This summer, my dad, sister and I engaged in a Lord of the Rings marathon. Sort of. (We watched Fellowship and Two Towers the first day and Return of the King the second. But it still counts, okay?) Even though I’m one of those people that really hates not having productivity in my day, I really enjoyed relaxing for once and giving my mind over to that lovely story of heroism and sacrifice.
As we were watching The Two Towers, I was struck by the attitudes of the elves (especially Elrond) and the Ents.
Elrond maintained a defeated attitude. He did not believe there was any hope for the good guys. But that didn’t seem to grieve him too much, because he knew he wouldn’t have to stay in Middle Earth. It wasn’t his world. Soon he would be off to the Gray Havens, so what did it matter if the world behind him was shrouded in darkness, completely destroyed by evil? Or, as Galadriel puts it in her telepathic conversation with Elrond, “The time of the elves is over. Do we leave Middle-Earth to this fate? Do we let them stand alone?”
The Ents held to a similar view. Dwelling deep within the recesses of Fangorn Forest, they are not easily roused to action. After a veeeeery long (not haaaaasty) Entmoot, Treebeard reports to Merry and Pippin, “The Ents cannot hold back this war. We must weather such things as we have always done.” In response to the Hobbit’s protest, Treebeard insists, “This is not our war.” “But you are part of this world! Aren’t you?” Merry demands.
Both of these examples reminded me strongly of what it is to be a believer in this world. Christians are citizens not of earth, but of heaven. It’s so easy to have a passive attitude about the evil going on around us. Subconsciously, we dismiss the fight on this earth because this isn’t our home. We might even adapt an attitude like the Elves and the Ents. “This isn’t our home, and it isn’t our fight.”
This attitude could not be more wrong. We are called to be salt and light to the earth. I actually never understood what it was to be the salt of the earth. It wasn’t until recently that it was explained to me. Think about it. What does salt do? It preserves food. It stops it from spoiling. In the same way, we are called to do our best to fight sin’s spoiling in the earth. As for light, we are called to push away as much darkness as we can.
How can we do this?
As Andrew Peterson sings, we must “Carry the Fire.” I love his song about this concept.
“And we look to the distance
And raise our resistance
In the face of the forces
Gathered against us
And we dream in the night
Of a king and a kingdom
Where joy writes the songs
And the innocent sing them”
Even though we are ultimately part of another world, we are living in this world. We must fight. We must be salt. We must carry the fire.
In The Lord of the Rings, both the Ents and the Elves chose to help the cause; the Ents because they realized they were more affected by the war than they’d thought, and the Elves because they knew it was the right thing to do. And it was because of their help that Saruman was rendered powerless, and the battle of Helm’s Deep was won.
So, I challenge you. Be light. Be salt. Carry the fire with me. Let’s war for good in this world until we are called to our true home.
Image credits: Wallpaper Cave
Ah! What a wonderful reminder! Thank you for this! 🤗
You’re so welcome! 💗