ISBC 30 - The Practice of Pointing the Compass

Chapter 30 of Hope: A User's Manual

Writing on Facebook, Will Stenberg concludes a lengthy rant with this: When we say “we’re f’ed” we roll over. We defeat ourselves. Don’t do that … we are in a fight. It sucks. It’s hard. People are suffering. The earth is suffering. It will get worse…. Look at history. People have been so much more f’ed than us, and won. If you truly believe we are finished, but I’m sorry, but you were the first to fall. I don’t want to see you do that, if only for the selfish reason that we need you.¹

There’s been something weird about this year...Ok lots of things weird about this year but something geeky weird.  Lord of the Rings is kind of an ever-present geek theme in our family... but this year, it keeps popping up in new ways.  It started with MaryAnn writing on substack about a Lord of the Rings running thing she was doing (which I then jumped onto and just reached Mordor about a week ago - woot!).  It continued with a one weekend thing of releasing the extended editions of the films to the theaters for one weekend only in early June.  Around the same time, there was a massive selling of older Legos by my kids and a trading up to two recent amazing LOTR sets that led to a Lego-building fest for a week while Amy was away (The words, “because Mom’s not here were uttered a few times that week).  During that time, we also checked out several LOTR cookbooks from the library to make some Middle-Earth inspired meals.  It has continued by several books I have been reading (including this one) pulling in references, quotes, and themes from the LOTR stories.  And, maybe best of all, we have finally convinced my sister to FINALLY watch the movies (hopefully she’ll read the books as well afterward).  All this is to say... The world is changing, I can feel it in the water, I can feel it in the earth, I can smell it in the air...

Like what I quoted in the post on Saturday...

We are heading into dark times, and you need to be your own light. Do not accept brutality and cruelty as normal even if it is sanctioned. Protect the vulnerable and encourage the afraid. If you are brave, stand up for others. If you cannot be brave—and it is often hard to be brave—be kind.

We are heading into dark times and we are in some dark times right now.  And in these times, it takes people to step up in courage to be the light and the hope for the world.  We in the church can say that Jesus is the light of the world but the fact is that the light of Jesus is to shine through us and doesn’t just appear spontaneously.  As Teresa of Avila famously said:

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

To add to her words, your light is the light through which Jesus shines in this world.  And even if you are not a follower of Jesus, this speaks to what we are to be.  And it isn’t easy.  In the Jesus stories, Jesus made it clear that following didn’t lead to an easy path (take up your cross and follow).  Other movements throughout history do not promise an easy path for change and transformation. But that doesn’t mean we hold back and let the darkness and the chaos and confusion take over.

In the film version of the Fellowship of the Ring (first movie in the LOTR series), there is a scene where a council of elves, humans, and dwarves  are debating what to do about the ring of power that needs to be kept out of the hand of Sauron, the ultimate evil in Middle Earth.  The scene is powerful in the way that Peter Jackson films it in how the discussion turns into argument and into even a weapon being drawn.  It is chaos and ugly.  But then one voice speaks up.  Watch the scene here:

I will take the ring.   

MaryAnn’s quoting of Will Stenberg above speaks to this for me - we can argue and debate or we can be that voice that stands up and says our version of “I will take the ring.”  And Frodo’s path (along with the rest of the Fellowship who join him) is not an easy one - in fact it forever scars all of them in different ways.  But they keep on the path until they complete it or until they fall.  Even if we’re the smallest in the room, as Frodo was, our voice can speak into the conflict around us.  And therein lies hope.   

To go back to the title of the chapter - The Practice of Pointing the Compass - for me, this practice is pointing towards seeking to be faithful to the way of Jesus - a way of love, justice, compassion, hope, healing and love.  It is not being satisfied with the status of the way things are right now but moving towards what can be.  Yet we may not get there, but we keep speaking up amidst the chaos and confusion, keep choosing to take the ring, and continuing to journey towards what can be but is not yet.

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

---

1. Quoted in McKibben Dana, MaryAnn. Hope: A User's Manual (pp. 134-135). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.