I
have a love for various authors, but one of my favorites is J.R.R.
Tolkien, the author of The
Hobbit and The
Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien was a devout Catholic and took his faith seriously. While
some would argue that Tolkien did not include much of his theology
into his written works, certain images make it seem quite obvious
that his writing was certainly influenced by his faith. Near the
beginning of The Lord
of the Rings, Tolkien
gives a beautiful description of a vision that one of the main
characters has as he begins a perilous journey. This same
description is given at the end of the book as that same character
sails off into to another land. In the movie adaptation from a few
years ago, the director took this description and inserted it in
another place all together in the movie. Now, I usually hate it when
a movie director changes a story like that, but here I think he
actually helps show what Tolkien was originally trying to show.
The
movie scene takes place in the third installment called, The
Return of the King.
Just before a major climax of the movie, it looks as if a city is
about to be overtaken by the “bad guys” if you will. Only a few
soldiers are left to defend the last stronghold of the city. Among
them are the wise old wizard, Gandalf and another character named
Pippin. As they hear the enemy attempting to beat down the wooden
gate that separates them from a most certain death, Pippin looks up
at Gandalf and says, “I didn’t think it would end this way”.
Gandalf looks at him with surprise. “End? No the journey doesn’t
end here”, he says. “Death is just another path; one that we all
must take. The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back, and all
turns to silver glass. And then you see it: white shores, and
beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.” Pippin, who
had look terrified before appears to have hope rush over him.
“Well,” he says, “That isn’t so bad”. “No, no it isn’t”
Gandalf replies. Just then, the loud pounding of the door reminds
them of the danger that awaits them. With a new found hope and
courage, Pippin tightly grasps his sword and he and Gandalf prepare
for whatever awaits them.
In
both the versions in the book and in the movie, this description is
not meant to be of a mythical land like the mythical lands described
in the rest of Tolkien’s books. I am certain that Tolkien meant
his readers to think of Heaven. He wanted us to think of the hope of
going there and the eternal joy that comes with being there. When
you think about it, this is a rather counter cultural idea. I’m
not sure what the culture was like in the 1950’s when Tolkien was
writing, but today we live in a society that says “You only live
once”. Even on the Internet, the acronym of “YOLO” is used to
talk about living life to the fullest. While it is true that we do
only live once, (Christians don’t believe in reincarnation) the
phrase seems to skip the fact that we still have an eternal life to
live after we die. The implication is that this life on earth is it,
that there is no life after death and that our one life is our one
chance for happiness. We as Christians believe, however, that death
is not the end. As Gandalf says, “The journey doesn't end here”.
Today
we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the day that
Jesus Christ entered into Heaven, body and soul. One way to look at
this feast day is to say that it is the end of Christ's time on
earth. One might even say that this marks the start of a time of
Christ's absence from the earth or even an absence from our lives.
We may fear that because we don't live in the time when Christ was on
the earth that we are not as connected with God as the people of
Christ's time were. The Feast of the Ascension, however, doesn't
mark the absence of Christ or the end of Christ taking care of us,
any more than death marks the end of the eternal life of our souls.
Rather, the Ascension marks the beginning of a new and much closer
relationship between God and all of humanity.
So
why is the Ascension so significant for our relationship with God?
Well, the Ascension is Christ's entry into Heaven as I said. When
any one of us enters into Heaven, as we all know, our own frail
bodies are left behind and it is our souls that are taken up by God.
When Christ enters into Heaven, however, He enters in body and soul.
Let's consider this for a moment. Everyone else is present in Heaven
in spirit alone, but Christ is the first to enter into Heaven with
His body and
spirit. Even more
significant is the fact that His is the first human
body in Heaven. Our bodies are less than perfect due to the effects
of sin and so cannot enter into Heaven as they are, but Christ's body
is perfect and so can enter. He is the first human to bring the
human body into the deepest and most intimate relationship that any
human can have with God. What all this means is that we, as brothers
and sisters of Christ, get to share in this intimate relationship as
well.
The
readings for this feast day help illustrate this deeper relationship
with the Triune God. In the Acts of the Apostles we hear an account
of the Ascension. Christ's last instruction before He ascends is for
the disciples to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He adds
that power will be given to them and they will be witnesses to the
very ends of the world. Jesus is pointing out, this is not the end
or a sorrowful time, but the beginning of something new and
wonderful. Even those angelic beings point out that this is not the
last we will see of Jesus, but that He will return in the same way: a
reference to His Second Coming.
The
Gospel of Matthew finishes off our readings by telling us what we are
to do in our relationship with God. We are not to sit around,
wishing for some sign from God of what to do next. Rather we are to
go, baptizing “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit”. Why? Because that is our call: bringing others
closer to God. That is what is meant by the command to go and
baptize: to bring others closer to God. Christ has brought us into
this awesome relationship with the Father. We have hope for eternal
life like we never had before. Let us continue celebrating, bringing
others closer to Him. Our life in God has truly just begun.
No comments:
Post a Comment