It's like The Lord of the Rings out there

If you own or can rent The Lord of the Rings, you should watch it soon with an eye for the comparisons to our world right now. Not only is it sobering in its portrayal of what seems to be happening in real life, but it will fire you up with its beauty and hope in the face of great evil.

For instance, something I've come to realize while watching it has affected me pretty deeply and given me new courage. Throughout the story you see evil amassing a great army. Just as in our own history, there always seems to be far more evil than good. Saruman's army of orcs numbers in the tens of thousands, up against a mere few hundred men of Rohan. And the "good" are a hodgepodge of weak, proud, and flawed men, as in real life. But two things stood out to me. First of all, the elves come to make their stand with men. I see them as symbolic of angels. The men are never as alone as they think they are, for the elves are always in the background praying and healing or joining them just in the nick of time. It's moving to see the elves' allegiance to the far inferior and deeply flawed men.

Second, and this is the very important (for me) observation... The men and their kings are so flawed that they are too proud to call for aid. They manage to summon up courage to fight, but they don't have the courage to humble themselves enough to call for help. You see this multiple times, and you see that they have doomed themselves to fail in the face of such great evil. But who DOES call for help? A small handful of people. Gandalf, a couple hobbits, and Aragorn. When the hobbits manage to light the fire that signals a call for help, triggering fire after fire to be lit across the mountains, I always cry... It's such a powerful scene. And how do the fires spread? Because of the few lonely people still keeping watch on their mountaintops, even in a world where all hope seems lost. Because they too light their fires, it makes it to the city that can send help.

When Gandalf brings help, he comes from the East at sunrise... It is God's help coming to bring renewed courage and strength to the wearied men who seem to have lost the battle.

Who does Aragorn ask for help? The great army of deceased men residing in the mountain. They are like souls in Purgatory, who in return for being released from their debt, come to fight by the side of the living.

A small handful of people humble enough to ask for help bring entire armies that defeat evil again and again, right at the moment when all seems lost. It's the power of prayer. God has allowed this...the intercessory power of prayer from the small and humble supplies the grace for the rest of the struggling world. Those of us who can't be out there on the battlefield... It's our time to call for aid. Let's not find ourselves distracted or asleep when it's time to light the fire on our mountaintop.

 

"Let this be the hour when we draw swords together"
-King Theoden

 

Wonderful post PurpleFlower. LoTR is my all time favorite movie (and book) series of the rise of evil and man's seemingly futile fight against it which ends in a miraculous triumph in large part due to a small group of weak souls with faith and hope.

 

The elves are GORGEOUS in Jackson's trilogy. Breath-taking.

Yes, I agree with your analogy.

 

This is such a telling observation that I've just spent the last hour trying to get the details right. In "The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey" we see that at the battle where the Dragon Smaug defeated the dwarves, the Elves (guardian angels) refused to help King Thror (leader of the dwarves), because Thranduil (king of the elves) had warned Thror against allowing his greed to lead him into ruin. By refusing to listen to the counsel of the Elves, Thranduil doomed his people to being exiled from their ancestral homes (i.e., expelled from Eden.)

Not a perfect analogy, I know, but still possibly something that can be used in apologetics.

 

I will take hope in any form in comes now and this is just what I needed, thanks for reminding me of these great books which I read a long time ago. Right now as children as young as 12 in Ireland sign up in droves for mRNA I feel really hopeless. Thanks.

 

Excellent observation Muzhik. A great lesson for all but kids especially would light up at this observation.

 

Wonderful wonderful post PF. Timely.

 

Yes!!!!

 

One of my favorite moments is at Helm's Deep when all is lost it seems and Aragon says "we ride out to meet them" and they bravely go to meet the enemy and who arrives at the rise of the sun ("look to the b east")but Gandalf and the army.

 

[27] For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west: so shall the coming of the Son of man be.

GOOSEBUMPS every time!!!

 

Every single time.

 

The lighting of the beacons was one of my favourite moments in the movies as well. I’m currently reading through the whole Trilogy now in the hopes of gleaning some new things.

By the way, Sauron would’ve loved the Great Reset:

 

Yes when Saruman was saying "The old will pass away, and in its place a new order will rise" my husband and I just looked at each other like...well doesn't that sound familiar?

 

Truly LOTR is uncanny in its accuracy. I must watch it again.

 

Really enjoyed that video RW, a lot of great lore on that channel. Thanks.

 

LOTR my all time favourite book. Tolkien an absolute genius and great Catholic.

 

My sentiments exactly! Read the book in highschool, a few times actually. I never thought they could pull off the movie(s) but I was impressed. Tolkien was a genius indeed! And LotR is most certainly an analogy for today...

 

Today certainly, and for all of time since the fall.

 

"At dawn, look to the East"
-Gandalf


"Salvation will come from the East"
- Fr. Malachi Martin