Council Community Church

Pastor's Corner

WHAT SORT OF TALE HAVE I FALLEN INTO? By Wayne Freedman

   “I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?”  J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of The Rings

   It’s been quite a journey for Frodo and Sam when the little gardeners wonder this.  Ever since they left home they’ve encountered more wonders and more dangers than they could have possibly imagined.  The battle on Weathertop.  The flight to the ford.  The beauty of Rivendell. The dark mines of Moria, where they lost their beloved Gandalf.  Their fellowship has fallen apart; their friends are now far away on another part of the journey. Into the shadow of Mordor they’ve come, two little hobbits with their cooking gear on a journey to save the world.

   It’s at this point Sam says, “I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?”  Sam could not have asked a better question!

   He assumes that there is a story; there is something larger going on.  He also assumes that they have somehow tumbled into it, been swept up into it.

   What sort of tale have I fallen into? Is a question that would help us all a great deal if we wondered it for ourselves.

   It just might be the most important question we ever ask!

   Many people have looked to science to solve the riddle of their lives.  As Neil Postman said about the scientific view:  “In the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require.  Its story of our origins and our end is, to say the least, unsatisfactory.  To the question, “How did it all begin?”, science answers, “Probably by an accident.”  To the question, “How will it all end?”, science answers, “Probably by an accident.”  And to many people, the accidental life is not worth living  (Science and the Story That We Need) 

    Since then we’ve pretty much given up on trying to find any larger story in which to live.  We’ve settled for uncertainty – we really can’t know.  Listen to the way people offer their thoughts or opinions on just about anything these days.  They always start or finish a sentence with a qualifying comment like this;  “But that’s just the way I see it.”

   That’s not merely a show of humility.  It’s a sign of our shared belief that nothing certain can be known.  All we have now are our opinions, and we’re not sure they count for much.

   What sort of tale have I fallen into?

   This month I invite you to join me in investigating answers to this question.  Could there possibly be a bigger story of which we are a part?  And if so what role might be mine?

   If we believe Solomon, the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a story written on the human heart and it’s one with a beautiful ending.  He describes it this way, “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time, He also has set eternity in the hearts of men.”  [Ecclesiastes 3:11