On the Shire

Most of you already know, or have already guessed, that I am a Lord of the Rings fanatic. I also LOVE medieval history and literature. I just finished listening to a conference where Dr. Janet Blumberg of SPU spoke about the literary background of The Lord of the Rings. I can't get over how well she put it all in perspective. She talked about the Anglo Saxon, Beowulf, the Battle of Maldon, etc. Tolkien's anti-modernism and anti-machine was also discussed--a theme I never tire of hearing. If you have not read the book (please say you haven't just seen the movies!) read it ASAP...read it to your friends and family. It's all about the Shire. It's about faces and names. It's about the beauty of variety, rootedness, and sense of place.

The opening question of one of our Discussion Nights was "what character flaw or personality trait that you have will be the death of you?"...my answer, "disenchantment and disillusionment." I live in my own Middle Earth and get oh so sad when our consumeristic and impersonal lives swallow us whole. Could go on and on, but will stop here.