For the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time for
Year A, Jesus continues His Missionary Discourse in chapter ten of Matthew’s
Gospel.Gina Hens-Piazza summarizes the
gist of the passage in her Scripture
Reflections.
In the Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus urges his disciples three
times to be unafraid. As he continues the missionary discourse begun in last
week’s Gospel passage, Jesus now warns his disciples about the opposition they
will encounter, an opposition that can dissuade them from carrying out his
mission. These hostilities not only can destroy the body, but they can also do
far worse; they can destroy the soul, which can discourage and eventually cut
off one’s will and desire to follow Jesus.
With the three times Jesus tells us to not be
afraid, He provides assurances to strengthen us: Mysteries will be revealed; God
will protect the soul; God knows all about you. The verse that most stands out
is how the Father knows even the number of hairs on one’s head.Who can know how many hairs are on one’s
head?It’s impossible to count, though I
suppose we see that the number decreases with age.But our Father knows.
Today’s Gospel:
Jesus said to the Twelve:
"Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not
be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness,
speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on
the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can
destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a
small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are
counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before
others
I will acknowledge before my
heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly
Father."
~Mt: 10:26-33
For the exegetical homily, I’m going to go to Catholic Bible
Studies.Unfortunately the priest here
doesn’t give his name.He must
somewhere, but I can’t find it.The
priest here summarizes the Missionary Discourse and dives right into the Gospel
passage.
Catholic Bible Studies:
So, if you remember
last week, we finished the ninth chapter and started into the 10th chapter
of Matthew's gospel. So, the at the very end of chapter 9 …Jesus talks about
the harvest being plentiful. There's so many souls to harvest. We need a
harvest of souls, and we need harvesters to gather the souls. We need out we
need the Lord to send out workers, laborers for his vineyard. And so ask the
master of the harvest to send out those laborers. Okay? And then at the very
beginning of chapter 10, he calls his 12 apostles and then he sends them out.
So in in other words, like he's speaking to his disciples and then the very
ones that he calls are like an answer to the prayer that he just commanded to
be prayed ultimately. So it's kind of an interesting thing. But then but then
from there he gives them a mission and in giving them a mission he gives them
authority his own authority.
He calls them to
share in his mission. That's such an important thing. And again I mentioned
this last week that he doesn't give this authority to everybody but he does
give it to these 12. Okay. Then he goes on what's called a missionary discourse
or a missionary sermon. That is to say that he's he speaks to them. He preaches
to them about what they're going to encounter in the mission. And surprisingly
enough, what he has to say is mostly unpleasant. So it's obviously really cool
that that he talks about like, okay, you're going to go and you're going to
cast out demons and you're going to forgive sins and you're going to heal
people and all that that really cool stuff. You're going to do everything that
he's been doing. But the part that we missed it's kind of an interesting thing
that we we skipped over a whole bunch of it. Um is is basically him saying like
look I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves…And so what would what
would sheep do in the midst of wolves? Well the wolves would attack and eat the
sheep ultimately. That's what they would do.
And so for Jesus to
say that to his apostles, he's like look I'm giving you this authority and
you're going to do incredible things. You're going to save souls for the
kingdom and yet you're going into the midst of wolves and you're just sheep.
You're not like another wolf to fight against the wolves, but you're going to
be a sheep.And that's it seems strange
and it seems counterintuitive.Like, why
would he send sheep into the midst of wolves?
Okay, so then then he
gets into this part. He's like, "Okay, well, fear no one." So you can
imagine like you're hearing this this whole discourse and it's like this is
going to be really hard and you're going to be rejected and people are going to
drag you and they're going to flog you and they're going to persecute you and
they're ultimately going to malign you because they malign me. So it's like you
hear that and you're like, "Oh gosh, what a gift that Jesus you're sending
us out on this this mission. What can can you find someone else?" And
nonetheless, he says, "Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be
revealed, nor secret that will not be known." This is kind of has echoes
of when Jeremiah says this, "But the Lord is with me like a mighty
champion. My persecutors will stumble. They will not triumph. In their failure,
they will be put to utter shame to lasting unforgettable confusion." So
there's something here where the Lord in his wisdom, he says, "Look, I've seen
it all. I've seen it all happen and it's going to happen again. But
nonetheless, those things that are secret, there are little secret deceptions,
there secret lies, there are secret rejection of you, it's all going to be made
known. And so what I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light.Bring it all to the light so that so that
people can hear and see that you are one of my disciples and that you are here
to proclaim the kingdom of God.Do not
be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. That's such an
important point that you have you have you have a part of you, your soul that
is that is made for immortality and so yes, people are going to persecute you.
They can they can even harm you through the flogging through perhaps even your own
martyrdom but they cannot harm your soul. So here he's laying out the relative
value of earthly life compared to the absolute good of eternal life with God in
heaven. And so he's saying cling to that absolute good as opposed to clinging
to the relative good of earthly life as good as it is. Cling instead to the
thing that is absolutely good. Uh rather be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
So given this discourse, do you think it would have made the apostles
any less afraid? I don’t know.If I were
an apostle listening to this, I would stick with Jesus but I would probably
still be afraid.I think it’s sticking
with Jesus that is most important.
For the pastoral homily, I turn to Fr. Mike Schmitz, who gives a super
one here.I’m only going to quote a
little bit to get the gist, but you must listen to the entire homily.
Fr. Mike:
So um I was thinking
about fear recently. I think fear is funny. Um not fear isn't funny. I think
what we are afraid of is sometimes funny because you ask someone like okay what
are some of your fears? The list is quite diverse. The list goes from spiders
to dying alone. … The thing the span of things that we can be afraid of things
like abandonment or rejection or famine or snakes like the vast amount of
things that we can be afraid of are remarkable. In fact, there was a study and then someone Jerry Seinfeld made
a joke about it that he said that they came out with this survey and they said
that the top two fears people have are uh are public speaking number one and
dying number two. So he made that joke that said so basically at a funeral most
people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy because the things
that we're afraid of right so and one of those things we're afraid of is death and
I think both of them are mentioned in both things are mentioned in the in in
the gospel today. So fear is mentioned in the gospel today and death is
mentioned in the gospel today.
Of course for
Christians we recognize that we're called to never ever fear the end of our
lives. And yet as Christians I think a lot of us a lot of us are afraid of
death. Maybe we're not necessarily afraid of death. We're afraid of what will
happen immediately after death because we know that immediately after at the
moment of our death, we know that there is the judgment.I think that's what makes us afraid. And that
and that then it makes sense. Of course, I mean I pause on this. Have you ever
imagined what it would be or what it will be like to stand before God at the
moment of your death?to stand before
God in that moment of judgment. To stand before God in the moment of moments
because that's for all of our lives. That is going to be it.That is going to be in all of our lives.That is going to be the moment of moments.
Have you ever imagined that moment? I I I do a lot actually.What will it be like to stand before God who
is goodness himself?To stand before God
who is truth himself.You know in the
gospel remember Jesus says, "Do not fear. do not be afraid.But he says, I will tell you who to fear. He
says, "Fear the one who can cast both body and soul into Gehenna."Who Jesus is talking about. He's talking
about God.
I want to invite you
to do this. I think we all need to do this to do this exercise to do the
exercise where you put yourself in that situation where the moment of moments
has arrived and in that moment in that moment you are totally helpless, totally
defenseless in that moment.There's no
escaping goodness in that moment. There's no avoiding truth and there's no
argument.There's no excuses. There's no
but but but no, there's none of that. There's no defense and there's no time,
right? There's no opportunity to change. There's no opportunity to say,
"Well, God, I'll be better in the future." Because there is no future
in that moment of moments. There will be only one thing left.That one thing left will be the truth of what
I've become. The one thing left will be who I've chosen to be.That will be the one thing left in the moment
of moments. who you and I have chosen to become and Jesus.That's all. That's all in the end.It'll be who you and I have chosen to become
and Jesus because that that's so important for us to understand.
I think that is such an incredible thing to do, to imagine yourself
before God on that moment of moments.Do
it.Do it often.I will.
Sunday Meditation: “So
do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
This is the second post
of a series of posts on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.This series focuses on the first volume
of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.
Prologue: The Prologue is divided into four
parts.
1. Concerning Hobbits
This is an expository
section.He learn about Hobbits, their
size and good nature, their simple life, and their love of eating.We learn of their architecture and farming
mode of life.We learn about their
pre-history, their migration westward, the three types of early hobbits, their
relations with men, elves, and dwarves, and their predominantly family oriented
life styles.We learn some of the key
historical events and the settlement into the shire.We learn of a relationship with a king of the
men, who allowed them to settle into the shire and made an agreement with
them.The king of the men has long
disappeared but the hobbits honor that agreement still.
2. Concerning Pipe-weed
Another expository
section.Hobbits learned a great deal of
skills and industry from elves, dwarves, and men but the one invention they
claim for their own is the use of a nicotine herb used for smoking in pipes.We learn how it was it was brought over to
shire and how it was produced into variations of different flavors.Pipe smoking is the one “art” that hobbits
take credit for.This art seems to have
been picked up by many other non-Hobbit people.
3. Of the Ordering of the
Shire
Another expository
section.We learn of the four sections,
called farthings, of the shire: North, South, East, and West.We learn of the relatively lack of government
in the shire, and though lacking government is still “well-ordered.”We learn that the kings have been missing for
over a thousand years, and of the one aristocratic hobbit family, given the
title of Thain, the Took family.We
learn of the lack of police needed.All
that is needed to manage the misdeeds—one can hardly even call it crimes—are three
sheriffs per farthing.There is body of
hobbits who patrol the boundaries—called Bounders—ensuring that outsiders do
not cause trouble.We learn—and this is
actually the very start of the story—that since Bilbo had returned to the Shire
many more Bounders were needed to address the increasing reports of complaints,
strange people and creatures entering their homeland. The increase over the
years had not gone unnoticed but none seemed to know what it was about.
4. Of the Finding of the
Ring
This is still expository
but with back narrative.Here we are
provided the details of how Bilbo came across the ring and brought it
back.On his adventure, while trying to
escape an attack from orcs, he got lost in the mine maze below the misty
mountains.While groping in the dark on
his hands and knees, he put his hand, quite by luck so it seemed, on a
ring.Not being able to look at it in
the dark, he put it in his pocket and continued on.The inhabitant of the dark underworld maze
was a creature called Gollum, and he owned the ring but did not realize it yet
he had lost it. Under normal circumstances Gollum would kill intruders and eat
them, using the invisibility the ring provided whoever wore it, but not having
the ring on him he decided to try to trick Bilbo into submitting.They would play a riddle game and whoever
lost would submit to the other.Gollum
had no intention of playing fair.When
Bilbo asked what he had in his pocket, Gollum was unable to answer, and so
decided to go get his ring to turn invisible and thereby slay Bilbo.When Gollum could not find the ring, he
realized that was what Bilbo had in his pocket.In a panic he went back to kill Bilbo but by chance—again seemingly by
chance—Bilbo slid the ring on his finger and discovered its magic power.Gollum thinking that Bilbo was trying to
escape the underworld ran toward the entrance to head him off.Invisible, Bilbo followed him and was able to
get to the entrance and escape.Bilbo
would go on to use the ring to complete his quest and gain great wealth.Gollum swore he would get his “precious”
back.
Sixty years had passed
since that adventure, Bilbo always keeping the ring in his pocket, and never
telling anyone about the ring.He would
leave a written record of how he got the ring for posterity, but what he wrote
was not entirely true.Only Gandalf the
Wizard was able to draw the true story from him.We now come to his 111th birthday
party where the narrative of LotR commences.It should be noted that the action of the
novel starts in S.R. 1401—per the method of shire dating.
###
Note on the Shire Records
Another expository
section before the beginning of the actual story.We learn of the libraries in the “Reunited
Kingdom,” which if you pay close attention to the details occurred after the
events of the LotR.If you notice Frodo brought back written
accounts of the War of the Ring in 1420-21, some twenty years after the Bilbo’s
111th birthday celebration.Indeed we learn that from 1403 to 1418 Bilbo himself translated from the
Elves books the Elder history.We learn
of other collections in the library, seeming written by characters we will
encounter in the story.So this short
section is actually a flash forward in time.
###
Book I, Chapter 1: The Long-Expected Party
The story begins with
Bilbo Baggins ready to celebrate his 111th birthday.He has sent out invitations to 144 friends
and family, arranged for the festivities, including fireworks, and assembled
presents to give each of the guests. (In hobbit culture, the one celebrating
the birthday gives out the presents.)Bilbo has also arranged to leave his possessions to his adopted nephew,
Frodo Baggins, and has made for a surprise, which he has told no one and will
be announced at the party.The birthday
falls on September 22nd, and seemingly by chance, it is also Frodo’s
birthday.Frodo turns thirty-three.We are told that when Frodo was a child, both
his parents drowned in a boating mishap, leaving Frodo an orphan.It was then that Bilbo adopted the child.At thirty-three, Frodo, according to hobbit
culture, is now of adult maturity.
On the day of the party,
Bilbo greeted all the guests, provided a feast of food, and let Gandalf, the
Wizard, display his assortment of fireworks.After the fireworks, Bilbo served supper and at the climax of the affair
came time for Bilbo’s speech.After
thanking the guests and hoping they were enjoying themselves, he said he had
three things to tell them.First he gave
his love to all who had come and told them it did not feel as if 111 years had
passed.Second to say that Frodo too is
celebrating a birthday and that today he comes into his inheritance.Third, to announce that this is the end and
is leaving and they will never see him again.Stepping down from the platform, with a flash of light he vanished into
thin air.
In his invisibility, Bilbo
returned to his home unnoticed to complete his packing and leave Frodo his
ring.But instead of putting the ring
into the prepared envelope he put it in his pocket.When just about finished packing, Gandalf
enters his home and the two discuss Bilbo’s surprise departure of the
shire.Gandalf wants to make sure that
Bilbo leaves the ring for Frodo, and after Bilbo being caught in a lie that he
has is forced by Gandalf to put the ring in the envelope.The two reach heated words because Bilbo
really does not want to leave it.He
says that it is his possession, and even uses Gollum’s word in reference to the
ring as being his “precious.”It is only
through the threat of Gandalf’s larger physical stature that Bilbo concedes and
leaves behind the ring.With that, Bilbo
grabs his favorite walking stick, calls out the three dwarves who will be
helping him carry what possessions he will take, and departs for the open road.
Back at the party, the
guests take their identified presents that Bilbo has tagged with their
names.Most of the guests seem to have
turned their noses at Bilbo and the whole affair.Frodo returns to his home and finds Bilbo
gone but Gandalf waiting for him.Gandalf explains to him that Bilbo is gone and has left him the
ring.Gandalf warns him about the
dangers of the ring, and that he should limit its use.Gandalf tells Frodo he doesn’t fully
understand the ring, and that he’s going to be gone for a while in order to
find out.Frodo expected him to stay a
while, but Gandalf tells him he has had to change his plans, and with that
departs into the night.
###
Michelle Comment:
Wow, that's a good summary. You must take a gazillion
notes while your reading!
I must admit something. I've completely lost track
that I was supposed to be looking for the religious imagery. I'm up to the
scene with the ringwraiths. It's the kind of comfortable story that I just get
lost in my reading!
My Reply to Michelle:
Well, in this first chapter, I think I can identify
two. First, the easy one: Frodo is 33 years old when the story starts, and
that's the age of Jesus when He started His ministry. Frodo then becomes
identified as a Christ-figure, and those of us who have read the book or saw
the movie know that he will be a suffering servant.
Second is the dark possessive nature of the ring on
its bearer. It has transformed Bilbo to a possessive person and when it comes
to giving up the ring, he will lie (a sin) to keep it. Perhaps more on this
later.
Ellie Comment:
Thank you for this, Manny! Like Michelle, I also got
lost in the story, because it's just that good and brings about so much
nostalgia... But it's going to be interesting to approach this book from the
religious point of view and go past the general Christian theme of good versus
evil. I am definitely going to read more slowly so I can pick up on all the
imagery along the way!
One thought though, I always thought that Aragorn was
the Christ-figure in the book, although both Frodo and Gandalf make sense to
me, also
Michelle’s Reply to Ellie:
I think there are several Christ-like figures. I
always noticed it when Galadriel says something Jesus did, " Do not let
your hearts be troubled".
My Reply to Ellie:
Yes, Ellie, I agree with Michelle. There are several
Christ figures throughout the novel, as we are all called to be suffering
servants and Christ figures. Aragorn is most definitely a Christ figure.
Kerstin Comment:
The Shire is an interesting place. It is a land that
time and worldly cares forgot. The Hobbits live there for centuries taking care
of their gardens and their families. There are socio-economic differences, but
not enough to cause much tension. They love feasting. They have some technology
to aid in daily work, but not too much to be dominated by it. At birthday
parties the one having the birthday gives out presents, he does not receive
any. Hobbits value their history and the everyday items they use. If something
gets too old to be used, it is brought to a museum.
The Shire represents many Catholic ideals and there
are echoes of the Garden Eden here.
And then, very quietly, the outside world penetrates
into this well-ordered society. Bilbo Baggins gets a hankering for traveling,
something completely outlandish for a home-body Hobbit. He leaves on
adventures, and when he comes back he brings with him a contagion, the Ring.
Along with it he brings back riches no other Hobbit had seen before, and before
long tensions rise. Ultimately, Bilbo decides to leave the Shire again. He is
restless and doesn't quite feel himself anymore and he knows he doesn't quite
fit into its quaint life anymore. He does so clandestinely with the magical
powers of the Ring, which makes him invisible. Just like Adam, he cannot remain
in the place that was destined for him.
My Reply to Kerstin:
What would you say are the Catholic ideals? Do you
mean specific to Catholics and not to Protestants? After all, England was
mostly Protestant, even the countryside, when Tolkien was growing up and
writing. Of course Tolkien could have been thinking pre-Reformation. Still I
can't think of anything that would be specific for Catholics and would not
apply to Protestants.
Kerstin’s Reply:
In my comment I wrote "echoes of the Garden
Eden" for the very same reason you make here.
I find it interesting that the rising tensions within
the society started when the Ring was brought in. This is in parallel with the
snake entering the Garden. By the time we have Bilbo's birthday party it had
been there for 60 years. Bilbo left and only reluctantly left the Ring behind,
so the contagion is still there.
Another parallel to the Garden Eden are the gardens
and cultivated fields of the Shire. A garden is not a wilderness. It is a
carefully tended and cultivated place to provide nourishment but also leisure
and enjoyment. In Genesis God walks in the Garden in the cool of the evening
suggesting an enjoyable activity. You need caretakers to achieve this, to grow
and harvest food as well as tending to livestock, to create an environment one
finds joy in. The first tear in this carefully tended fabric was Bilbo leaving
on his adventure. He no longer tended his garden. One other person who didn't
tend the Garden was Adam.
My Reply to Kerstin:
Oh I'm sorry Kerstin. I read your comment incorrectly.
I think we're in complete agreement then.
Patrick’s Comment:
The Hobbits live in a world secured by others. Though
their ancestors migrated and fought to build the Shire, current generations
live in abundance. Food, shelter, peace, no struggle.
It is Edenic, in a way. There are still jealousies and
rivalries, present in all fallen human communities.
Yet wolves and travelers walk the boundaries. They
sometimes even enter.
There’s no need for adventures or courage, but Bilbo
and Frodo reveal the restlessness within us. The spark of risk, of seeing the
mountains despite the fear, lives in all people. The majesty of the numinous.
I do want to keep in mind Tolkien’s adversion to
allegory. He was a firm believer in letting the reader discover without the
author’s coercion into certain themes.
###
There was one part of the
Prologue that I found puzzling and interesting and gave me something to ponder.Tolkien says that the Shire was a
“well-ordered” place.He uses that term
several times, including in the title of the third section of the Prologue, “Of
the Ordering of the Shire.”But it’s in
the first section of the Prologue where the Shire is described that Tolkien
emphasizes it being “well-ordered.”
Forty leagues it stretched from the Far Downs to the
Brandywine Bridge, and fifty from the northern moors to the marshes in the
south. The Hobbits named it the Shire, as the region of the authority of their
Thain, and a district of well-ordered business; and there in that pleasant
corner of the world they plied their well-ordered business of living, and they
heeded less and less the world outside where dark things moved, until they came
to think that peace and plenty were the rule in Middle-earth and the right of
all sensible folk. They forgot or ignored what little they had ever known of
the Guardians, and of the labours of those that made possible the long peace of
the Shire. They were, in fact, sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it.
Notice Tolkien uses
“well-ordered” twice in that paragraph.But then we learn in section three that there is no government, and that
the region has lacked a king for a thousand years.
The Shire at this time had hardly any ‘government’.
Families for the most part managed their own affairs. Growing food and eating
it occupied most of their time. In other matters they were, as a rule, generous
and not greedy, but contented and moderate, so that estates, farms, workshops,
and small trades tended to remain unchanged for generations.
There remained, of course, the ancient tradition
concerning the high king at Fornost, or Norbury as they called it, away north
of the Shire. But there had been no king for nearly a thousand years, and even
the ruins of Kings’ Norbury were covered with grass. Yet the Hobbits still said
of wild folk and wicked things (such as trolls) that they had not heard of the
king. For they attributed to the king of old all their essential laws; and
usually they kept the laws of free will, because they were The Rules (as they
said), both ancient and just.
No government, no police
force (as we learn a few paragraphs later), and no King.We don’t today live in a monarchy so we may
not quite pick up the significance of a lack of a king.A king is usually the symbol of order in a
country, a God anointed centralizing figure from which everyone else orients
itself.And yet the Shire is
“well-ordered” without a king for a thousand years. So whatever laws were established back a
thousand years prior have been maintained through tradition and charity.This certainly strikes me as strange, maybe
impossible, but it’s there.You can look
at almost any European culture, medieval or otherwise, and within almost any
hundred years span you can find the disintegration of order, let alone over a
thousand years.How is the Shire
well-ordered?Is it supposed to suggest
Eden, as Kerstin alluded?
So I pondered this for a
while.I came to the conclusion that
hobbits are not men and there must be a more innate virtue in hobbits that
allows them to not take advantage of lacking an enforcing social principle in
their society.They is no need for a
police force because they don’t steal or resort to violence.So does it represent Eden, or some sort of
primitive ideal?
I don’t think it
represents Eden.At Bilbo’s birthday
celebration we see a fair amount of snipping between hobbits within Bilbo’s
family.We see envy and superciliousness.They may not resort to violence but they are
not sinless.However, it’s hard to
picture hobbits as some sort of noble savage, but I think there is a touch of
that.They are more virtuous than humans
and seem to lack the drive for violence or greed.In that sense they do resemble the noble
savage elsewhere in literature.They are
also primitive in the sense of their resistance to technology.But where I think Tolkien is coming from is
that they are an idealized people from the Middle Ages.They are yeomen and peasants and country folk
who live by rituals and traditions, and thereby can sustain a well-ordered
society.
###
I wanted to highlight
this passage because it shows hobbits are not saints, and so the Shire is not
Eden, but mainly because it was so well captured.This is from Bilbo’s speech.
My dear People,
began Bilbo, rising in his place. ‘Hear! Hear! Hear!’ they shouted, and kept on
repeating it in chorus, seeming reluctant to follow their own advice. Bilbo
left his place and went and stood on a chair under the illuminated tree. The
light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the golden buttons shone on his
embroidered silk waistcoat. They could all see him standing, waving one hand in
the air, the other was in his trouser-pocket.
My dear Bagginses
and Boffins, he began again; and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and
Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Hornblowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies,
Brockhouses and Proudfoots. ‘Proudfeet!’ shouted an elderly
hobbit from the back of the pavilion. His name, of course, was Proudfoot, and
well merited; his feet were large, exceptionally furry, and both were on the
table.
Proudfoots,
repeated Bilbo. Also my good
Sackville-Bagginses that I welcome back at last to Bag End. Today is my one
hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today! ‘Hurray! Hurray!
Many Happy Returns!’ they shouted, and they hammered joyously on the tables.
Bilbo was doing splendidly. This was the sort of stuff they liked: short and
obvious.
I hope you are all
enjoying yourselves as much as I am. Deafening cheers.
Cries of Yes (and No). Noises of trumpets and horns, pipes and flutes, and
other musical instruments. There were, as has been said, many young hobbits
present. Hundreds of musical crackers had been pulled. Most of them bore the
mark dale on them; which did not convey much to most of the hobbits, but they
all agreed they were marvellous crackers. They contained instruments, small,
but of perfect make and enchanting tones. Indeed, in one corner some of the
young Tooks and Brandybucks, supposing Uncle Bilbo to have finished (since he
had plainly said all that was necessary), now got up an impromptu orchestra,
and began a merry dance-tune. Master Everard Took and Miss Melilot Brandybuck got
on a table and with bells in their hands began to dance the Springle-ring: a
pretty dance, but rather vigorous.
But Bilbo had not finished. Seizing a horn from a
youngster nearby, he blew three loud hoots. The noise subsided. I shall not keep you long, he cried.
Cheers from all the assembly. I have
called you all together for a Purpose. Something in the way that he said
this made an impression. There was almost silence, and one or two of the Tooks
pricked up their ears.
Indeed, for Three
Purposes! First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and
that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and
admirable hobbits. Tremendous outburst of approval.
I don’t know half
of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as
well as you deserve. This was unexpected and rather difficult.
There was some scattered clapping, but most of them were trying to work it out
and see if it came to a compliment.
Secondly, to
celebrate my birthday. Cheers again. I should say: our birthday. For it is, of
course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and
into his inheritance today. Some perfunctory clapping by the
elders; and some loud shouts of ‘Frodo! Frodo! Jolly old Frodo,’ from the
juniors. The Sackville-Bagginses scowled, and wondered what was meant by
‘coming into his inheritance’.
Together we score
one hundred and forty-four. Your numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable
total: One Gross, if I may use the expression. No
cheers. This was ridiculous. Many of the guests, and especially the
Sackville-Bagginses, were insulted, feeling sure they had only been asked to
fill up the required number, like goods in a package. ‘One Gross, indeed!
Vulgar expression.’
It is also, if I
may be allowed to refer to ancient history, the anniversary of my arrival by
barrel at Esgaroth on the Long Lake; though the fact that it was my birthday
slipped my memory on that occasion. I was only fifty-one then, and birthdays
did not seem so important. The banquet was very splendid, however, though I had
a bad cold at the time, I remember, and could only say ‘thag you very buch’. I
now repeat it more correctly: Thank you very much for coming to my little
party. Obstinate silence. They all feared that a song or
some poetry was now imminent; and they were getting bored. Why couldn’t he stop
talking and let them drink his health? But Bilbo did not sing or recite. He
paused for a moment.
Thirdly and
finally, he said, I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT. He spoke this last word so
loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. I regret to announce
that – though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend
among you – this is the END. I am going. I am leaving now. GOOD-BYE!
I so loved that
passage.The interplay between the
speaker and the crowd and also specific people in the crowd was captivating and
fun.Notice that Bilbo who we think is a
positive character actually insults part of his guests (“and I like less than
half of you half as well as you deserve” and “together we score one hundred and
forty-four. Your numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable total”).So many of the guests were picked not out of
love but to make some coincidental number!And the guests are not exactly saintly either.Some of the young hobbits strike up music
before Bilbo finishes speaking, and a male and female start dancing to the
music on top of the platform.Young
people dancing tends to suggest sexual overtones, and you can imagine the
chaos.This is hardly
“well-ordered.”Bilbo has to get a bull
horn to bring everyone back to focus.And then there are those who like the Sackville-Bagginses only attended
to expect an inheritance.
Isn’t that just a very human—I
know, they’re hobbits—passage?It’s just
so well delineated that shows Tolkien’s skill as a narrator.
By the way, do you think
there is any significance to 144?Tolkien is really highlighting it in this passage.It is a rather perfect number in that it is
the square of twelve.The only
association I can come up with is the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation, from
chapters seven and fourteen.There I
think the 144,000 represent the entire people of God or perhaps the entire
people of Israel (12 tribes times 12,000 each tribe) or perhaps it just means a
lot of people.Could Tolkien be using it
in this way?I don’t know.
###
Michelle Comment:
"The first tear in this carefully tended fabric
was Bilbo leaving on his adventure. He no longer tended his garden. One other
person who didn't tend the Garden was Adam."
I hadn't looked at it like that until you mentioned
it!
My Comment:
A garden is definitely a "well-ordered"
space. I still think the reference is more toward an idealized medieval (or at
least pre-modern) lifestyle than the Garden of Eden. But I could be wrong.
Could be both I suppose.
Kelly’s Comment:
My impression is similar to what was mentioned
earlier, that the Hobbits had an innate love of routine mainly centered around
food and family. Even though there were plenty of eccentrics and vices on
display, like the greed of those plundering Bilbo's house, they seemed to not
have real malice, but opportunism and certainly felt entitled to his wealth.
Much of what was imaginary!
Michelle Comment:
I have always enjoyed that passage as well! The Shire
may seem idyllic, but hobbit interactions are just like those of humans.
Ellie’s Comment:
I have honestly never thought of the Shire as Eden;
it's an interesting thought, and there can be found some similarities, but
while I think the Shire is an idealized version of some medieval society, it's
not without sin (as fun as it might be to live there).
I do like Manny's thought about number 144. I don't
think it's accidental that Tolkien chose this number, but I can't really point
to what it means exactly.
Kerstin’s Reply:
Yes. It is 12 x 12 and means the fullness of
perfection. It can also simply mean a number that is really big, beyond
comprehension.
Twelve is a significant number in the Bible chiefly
the 12 tribes and the 12 Apostles. Many European cathedrals have 12 major
columns to represent the Apostles.
###
There is one more passage
that must be discussed in some detail before we move on, and that is the
confrontation between Gandalf and Bilbo over the ring.This was a moment of high conflict and with
real tension.When Bilbo has nearly
finished his packing and Gandalf enters his hobbit hole, Bilbo explained why he
is leaving the Shire and will be leaving everything to Frodo.
‘Everything?’ said Gandalf. ‘The ring as well? You
agreed to that, you remember.’
‘Well, er, yes, I suppose so,’ stammered Bilbo.
‘Where is it?’
‘In an envelope, if you must know,’ said Bilbo
impatiently. ‘There on the mantelpiece. Well, no! Here it is in my pocket!’ He
hesitated. ‘Isn’t that odd now?’ he said softly to himself. ‘Yet after all, why
not? Why shouldn’t it stay there?’
Gandalf looked again very hard at Bilbo, and there was
a gleam in his eyes. ‘I think, Bilbo,’ he said quietly, ‘I should leave it
behind. Don’t you want to?’
‘Well yes – and no. Now it comes to it, I don’t like
parting with it at all, I may say. And I don’t really see why I should. Why do
you want me to?’ he asked, and a curious change came over his voice. It was
sharp with suspicion and annoyance. ‘You are always badgering me about my ring;
but you have never bothered me about the other things that I got on my
journey.’
‘No, but I had to badger you,’ said Gandalf. ‘I wanted
the truth. It was important. Magic rings are – well, magical; and they are rare
and curious. I was professionally interested in your ring, you may say; and I
still am. I should like to know where it is, if you go wandering again. Also I
think you have had it quite long enough. You won’t need it any more, Bilbo,
unless I am quite mistaken.’
Bilbo flushed, and there was an angry light in his
eyes. His kindly face grew hard. ‘Why not?’ he cried. ‘And what business is it
of yours, anyway, to know what I do with my own things? It is my own. I found
it. It came to me.’
‘Yes, yes,’ said Gandalf. ‘But there is no need to get
angry.’
‘If I am it is your fault,’ said Bilbo. ‘It is mine, I
tell you. My own. My Precious. Yes, my Precious.’
So as I mentioned in the
summary, we see the effect of the long term possession of the ring on
Bilbo.“His kindly face grew hard.”It is not just a keepsake or even a tool to
use to overcome dangers.It has become a
talisman, an idol, and finally an addiction.The possession is so powerful that he who possesses it becomes possessed
by it.(Someone said to me that our cell
phones had become our ring!)I don’t
recall if Tolkien had described the full extent of the power of the ring in the
previous novel, The Hobbit, where it
first made its appearance, but we see here what the ring does to the
owner.A genial man becomes a liar and
then rabid in the way he turns on a friend who is only thinking the best for
him by asking him to give up the ring.That Bilbo calls it his “precious” echoing Gollum shows that the
possessor is powerless to resist the effect of the ring.
After the two nearly get
into a physical altercation, Bilbo offers an apology.
Bilbo drew his hand over his eyes. ‘I am sorry,’ he
said. ‘But I felt so queer. And yet it would be a relief in a way not to be
bothered with it any more. It has been so growing on my mind lately. Sometimes
I have felt it was like an eye looking at me. And I am always wanting to put it
on and disappear, don’t you know; or wondering if it is safe, and pulling it
out to make sure. I tried locking it up, but I found I couldn’t rest without it
in my pocket. I don’t know why. And I don’t seem able to make up my mind.’
‘Then trust mine,’ said Gandalf. ‘It is quite made up.
Go away and leave it behind. Stop possessing it. Give it to Frodo, and I will
look after him.’
Bilbo stood for a moment tense and undecided.
Presently he sighed. ‘All right,’ he said with an effort. ‘I will.’ Then he
shrugged his shoulders, and smiled rather ruefully. ‘After all that’s what this
party business was all about, really: to give away lots of birthday-presents,
and somehow make it easier to give it away at the same time. It hasn’t made it
any easier in the end, but it would be a pity to waste all my preparations. It
would quite spoil the joke.’
‘Indeed it would take away the only point I ever saw
in the affair,’ said Gandalf.
‘Very well,’ said Bilbo, ‘it goes to Frodo with all
the rest.’ He drew a deep breath. ‘And now I really must be starting, or
somebody else will catch me. I have said good-bye, and I couldn’t bear to do it
all over again.’ He picked up his bag and moved to the door.
‘You have still got the ring in your pocket,’ said the
wizard.
‘Well, so I have!’ cried Bilbo. ‘And my will and all
the other documents too. You had better take it and deliver it for me. That
will be safest.’
‘No, don’t give the ring to me,’ said Gandalf. ‘Put it
on the mantelpiece. It will be safe enough there, till Frodo comes. I shall
wait for him.’
Bilbo took out the envelope, but just as he was about
to set it by the clock, his hand jerked back, and the packet fell on the floor.
Before he could pick it up, the wizard stooped and seized it and set it in its
place. A spasm of anger passed swiftly over the hobbit’s face again. Suddenly
it gave way to a look of relief and a laugh.
Notice how like an
addict, Bilbo tries to manipulate the situation to keep his addiction.Isn’t it also surprising how Gandalf is also
afraid of it?He knows there is more to
the power of the ring than what is apparent with Bilbo.Let me forward to the end of the night where
Frodo has said goodbye to the guests and is left with Gandalf.In their final conversation, the ring comes
up.
‘That’s interesting,’ said Gandalf. ‘Well, what did
you think of it all?’
‘If you mean, inventing all that about a “present”,
well, I thought the true story much more likely, and I couldn’t see the point
of altering it at all. It was very unlike Bilbo to do so, anyway; and I thought
it rather odd.’
‘So did I. But odd things may happen to people that
have such treasures – if they use them. Let it be a warning to you to be very
careful with it. It may have other powers than just making you vanish when you
wish to.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Frodo.
‘Neither do I,’ answered the wizard. ‘I have merely
begun to wonder about the ring, especially since last night. No need to worry.
But if you take my advice you will use it very seldom, or not at all. At least
I beg you not to use it in any way that will cause talk or rouse suspicion. I
say again: keep it safe, and keep it secret!’ ‘You are very mysterious! What
are you afraid of?’
‘I am not certain, so I will say no more. I may be
able to tell you something when I come back. I am going off at once: so this is
good-bye for the present.’ He got up.
Frodo is completely
unaware of the full power of the ring and suspects nothing more than just an
innocent magical novelty, perhaps a trinket.Gandalf suspects way more than that, and has seen the effect on its
habitual wearers, but is unsure of the significance and power of the ring.He will go on his own personal quest to find
out.And so we should also now look at
the novel’s epigraph, which I did not bring up yet.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the
Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the
Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to
rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to
bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Let’s not discuss what
all this means now.Part of the journey
of the novel is learning the significance of the ring.But just as Gandalf suspects, we glean here
that there is more to it and that it is even something darker than what it does
to the possessor.
###
Kerstin’s Comment:
Bilbo keeps the ring secret for 60 years before it is
passed on to Frodo. He keeps it on a chain in his pocket. He must have sensed
that this ring is more than a party trick. I also find it curious that he
didn't just stuff it away somewhere where no outsider would find it like you
would any type of valuable you want to keep safe. He wants to stay in control
on the whereabouts of the ring.
A ring symbolizes a binding of some sort, a belonging
to someone or some other affiliation. Wearing a wedding ring is the visible
sign of being bound to a spouse in an exclusive life-long union, the couple
having given a solemn promise before God and men. Clergy wear rings, including
bishops and popes symbolizing their belonging to the Church. We also have class
rings, signifying a right of passage, of having accomplished a certain amount
of schooling. We wear these rings out of our own free will to communicate to
the world something about ourselves.
Without going too deep into this, I find it
interesting that Bilbo and Frodo keep the ring on a chain. With the chain the
ring itself is bound. This is its weakness. It still has power, but it can get
transported without it having complete control over the bearer. So already in
these early chapters we know the ring is not all-powerful.
My Reply to Kerstin:
Kerstin, I think the ring possess them. I think the
power of the ring is such that the owner does not want to be separate from it.
I think we see this in the next chapter with Frodo. Call it separation
response. ;)
As to the symbol of the ring, I had been scratching my
head and trying to make it fit in the sense of a marriage ring. If you read the
Wikipedia entry on the Ring
you'll see several theories if you scroll down to "Origins."
Apparently it comes out of Norse mythology and shares its concept with Richard
Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. It seems that in Norse mythology
a ring symbolizes power as opposed to a bond of some sort. Very interesting.
Tolkien also denied his LotR ring was similar to Wagner's ring, though they
both may have had similar inspiration. I don't know anything about Der Ring des
Nibelungen.
Michelle Comment:
One thing came to me. Frodo has been chosen to carry
the ring. The ring is malevolent and evil, like sin. It's like he's bearing the
ring/evil to Mordor, as our Lord bore our sins to Golgotha.
My Reply to Michelle:
I think that fits. I think that's a great insight,
Michelle.
