful joy.

As the sun comes up over the horizon this morning, I’m thinking about the most unusually beautiful spring season I’ve ever experienced. I’m thinking about life, about new life, and about grief suddenly turned to wonderful joy. I’m thanking God for eucatastrophe and the resurrection this morning, and asking that I might experience it more fully in my life.

Wayfarer's Journal

Good-bye Old Tree

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The old oak trees at the Playhouse are dying. By the end of last summer, two of them stood bare and leafless. We lost another one in the winter. Yesterday, the three of them were cut down and their remnants hauled way.

A few months ago I began listening to The Tolkien Professor, Corey Olsen, on iTunes U. I’ve been working my way through his lecture series on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s works (and enjoying it tremendously!). Yesterday as I listened to the chain saws buzzing and the crack of boughs being cut from their lifeless trunk, I recalled a section of one of Olsen’s lectures with which I truly identified. After reading Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings countless times, you don’t look at trees the same way. Trees become characters. They become living creatures with lives of their own. I can honestly say that I felt pangs of grief as the old oaks were cleared away, and more pangs of grief as I realized that what little life is left in the remaining oak trees is quickly waning.

Those trees had shaded the old Playhouse. My daughters grew up running around them and playing under their shade. They were part of the place like old friends standing sentinel while we went about our lives beneath their watch. They were friends. The lawn looks so empty and bare without them.

Today Wendy and I will visit a local nursery and start the process of contemplating new trees to plant and watch grow up around us.

Old things pass away. New things come.

C’est la vie.