Tolkien Tuesdays: January 2007 Archives
The following quotation describes Frodo's experience in the Elvish land of Lothlorien after Gandalf was lost in the Mines of Moria on the Bridge of Khazad-Dum. It not only illustrates the renewing power of the Gospel but also intensifies longings within me for the renewal of all creation (Romans 8:18-23).
The [other members of the fellowship] cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lorien there was no stain (The Fellowship of the Ring, 365).
Both Tolkien and Lewis have a way of writing that somehow evokes the eternal!
One of my favorite scenes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (the book not the movie) takes place in the land of Rivendell after the hobbits, Frodo and Sam, almost lost their lives at the hands of those seeking to capture the ring of power and before they continued their dangerous journey to the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy the ring. J.R.R. Tolkien writes:
Such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song (The Fellowship of the Ring, 287).
The good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is of such a quality that the past, present, or imagined future, “good or ill, are not forgotten, but cease to have any power over the present.” We could write pages of application on this. If you are prone to worry about the tomorrow, you need the gospel. If you tend to fear people or circumstances, you need the gospel. If you are paralyzed by regret or plagued by guilt, you need the gospel. Only the gospel can free us from these things.
How else could we apply this? (that's an invitation to comment)
You may find this difficult to believe. Read the article here.
