"No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly.”
"Darkness must pass
A new day will comeAnd when the sun shinesIt will shine out the clearer"
- JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
My last post, on struggle, began with this line from Tolkien: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." Tolkien's words make light of difficult decisions, but they free us from the burden of projecting into the future, worrying about what others are doing, worrying about what others will do. The smaller focus liberates us to design a unique and adaptive approach to life.
Some feel that 2016 has left us in dark times. Michelle Obama spoke of hopelessness, and at this darkest point of the North American year, world and national events threaten to drown out the light of our holiday festivities. In a sense, the growing darkness feels like a sibling to the darkness rising out of Mordor in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. How does the ragtag band of nine companions defeat the enemy (the Dark Lord, Sauron) who threatens them? The darkness has more power, more soldiers, more hate, and it wields these tools to divide the population of Middle Earth - elves, men, hobbits, dwarves.
Representatives of all the groups take part in the quest to destroy the ring of power. They work through initial distrust and suspicion, eventually forming strong bonds of friendship and love. They call relatives and tribes to back the quest, convincing disparate groups to ally through similar passions for justice, freedom, the ability to create good lives for families. These groups are not unlike conservatives, liberals, Christians, Muslims, Jews, non-religious, refugee, immigrant, and other groups at odds in today's world. What convictions can we unroot to bind us all?
The band of nine also has access to wisdom from the greybeard wizard Gandalf. Every time Gandalf opens his mouth he dispenses gems like the quotes above. He goads, prods, and harasses the hobbits, men, dwarves and elves to work together, to feed the spark of hope that hides in their bellies. Gandalf's wisdom coexists with warrior strength. He stands up to a vicious demon, an embodiment of evil, protecting his followers as they flee with the memorable words "You Shall Not Pass!" The force of love, the desire for peace, can be fierce and strong enough to oppose any evil. They are not weak, milksop fantasies.
Who can be a Gandalf for us in these times? Jimmy Carter? John McCain? Ban Ki Moon? We need to find our wizards and learn from them.
Tolkien began The Hobbit (a precursor to The Lord of the Rings) in 1937, as the forces of darkness were gathering in Germany. People who lived in the dark times of World War II must have felt despair and the attraction of hopelessness. But the darkness was defeated. Not forever, but for their time. It's our time now, and our quest to battle whatever darkness rises. May a new day come to pass, and may we be ready to meet it.
In the movie The Tale of Despereaux based on the novel by Kate diCamillo, there is a quote at the beginning that seems apt-"you know that a hero doesn't appear until the world really needs one." Well, I think the time is nigh. I'm eager to see who steps forward. Karen
ReplyDeleteSomething to look forward to - a new hero?! Perhaps the need will also call out the emerging hero within each of us.
ReplyDeleteOoo very profound. I am doing a lot of seeking these days. I feel surrounded by judgment within myself and around me. At 70 years of age, I have never experienced so much division in the USA. I tell myself that it is all part of the process of moving into Oneness.
DeleteThat's a good point, Marylou. It's possible that the roots of division were there all along and are just now surfacing. Perhaps if we bring obstacles to the light we can see them, and dismantle them, more effectively.
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