Rings & Restoration

Since it has been awhile, here is a quote to chew on by Chesterton. It comes from his essay "Magic and Fantasy in Fiction":

Good miracles, the acts of the saints and heroes, are always acts of restoration. They give the victim back his personality; and it is a normal and not supernormal personality. The miracle gives back his legs to the lame man; but it does not turn him into a large centipede.

There runs through the whole [fantasy] tradition the idea that black magic is that which blots out or disguises the true form of a thing; while white magic, in a good sense, restores it to its own form and not another.

Good fantasy writers capture this truth profoundly - recognizing one's place and humbly accepting it allows people to remain themselves. When Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring refuses Frodo's offer of the One Ring, she states "I will remain Galadriel." When Sam denies the temptations of the ring, he recognizes that he is but one small hobbit with hands large enough for a small garden, not an empire. It is his love for Frodo and his 'plain hobbit sense' that keep Sam, Sam. Conversely, you have individuals like Gollum, the Ringwraiths, and the Mouth of Sauron whose identities are sucked into the ego of Sauron - even their names are eradicated and replaced instead by obsessive, slavish mindlessness.

In terms of how this relates to us, ultimately the power, grace, and mercy of God alone restores us. It gives us an identity that we lost in the fall - Beloved of God. We gain the position of friend and child instead of foe and enemy. God promises restoration to those who confess Christ as Lord. He is slowly crafting the right 'personality' of his Son's image in us. And someday, we will see ourselves clearly, instead of in a mirror darkly. Yet this good miracle - the one fantasy writers reflect brokenly - requires our response of humility and repentance. It demands we recognize that such incredible power rests solely in the hands of God.

Conversely, Satan destroys us and our unique place with God - he did it with Adam and Eve, and he does it still. The sin of pride binds and chains sinners in darkness. They, much like Gollum, are obsessed, lost, and splintered. Tragically, as they sit in dungeons, they believe they are free. Their happiest moment comes in claiming the idols they obsesses over, but just as Gollum realizes in Mt. Doom, too late they discover that those same idols will destroy them.

At Icthus, I discussed with my Jr. High girls the tension between brokenness over your sin and despair that we are so selfish - even when we try and fight and long not to be - and the promise that He who begun a good work will carry it out to the day of completion. We are being crafted in His image by His power - I am thankful that someday I will be exactly who I am supposed to be in Him, without spot or blemish.