One of my (many many) favourite parts of LOTR is the poem Bilbo wrote about Aragorn. For those of you who don't have the books memorized it reads:
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost,
The old that is strong does not wither.
Deep roots are not reached by the frost
From that ashes a fire shall be woken
A light from the shadows shall spring
Renewed shall be blade that was broken
The crownless again shall be king.
I find great wisdom in this. (I also find a fairly good Christology but that is another discussion.) This poem has a wisdom that turns generally accepted truths on their head. This wisdom challenges us to look farther, to probe deeper, to search longer. This wisdom helps us find the surprising new, and terrifying, path that lies around the corner. ANd it hopes that we will embrace the stranger who it describes, that we will follow on the journey -- even if we do not know the way.
I have come to realize that much of what I see as gold did not glitter at first. I may well wander but not always because I am lost (even though it may feel like it). And I have faith in things, like my faith in God for example, that are old and well rooted, they may need pruning now and then but the strength is there.
And now I find that more and more I wait for the ashes from the fire, the light from the shadows. I await the rebirth of hope and promise. I welcome the signs of God's inbreaking into the world, signs that promise of the great celebration to come...and so we join with countless others over the years to cry Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost,
The old that is strong does not wither.
Deep roots are not reached by the frost
From that ashes a fire shall be woken
A light from the shadows shall spring
Renewed shall be blade that was broken
The crownless again shall be king.
I find great wisdom in this. (I also find a fairly good Christology but that is another discussion.) This poem has a wisdom that turns generally accepted truths on their head. This wisdom challenges us to look farther, to probe deeper, to search longer. This wisdom helps us find the surprising new, and terrifying, path that lies around the corner. ANd it hopes that we will embrace the stranger who it describes, that we will follow on the journey -- even if we do not know the way.
I have come to realize that much of what I see as gold did not glitter at first. I may well wander but not always because I am lost (even though it may feel like it). And I have faith in things, like my faith in God for example, that are old and well rooted, they may need pruning now and then but the strength is there.
And now I find that more and more I wait for the ashes from the fire, the light from the shadows. I await the rebirth of hope and promise. I welcome the signs of God's inbreaking into the world, signs that promise of the great celebration to come...and so we join with countless others over the years to cry Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
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