The
greatest trial surrounding the One Ring of Power in Tolkien’s novels, was the
temptation to use it. No one (except for Sauron himself) seemed to think that
they would do anything but good with the Ring. The Ring would protect Gondor;
the Ring would bring order to the world (Saruman). And though it was indeed
occasionally used to escape Trolls or to get friends out of Elfin prisons,
every use drew the Ring-bearer deeper into a shadow world of non-being. Tolkien
certainly wrote his novels in a manner that would allow them to stand on their
own: they were not allegories. Nevertheless, he embedded in them a wisdom that
transcends the bounds of Middle Earth. Modernity is the One Ring of Power.
The birth
of modernity (the forging of the Ring) took place in the late 18th and early
19th centuries driven by a fascination with the principles of rational science.
With greater use of those principles has come greater power over many aspects
of nature and our lives. This has been coupled with the myth of democratic
empowerment, such that every citizen believes that a wonderful ability to
change and shape the world is possessed by each. Everyman is a Ring-Lord.
The
strange, even paradoxical, temptation of the Modern Project is to do good. That
simple temptation becomes an irrefutable argument for taking up the Ring of
Power. I was sitting in a doctor’s office recently, browsing magazines. There
was an article about a young singer who was touted as “using her voice to end
gun violence.” I’m sure she meant well, but the hyperbole is purely modern. No
one will ever “end” gun violence. We will not “end” stick-violence, or
knife-violence, or hand-balled-up-in-a-fist-violence. No doubt, many things
could be done to lessen gun-violence. However, it is the nature of the Modern
Project that we never seek to curb: we seek to cure.
This
drive to cure (or “end”) is filled with a utopian assurance that has given rise
to our many “wars.” We have a “war on drugs,” a “war on poverty,” a “war on
terror,” and so on. The nature of modern war is “total.” When it is said that
there is a “war” on something, there is an indication that no price is too high
to pay for victory. That the war is long, even unending, is beside the point:
it’s a war.
Though we
can point to various changes wrought through the application of science, there
is something we do not see. The power to do good has not produced good people.
Those who wield the most power are the most easily corrupted. In Middle Earth
terms, we are governed by wraiths.
The logic
of the Ring sounds compelling. How can wielding the power to do good not be a
good thing? In the context of Tolkien’s mythology, we understand the dangers.
However, our modern myths fail to take account of the effect exercising power
over others has on those who do so. And though many of us might argue that we
have very little such power, our minds do not agree. We believe that we either
do, or that we should. Our minds are rarely at rest within the context of our
lives. We are all in danger of becoming wraiths, even if only from the anxiety
of thinking about what should be done with all that power.
The New
Testament presents the Crucified Christ as the image of God’s power. God does
not act like a Supreme Ring Lord. When He acts, He yields a loving cooperation
to His creation. He does not compel or force us. His power lies in His
willingness to lay His life down for all. He tramples down death by death.
The
mythology of modernity has created nicknames for those who would oppose its
paradigm of power. Christians who choose the Cross are quickly labeled as
“Quietists,” hinting that only Ring Lords are true Christians. It is worth
noting that the disciples more than once wonder why Christ takes no action.
They do not see that His action is a singular commitment to the Cross: He will
not turn aside.
I have
rarely encountered a Christian in the modern world who has renounced the Ring
itself. We do not believe that our “empowerment” has corrupted us. We imagine
that the right people, with the right power, exercised in the right manner will
solve the problems of the world. We fail to see that none of us wielding power
would be safer or more effective than the next.
The road
to repentance begins with the renunciation of the world. The Lady Galadriel
refuses the temptation:
“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!”
She
lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light
that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo
seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible
and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly
she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in
simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
“I pass
the test”, she said. “I will diminish, and go into the West and remain
Galadriel.”
The path
of diminishment is the way of the Cross.
There is
a “mind” of diminishment (Phil. 2:5-11). It is a willingness to be small and
insignificant. I think that until we cultivate this mind within ourselves we
will continue to be enthralled (literally) to the lure and lore of modernity.
We will continue to imagine ourselves as the soldiers of reforming and
reshaping power, the bringers of good into the world.
- Do you think of yourself as part of a
contingent that is saving/preserving your Church?
- Do you worry about political/social issues
and whether the right side is gaining ground?
- Do you want to make a difference in the
world?
- Are you frequently provoked to anger by what
you see around you?
These
(and many similar things) are symptoms of a growing disease. They are mythic
notions that draw us into a wraith-like existence.
Refuse
the Ring. It is not ours to use or own. Throw it away.
I can
already hear the many protests.
By Fr.
Stephen Freeman
Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2017/10/24/cross-one-ring-power/
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