ELM (part 4) - Hobbit Virtues

Wikipedia/Dublin Christ Church Cathedral

The picture above is a stained glass rose window in the Christ Church Cathedral, High Street, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, depicting the Fruit of the Spirit.  

And St. Paul listed these virtues -

But the fruit of the Spirit is 

love, 
joy, 
peace, 
forbearance, 

kindness, 

goodness,

faithfulness, 

gentleness 

and
self-control.

Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

In this third part of English, Literature, and Musing (ELM),  the Fruit of the Spirit are virtues cultivated in many of the protagonists in English literature.  And such classics are a rich source of material for films.

For example ...

After the successful trilogy - The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003), a trilogy of its prequel The Hobbit is now playing on the big screen (2012, 2013, 2014). 

JRR Tolkien, who wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a devoted Catholic.  Though he wrote fantasy, his faith that defined his worldview was reflected in his writings.  [reference:  20Ways “The Lord of the Rings” Is Both Christian and Catholic]

In this world, evil seems so strong.  

To fight against it, many look for a champion of great power - like a Superman.  Yet, the theme of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is that it is not the great powers that hold evil in check, but the ordinary folk.

In the first part of the The Hobbit trilogy -  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) this scene reflects that philosophy:

(reference:  http://youtu.be/VbqnBBBeWNI)

Gandalf's word are worth repeating as they contain the virtues of the Fruit of Spirit, part of Tolkien's religious faith:

Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. 

I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. 

Small acts of kindness and love. 

Why Bilbo Baggins? I don't know. 

Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.

[reference:  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Movie Quotes - Rotten Tomatoes]

This scene was not in the original book, but it seems faithful to the theme of The Hobbit. And I agree with the comments of the poster of this clip on YouTube - In my opinion this is one of the greatest lines I've heard in all of cinema.

And that testifies to the power of the story as well as the power of everyday acts of kindness and love of ordinary folks!

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Previous post on this series:

ELM (part 1) - English, Literature, and Musings (2013)

ELM (part 2) - Thug Notes does Hamlet (2013)

ELM (part 3) - St. Crispin's Day Battles in English History and Literature (2013)

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Photo from:  Wikipedia/Dublin Christ Church Cathedral

Beverly Hillbillies and Amos - country folk in the big city

Remember the Ballad of Jed Clampett by Flatt & Scruggs?

"Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude...."

For the complete lyrics: click here

The first two verses opened and the last one closed the show of the 9 year long running sitcom, The Beveryly Hillbillies (1962-1971)

Beverly Hillbillies Opening Theme - More amazing video clips are a click away

This really dates me, but I watched the Beverly Hillbillies on TV before they went into perpetual reruns on TV land. The humor of the show was displacement - the fish out of water - rural, simple, naive hillbillies in the big city culture and sophistication of Beverly Hills. How absurd! Or was it?

What I found so appealing about the Clampett family in the original series was that they were genuinely decent, honest, kind, polite, godly people. As a plot for many episodes, the dishonest, the greedy, the godless, the self-aggrandizing had marked this simple hillbilly family as an easy target to use and to fleece. Yet, simple goodness prevailed over the many sophisticated flavors of evil.

"Simple" as in good is always easy to grasp. What does a straight line look like? There is one answer.


It doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it? Straight can only be one way.


"Sophistication" in the worldly sense is harder to grasp. What does a crooked line look like?


There are infinite ways for the line to be crooked. Likewise, evil can be twisted in an infinite many ways. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that evil seems more appealing and intriguing? Its mystery?

I see a timeless parable in the original "Beveryly Hillbillies." In some episodes, the simple goodness and wisdom of the Clampetts seemed as a witness to the complicated, twisted sophistication and worldly wisdom of the big city.

Likewise, there is another much overlooked story of an ancient "hillbilly," who lived in the 8th century before Christ and came to the sophisticated town of Bethel. His name was Amos, a shepherd from the desert of Tekoa, who took care of sycamore-fig trees.

Read all about this simple country preacher, who came to the "Beverly Hills" of his day: The Country Preacher Who Came to Town

For our sophisticated age of the internet in the 21st century, Amos proclaims this timeless message from the One who called him:

12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.13 Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times,
for the times are evil.14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
Amos 5:12-14
(NIV)

Whether the fictional Jed Clampett or the Old Testament prophet Amos - both these country boys took on the sophisticated big city.

Photos:

from everystockphoto.com:
Beverly Hills

from wikipedia:
Straight line
Crooked line

One Tuesday in September, eight years ago ...

Eight years ago, I was living and working on the West Coast. One Tuesday, the radio turned on at 6:25 PDT. I was expecting to hear the Wall Street Journal Report. Instead, reports came of debris coming out of some building in New York.

My husband thought it was accident similar to one that had happened in 1945, when a B-25 bomber accidentally flew into the Empire State Building: The Empire State Building Plane Crash. We turned on the TV to see what they were talking about on the radio. Not one, but two jets had flown into the World Trade Center.

As soon as we said, "This is no accident," reports came of another jet crashing into the Pentagon, and then another plane downed in Pennsylvania. Soon, all air traffic in the US was grounded.

"You're not going to work right now," my husband told me. Yes. We were under attack.

Later that morning, no further attacks advanced to the West Coast. Many of my co-workers were at the workplace, soldiering on as normally as they could, and I eventually came in. During part of this eventful day, we stood out in the lobby, watching the news as surreal scenes replayed of the Twin Towers collapsing. Terrified bystanders ran for cover, like a scripted disaster movie.

One of my co-workers touched my shoulder. "You are a person of faith. Why would God allow this to happen?"

Certainly, no one, except God, has the answer for this one, but I gave it my the best shot. "It seems in this world God allows evil to run its course."

One example in the Holy Scriptures came to mind. Saul, the first king of Israel, was given many second chances, but he turned into a mad king, tormented by an evil spirit. Then God picked David, a man after His own heart, to replace Saul as the next king. Yet, evil ran its course for some 15 years before God dealt with Saul and turned the kingdom over to David. During these years between the anointing and ascending, David gathered his faithful followers.

There is a corollary to this present day. St. Paul refers to the devil as "the god of this world" (2 Cor 4:4), much like the time when mad King Saul was ruling over Israel. Yet, God's anointed - the Lord Jesus, the Son of David - is now calling out His people - the church. One day, like when God had dealt with Saul, He will deal with the devil and drive evil from His universe forever.


Related links:
Photo from everystockphoto.com
World Trade Center - Aiming for Heaven: http://everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=4504113