Parallels

I mentioned recently on my Facebook page that I am listening to (unabridged of course, like fullscreen DVDs, I avoid abridged audio books like the plague--I want to see or hear the entire product, ;-)) an audio book of The Silmarillion. I procured it before my recent vacation and listened to it on both the trip down to Tennessee and the trip back. I've read the volume several times, but never listened to it before. I am really enjoying hearing correct pronounciations (some words I've apparently been mispronouncing for years), a great English accent, and amazing storytelling ability. It is refreshing to once again immerse myself in the worlds of Tolkien and remember what an awesome author he was. He truly could spin a masterful tale.

The first volume of the Silmarillion, the Ainulindalë, tells "the tale of the Music of the Ainur and the creation of Arda." It isn't an allegory by any means, but some parts of it are analagous to the real world. The divine being Ilúvatar is very similar to God (somewhat like Lewis' 'Emperor over the Sea' in the worlds of Narnia) and the main personal force of evil is Melkor, who becomes known as Morgoth Bauglir or 'Black Enemy,' a rough analogue to Satan. For he was of the greatest of the Ainur, very similar to angels, before he rebelled against Ilúvatar. At one point he was trying to introduce his own themes in the to the heavenly"music of the Ainur" and after he failed to take control, Ilúvatar said the following to him:

"And thou Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
-JRR Tolkien, The Silmarillion, Ainulindalë, p 17, First American Edition

When I look at that paragraph I see something akin to what God could actually have told Satan ere he fell. Satan may think that he is in control (of anything), but in reality God is in control of all things, as revealed when Joseph spoke to his brothers in Genesis 50:20:

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

God didn't merely use what his brothers did to bring about a good end, but he meant it for good.

All this to say that I am truly enjoying experiencing the Silmarillion yet again, in a new way. Next I'm going to listen to an audio reading of The Children of Húrin, which though it is a dark and depressing tale, is nevertheless epic Tolkien and a grand tale in the tradition of European tales like Beowulf.

I love how we can find things that point to God in many different places. It doesn't mean pantheism is true, or that everything has bits of God in it, or that everything is okay because you can "find God there," but He has been gracious enough to provide us with many examples of His love and character that we can see all around us.

~Matt