Your Story

Several students attended the midnight showing of "The Hobbit" last night (kudos to those of you who still have the gusto to watch any movie in those wee hours).  The wonderful fascination of Tolkien's writings continues in this new genre of the motion picture but also in its original genre of literature.  What is it about this series that seems to capture so many?  As I once heard Christopher West express as he pointed to a crucifix, "Any good story, tells this story."  I think it is certainly the case that the stories that capture the most hearts and prove to last for extended periods of time, do somehow tell the story of redemption.  It's often not explicit, but nonetheless, it is there.  Stories of overcoming odds, good triumphing over evil, forgiveness, growth in virtue and holiness, sacrificial love - stories that contain these and other aspects of The Story capture us.  They put us in touch with what our hearts are truly longing for - God himself.  Deep down we know these stories are about us and the God who loves us and pursues us.  

Joseph Pearce has an article about "The Hobbit" at the National Catholic Register which gets at a similar point:

In short, we are meant to see ourselves  reflected in the character of Bilbo and our lives reflected in his journey from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain. 

Indeed, and perhaps surprisingly, Bilbo bears a remarkable resemblance to many of us, his diminutive size and furry feet notwithstanding.  He likes tea and toast and jam and pickles; he has wardrobes full of clothes and lots of pantries full of food; he likes the view from his own window and has little desire to see the view from distant windows. He is a creature of comfort dedicated to the creature comforts.  

In Christian terms, Bilbo Baggins is dedicated to the easy life and would find the prospect of taking up his cross and following the heroic path of self-sacrifice utterly anathema.  

The unexpected party at the beginning of the story, in which the hobbit's daily habits are disrupted by the arrival of unexpected and unwelcome guests, is, therefore a necessary disruption.  It is the intervention into his cozy life of an element of inconvenience or suffering, which serves as a wake-up call and a call to action.

In losing his bourgeois respectability - the price he must pay for becoming an adventurer - he forsakes the world and the worldly in favor of the pearl of great price.

As Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us, "We are not made for comfort, we are made for greatness."  This is the story.  It's your story.  It's my story.  That God loves us and has made us for more than we too often allow ourselves to settle for.  The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit remind us, through the characters of Bilbo and Frodo, that life really is an unexpected journey - a journey that leads us back to God and who He made us to be.

Read the rest of Pearce's article here.

P.S. If you enjoy this kind of thing (i.e. finding The Story in stories) then be sure to come to our Theology of the Body and Culture study next semester on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Marquette Student Center.