The Power to Follow

Then Aragorn led the way, and such was the strength of his will in that hour that all the Dúnedain and their horses followed him. And indeed the love that the horses of the Rangers bore for their riders was so great that they were willing to face even the terror of the Door, if their master's hearts were steady as they walked beside them. But Arod, the horse of Rohan, refused the way, and he stood sweating and trembling in a fear that was grievous to see. Then Legolas laid his hands on his eyes and sang some words that went soft in the gloom, until he suffered himself to be led, and Legolas passed in. And there stood Gimli the Dwarf left all alone.

His knees shook, and he was wroth with himself. 'Here is a thing unheard of!' he said. 'An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!' With that he plunged in. But it seemed to him that he dragged his feet like lead over the threshold; and at once a blindness came upon him, even upon Gimli Glóin's son who had walked unafraid in many deep places of the world. 

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, Chapter II


Following Aragorn was the errand of the Rangers, Legolas, Gimli, and the horses. It was not their duty to face the terror of the Door and take the Paths of the Dead; it was Aragorn's. So, why did they go with him? How did they muster the courage to follow him into a mountain haunted by ghosts?

In the passage above, several things are made plain about each follower:

• The Dúnedain and their horses followed because of Aragorn's great strength of will.
• The horses of the Rangers followed because of great love for their riders.
• The horse Arod followed only after the touch of Legolas upon his eyes, along with words sung to him.
• Gimli the Dwarf followed when he couldn't bear the thought of an Elf being more courageous than he to go underground; Dwarves were made for such things!

Earlier in the chapter, the Lady Éowyn gives one more motivation for the followers of Aragorn. She says to the returning king, They go only because they would not be parted from thee - because they love thee.

In life we will take up many errands to follow. We won't always play the role of the leader, nor should we. Others will have duties that do not belong to us, yet we will give ourselves to aid them because of our relationship and bond with them. We will let them lead us.

Love is one of our greatest motivators. It gives us the power to follow a leader. But before that, comes strength of will demonstrated by the leader. It is hard to follow someone who is not resolute, even when we love them. Therefore, the full power to follow is only realized when there is love for a leader who demonstrates great strength of will. Or is that really the full power?

Gimli gives us one more ounce of motivation: knowing who we are.

It has been said that the two most important moments in a person's life are the day they are born and the day they find out why they were born. When we begin to understand deeply how we entered the world, why we are here, what we are capable of, and where we are headed in the future, our fears can be overcome.

Following is scary business. Why? Because the quest is not ours to lead. We are not in full control. We have limited influence and knowledge, which makes things very uncomfortable for us. But, if we have a leader who is sure, a leader that we love, and a healthy understanding of who we are, we can face our doubts, overcome our shaking knees, and plunge into the dark right behind our leader.

On a spiritual level, I believe God created us to be with him and he invites us all to follow him on a great quest to tell everyone, everywhere, about his wondrous love. Jesus said, Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be (John 12:26, New International Version). But what will motivate us to serve and follow him? Fear is a certainty. Evil abounds and actively opposes God's righteousness.

I would propose that our power to follow God flows from the same things we see in the Grey Company that followed Aragorn: we can endure our fears because God is resolute; our love for him compels us to follow; and we know who we are!

Listen to these words that God spoke to Joshua, the successor of Moses who would lead the ancient Israelites into the Promised Land: 

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. 

- Joshua 1:6-9, NIV

God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous. He tells him exactly what he will accomplish. He gives him precise instructions on what to fill his mind with and how to act. He commands him to be strong-willed by saying not to turn from the law of Moses to the right or the left and by not letting it depart from his mouth. Finally, he tells him not to be terrified or discouraged. Why? Because God would be with him wherever he went. Jesus' words centuries later would be an echo of this, And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20, NIV).

Not everyone could have had the power to follow Aragorn. Tolkien tells us, But when the dawn came, cold and pale, Aragorn rose at once, and he led the Company forth upon the journey of greatest haste and weariness that any among them had known, save he alone, and only his will held them to go on. No other mortal Men could have endured it, none but the Dúnedain of the North, and with them Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas of the Elves.

"Only his will held them to go on." It will ultimately be only those who recognize and submit to the will of God and his leadership that will follow him to the end. Love for God and self-awareness are key powers to begin the quest of following him; but when the darkness and gloom settle in, and the demons of the unseen realms manifest themselves, wreaking their destruction, the only power we have to endure is the unquestionable truth that God is with us and in him we place our hope and trust.

Today, will you accept the presence, leadership and authority of Christ in your life? Will you love him and commit yourself to serving by his side? And will you let him reveal to you who you really are?

I will end by leaving you a verse of Scripture the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus while he was imprisoned for spreading the message of Christ.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10, NIV).

The original Greek word for workmanship is poiema from which the English word poem is derived. If translated literally, it means "work of art." Think about that. We are God's work of art - his greatest poetry! 

Even so, that marvelous truth may not be enough to keep us following. Our power to follow God will be found in submitting ourselves to his strength of will and doing the good works he has prepared in advance for us to do. 

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Loving people is the second greatest commandment that Jesus left us with. The apostle Paul describes our responsibility to love our fellowman as a debt that is never satisfied in Romans 13:8. We truly do prove our love for God by loving others.

But, Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves. What does that mean?

C.S. Lewis reveals that Jesus was teaching us something very profound when he said those words.

“I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man's actions but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner. ...I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life -- namely myself. However much I might dislike my own cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself. There had never been the slightest difficulty about it. In fact the very reason why I hated the things was that I loved the man. Just because I loved myself, I was sorry to find that I was the sort of man who did those things.” 
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Disappointment in our own actions proves we love ourselves. Saying, "I hate myself" is really admitting "I love myself, but I hate what I did." How? Because we realize that we are better than that. In the end we want to be good. 

Therefore, we may hate the behaviors of others, but Jesus said we should forgive them anyway and go on loving them, believing that they can do better. They are valuable creations of God.

Just as we discipline ourselves to change for the good, our discipline of others should have the same motivation. It must include love and forgiveness, even if the correction is severe. We must love our neighbor as ourselves. 

A real poser.

Take a look at this kid's face.

What kind of look is that? To me he looks puzzled. I wonder what he's stumped about. Someone must have asked him a real poser, but the look in his eyes says the question was terrifying.

Life can be that way too. One day you think you have everything sorted out and then, wham! A puzzling, nagging thought enters your mind and you don't know what to do about it. Should you forget about it? Should you take action? What will happen either way? If you take action, will you regret it? If you don't, will you regret it? Will you mess things up? Will you tell someone else about it? Will you lose credibility in the process? Will your faith stretch and become an example for others? 

The biggest questions of all: Where did the thought come from? Did it come from your own heart or did God pose it? Is it something you want, or is it something you were destined for? Is the thing you want also the thing you were destined for?

Any person who wants to advance in life will experience these kind of posers. That's because they aren't satisfied with the status quo. They realize that life is short and they only have a small window of opportunity to take hold of greatness. 

So, what should we do when ideas and visions pop into our heads?

First, we should ask God for His wisdom. Second, we should ask appropriate people for their wisdom. Finally, if there are no red flags, we should take action and step forward. Even if it all turns out to be a failure or never comes to pass, we can at least say we took the risk and tried. And, we can always try again if we wish, until we succeed. One thing is for certain: If we never try, we will never succeed, and we will never know if that puzzling, nagging thought was something we were destined for.     

The Love of Galadriel

Galadriel

'Dark is the water of Kheled-zâram, and cold are the springs of Kibilnâla, and fair were the many-pillared halls of Khazad-dûm in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone.' She looked down upon Gimli, who sat glowering and sad, and she smiled. And the Dwarf, hearing the names given in his own ancient tongue, looked up and met her eyes; and it seemed to him that he looked suddenly into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding. Wonder came into his face, and then he smiled in answer.

He rose clumsily and bowed in dwarf-fashion, saying: 'Yet more fair is the living land of Lórien, and the Lady Galadriel is above all the jewels that lie beneath the earth!'  —THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE MIRROR OF GALADRIEL

What beautiful language to describe the melting of hatred through the generosity of praise. J.R.R. Tolkien has given us yet another scene we can all benefit from. It is the lesson of Christ — to 'love your enemies.' 

There is power in love! Power to transform the most stubborn of evil persons into a good friend.

If we could only be like Galadriel, we might be surprised at how many who would respond like Gimli. Yet, we are afraid, too fearful to say anything complimentary or sympathetic to those with whom we have profound disagreements. We are so caught up in our differences and deep seated emotions against them, that we will not allow ourselves to be charitable. God help us! What a foolish trap to be stuck in.

Let us break free! Let us open up our mouths and permit understanding to roll off our tongues. May our words be sweet. May we offer a smile to counter the sadness and gloom of our enemies. Let us gaze into their eyes and let them see that our hearts are bigger and purer than they had imagined.

Wouldn't it be wondrous?

An Unexpected Journey

On December 14, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will arrive in theaters. I have been looking forward to this film all year, believing that it will be one of the greatest movies of the year. Peter Jackson did a fantastic job with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings stories, adapting them to film and exposing the world to the professor's most beloved cast of characters. The third film, The Return of the King, was for me, emotionally rousing. Even my wife teared up in the end when Frodo and Sam are overcome by exhaustion on the side of Mount Doom. The Ring had taken a tremendous toll on Frodo and his best friend Sam talked to him about home.

Sam: Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It'll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields... and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?

Frodo: No, Sam. I can't recall the taste of food... nor the sound of water... nor the touch of grass. I'm naked in the dark, with nothing, no veil... between me... and the wheel of fire! I can see him... with my waking eyes!

Sam: Then let us be rid of it... once and for all! Come on, Mr. Frodo. I can't carry it for you... but I can carry you!

It was a beautiful picture of friendship, endurance, and fighting for the restoration of uncorrupted times. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the lesson will be about courage and maturity. Bilbo Baggins, comfortable in his hobbit hole in the Shire, will venture out into the Wild on a quest. But he won't be alone. He will be accompanied by a band of dwarves, but he'll also have the wise Gandalf coaching him.

I call this blog, "Advancement Points," because I believe we all need to get out of our comfortable holes and go on a journey. That is how we mature and become everything that our Creator intended for us to be. The good news is, like Bilbo Baggins, we don't have to go alone. We have a wise teacher - Jesus Christ - who will guide us if we'll listen, and he'll even come to our rescue once-in-awhile! I know this, because that has been my life. God called me away from my family and home when I was a teenager to pursue His purposes. I said "yes," and it has certainly been a grande adventure!

If you go to the movies to see the film, enjoy the story first and foremost. That's what J.R.R. Tolkien would want. Then, go and buy the book and read it. He would want that even more! But, he also believed the power of mythical fairy-stories lies in the fact that they speak to the listeners (and viewers - in this case) about their own lives. Look for the good lessons and the values that shine through. With Tolkien's stories, it's really not that hard to do. But, if you would like some great book recommendations to help you sort through the lessons, try the following resources:

Finding God in the Hobbit by Jim Ware
A Hobbit Devotional: Bilbo Baggins and the Bible by Ed Strauss
A Hobbit Journey by Matthew Dickerson

Abjure

Studying vocabulary is something most people haven't done since high school. And yet, words are wonderful, powerful, and advance our communication ability in so many ways. Being a pastor, most of my time is spent writing sermons for my congregation, but I also spend a fair amount of time writing adventures for The One Ring roleplaying game along with additional rules and helps for players of the game. It brings me great joy!

When I write, I keep a tab on my internet browser open to www.thesaurus.com. It's one of my favorite sites. Writing in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien is extra challenging though - if you really want your stories to sound like the professor's, you've got to learn his words...but that is a subject for another post.

Write Well, Speak Well, 2005 Houghton Mifflin

Last year, I was yard-saling with my wife and I stumbled across a vocabulary book for 25 cents. "You can't go wrong" for that price, so I picked it up. (I first heard that saying from my father-in-law and it has proven true.) Today, I want to share a word from the book: abjure.

abjure

1. To recant solemnly; renounce or repudiate: Here and now, I abjure my violent temper. 2. To renounce under oath; forswear: The prisoner abjured his previous state. 

RELATED WORDS:
noun - abjuration
noun - abjurer

We all make mistakes, but one of the hardest things to do is abjure them. Mom first taught us how to say, "I'm sorry," but it has proven to be a tough lesson. Yet, when we renounce our poor behaviors or attitudes with sincerity of heart, it can unlock the door of our isolation chamber and restore the relationships we should have been enjoying all along.

I want to be an abjurer and practice abjuration even in the little things. So, to all that I've ever been off-putting, I abjure my egotism and impatience. I pray to do better the next time we communicate.

Escape Your Routine

Everyone needs something that takes them away from their normal routines of work. This is important so that they can re-create themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It also helps them to escape the danger of tunnel vision. When it comes to happiness and vitality, I don't believe leisure is an option - it is absolutely necessary!

So, the question is: What takes you away from the grind and the stress?

The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild

As for me, I am in love with games; board games, card games and roleplaying games to be precise. Especially roleplaying games. They energize me and fuel my creative urges. They bring friends into my home and allow us to bond through cooperative storytelling.

You may call me a geek or a nerd who needs to get a life, but you would be missing a great point about me. I AM full of life because I am ALSO a gamer. What are you ALSO?

If you want to advance toward a healthier, happier, and more interesting life, escape your routine and enjoy other interests.