As the Waters Cover the Sea
Many of us tremble before the dark passions of evil men and demons that threaten to eclipse our world and snuff out all goodness. We fear, like Èowyn of Rohan, that we are insignificant in our places, that against the rising ranks of wickedness we have no effective voice or action. Yet Aragorn gently admonishes us just as he did Èowyn: “You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate.”
Not Just Another Story
The Lord of the Rings is not just any story. It’s a foreshadowing to which those of us who are fearful of the events coming upon our world should pay attention. Are we not the sons and daughters of Kings? If we want to see how weak darkness is before light, if we want to really believe that “the Shadow is only a small and passing thing,” then we need look no further than Tolkien’s epic tale.
Good Can Hold It’s Own
In the face of overwhelming darkness we might be tempted to believe that good cannot hold its own against evil. Yet we should know better. Who has set reality to be? Who can step off of a cliff and expect to live? Who can cover their head with a plastic bag and expect to breathe? The gentle truth about reality is “a light in dark places when all other lights go out.” It can and will cripple even the most horrendous spiders of our world.
Everyday Deeds of Ordinary Hobbits
This crippling comes not from the force of arms. It comes from “the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk.” It comes from the “simple acts of kindness and love of ordinary Hobbits.” It comes from brave, willing souls who have finally decided they are done with the horrific Ring that has so long tortured their lives and their world. The effect is foretold by the prophet Isaiah, “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
These will not falter before the Black Gate or upon the slopes of Mount Doom. Their hearts will not waver or yield. They will stand firmer in resolve, stronger in faith, and brighter in hope than they did in their prosperous days in the Shire. These hold the light that brightens the earth with its glory. This is the day long looked for, “the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.”
As the Waters Cover the Sea
Be grateful, oh earth! Be astonished, oh universe! “For he that is mighty hath done great things; and holy is his name. His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.”
A day is soon coming—and behold, now is—when noble acts of ordinary Hobbits will turn the world up-side-down. Then the hopes of all good creatures will be realized, and the earth will be filled “with a knowledge of God, and with His unsurpassed glory, as the waters cover the sea.”
