Connections Ramble

I have been privileged to read three great stories all at once and it sort of resulted in an epiphany of sorts. The books happen to be twice famous; The Lord of the Rings (I try to read this book annually), and Mere Christianity (a book which has sharpened how thousands think). The third book is not so famous; I am just beginning the fourth volume. It is a story about a young girl who discovers her power of light, and begins to heal others. To her dismay, she finds when she heals someone that person wants to enslave themselves to her, creating a moral dilemma. How can she help others without the unintentional consequences?

Putting all of this together makes a remarkable synthesis. I got to thinking about what might happen if someone were given sudden powers of healing or fixing the world. Then I remembered Galadriel, whom Frodo freely offers his ring to, and she is sorely tempted, but in the end refuses the temptation. Power in the hands of people is not the good thing others think it to be. 

I started contemplating what might happen if I were given just a bit of power, as a “grandfather” over my family.  What if I had the power to change things in my family? I have often thought that if I just had a bit more money, I would use it to help my children out who are facing severe costs in mortgages. I looked at the very rich, and note that one person seems to make the wealth (the Trump family certainly is an example), while the others have frequently not risen to the heights the maker of the fortune had.

Further, many such families are torn apart by their fortune. They often fight over the monies; they are just as broken as you and me. There appears to be little virtue in great wealth. Moreover, the great wealth that comes upon such men tends to warp them into what I call citadels of pretend righteousness. I know I have a moral code that strictly governs my life; I also fail that code. But to bring that same code upon others who do not share it, might bring evil or hardship upon the very people I would help. I am just a "citadel of pretend righteousness" not accurately representing the moral code we all know to be true.

But the powers I am reading about are far greater than mere wealth. What if I had the power to really change the world? I could do a lot of good at first, but perhaps not even as much good as I think. But, as Lewis points out, I would in the end (probably a lot sooner than the end) still have the idea of good and evil, and I could not possibly keep the moral code. All would soon fall apart in my hands. I cannot help but wonder why the world’s politicians do not more often see this.

Here is the passage, a favorite of mine, from Tolkien:

‘You are wise and fearless and fair, Lady Galadriel,’ said Frodo. ‘I will give you the One Ring, if you ask for it. It is too great a matter for me.’ Galadriel laughed with a sudden clear laugh. ‘Wise the Lady Galadriel may be,’ she said, ‘yet here she has met her match in courtesy. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart at our first meeting. You begin to see with a keen eye. I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer. For many long years I had pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works on in many ways, whether Sauron himself stands or falls. Would not that have been a noble deed to set to the credit of his Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest? ‘And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!’

‘I pass the test,’ she said. ‘I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.’1

It is certainly the rare man that gets power and finds himself able to not be twisted beyond recognition. I like to think a great many times such men are great spiritual examples, perhaps Christians in their worldview. Because the truism proves itself: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We find it in ourselves to be absolutely incapable of exercising power; I think it is only when we reach that conclusion that we can appreciate the total and complete righteousness of God. God, the giver of right and wrong, is the only one that can exercise it properly; it is just not in me to find righteousness. However, the good news of Christianity is that we can find righteousness in Jesus Christ. In him alone is all of our hope; for if it as Lewis says, we know that we ourselves can never live up to that moral code.

I think that is why all of our attention and devotion must reside in Christ himself. I cannot imagine a way out of the moral dilemma except by faith. He can do it. No other even comes close.

1. Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume (pp. 365-366). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.