1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,040 Welcome to the Imagination Redeemed podcast. 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,720 I'm Sarah Howell, one of your hosts. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:13,200 Earlier this fall, the Anselm Society had the privilege of 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:17,800 gathering for our fall retreat. Part of this retreat was focused 5 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,320 on extended workshops, a time to be filled, to grow in knowledge 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,240 or craft, and to connect our vocations to the life of God. 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,560 What you are about to hear is one of our speakers from that 8 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,640 morning, Amy Bakley. Amy considers what a feast 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:38,560 signifies during troubled times. We are excited to share this 10 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:40,440 incredible talk with you all today. 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,480 And if you want access to the other 5 1/2 hours of content 12 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:47,760 from that morning, consider becoming a monthly partner at 13 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,760 any level and we will send you the complete video recordings as 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,440 a thank you. Check the show notes for the 15 00:00:54,440 --> 00:01:00,760 link or just go to anselmsociety.org/fall Giving. 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,000 We hope you enjoy this talk from Amy Bakley. 17 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,640 Thanks for listening and thanks for helping make this work 18 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:13,280 possible. Welcome to the Imagination 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,640 Redeemed podcast where we follow the great stories further up and 20 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,720 further in In Pursuit of the Life of Christ. 21 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,360 Good morning. I think we're going to go ahead 22 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,520 and get started. This is making room for Kairos 23 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,720 in an age of efficiency. 3 feasts from the Lord of the 24 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,800 Rings and our practice of fellowship. 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,760 If I may ask you to exercise your imaginations for a moment, 26 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,080 it is the end of September and you are far from home. 27 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,160 The arms of the apple trees are laden with a rich red cheeked 28 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,800 bounty. The smell of wood smoke lends A 29 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,520 savory earthy note to each of your outdoor meals and these 30 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,680 green and golden days seem the perfect time to go searching for 31 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,360 mushrooms. But these are not days of 32 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:08,440 leisure for you. No, you are tasked with a burden 33 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,720 compact enough to carry in your pocket and yet too great to 34 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,400 comprehend. In these mellowing days of 35 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,480 autumn, you are being pursued by agents of a dark Lord who is 36 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,480 amassing an army to take over the world. 37 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,720 And the further you go, the more you understand what the failure 38 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,760 of your mission will mean. So naturally, when you are 39 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,960 rescued by a mysterious yet jovial personage in the forest, 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,960 you and your friends choose to spend the night in his home one 41 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:36,520 night. Why not 2? 42 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:39,960 Your hosts are captivating and the fair is hearty. 43 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,840 Never mind for a minute that there are snuffling black 44 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,840 writers hot on your trail, or that you took 17 years to leave 45 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:51,400 Bag End after Bilbo's Ring came into your keeping. 17 years 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,160 during which the Dark Lord might have had time to make a wee bit 47 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:58,680 of progress. This talk could be said to stem 48 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,920 in part from my reaction as a 17 year old when I read The Lord of 49 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:05,120 the Rings and wondered at the stops that Frodo and company 50 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,320 made. Two nights in Tom Bombitil's 51 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,520 house weren't so much. One can believe a character on a 52 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,040 life or death errand deserves a little break now and then. 53 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,080 But I did pause when, a few chapters later, I came across 54 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,920 the sentence. The hobbits had been nearly two 55 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:26,720 months in the House of Elrond. Later still, after the 56 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,720 Fellowship emerged from Lof Laurian, I read along as Sam 57 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,120 looked up at the moon and wondered why it was in the wrong 58 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,120 place. Surely they had only been about 59 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,160 three nights in Lof Laurian, he guessed aloud. 60 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,880 Perhaps we stepped outside of time, Frodo suggests. 61 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,640 But Aragorn sets them both straight. 62 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,040 The old moon passed, and a new moon waxed and waned in the 63 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,080 world outside while we tarried there. 64 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,680 And so it was. They dwelt in the land of 65 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,800 Lurian, eating and drinking and resting for a full month. 66 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,680 Meanwhile, I was fully in the grip of that marvelous 67 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,360 phenomenon of readers, that second hand anxiety that strikes 68 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,120 when a stubborn protagonist decides to go into an abandoned 69 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,120 house on her own or a Hobbit decides to have one more meal on 70 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,720 the road to Mordor. Pausing to feast is not a 71 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,560 regular rhythm in our culture. Thanksgiving Day is perhaps the 72 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,920 closest thing we have to a widely observed feasting 73 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,920 practice. Aside from this holiday, the 74 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,840 dinner party is probably one of our most recognizable forms of 75 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:35,080 feasting. We host them or hear of them as 76 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,360 a backdrop for business deals or networking. 77 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:40,200 If you are a part of certain circles in New York City these 78 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,240 days, invitations to certain dinner parties or private 79 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,240 restaurants act as social currency. 80 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,080 Meanwhile, articles about hosting gatherings talk about 81 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,560 the pressure that many feel to make things perfect, or the 82 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,120 dreaded tension of strained conversations that might take 83 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,560 place, or simply the lack of time to prepare such events. 84 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,840 We have jobs to do, and it often seems difficult to make room for 85 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:07,680 spreading A festal board without some kind of benefit, social, 86 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,960 financial or otherwise, to motivate us. 87 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,560 We are in the middle of the action, and we have precious 88 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,320 little time and energy to waste. The Fellowship of The Lord of 89 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,680 the Rings knows something about what it means to be in the 90 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,600 middle of the action, and yet they stop along the way. 91 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,440 I'd like to draw your attention to three of these stops today, 92 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,800 one in the House of Tom Bombadil, one in Elrond's house 93 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:38,960 in Rivendell, and one in La Florian, because I believe they 94 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,080 have something significant to say about how we might approach 95 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,440 the concept of time as we live our lives. 96 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,760 I believe that they powerfully suggest to us a different way of 97 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:54,360 living in time. The ancient Greeks, as you may 98 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,960 already know, had more than one concept of time. 99 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,400 Two of these were called Kronos and Kairos, and both are used to 100 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,520 refer to time in the original Koine Greek New Testament. 101 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,400 Kronos time is time in its practical, measurable, ordinary 102 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,560 form, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etcetera. 103 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,400 Kairos time is the time that refers to the ripe or fitting 104 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,840 moment, as when Jesus says the time has come, at last the 105 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,320 Kingdom of God has arrived, you must change your hearts and 106 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:30,360 minds and believe the good news. Kairos time is thus also said to 107 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,760 be a sort of transcendent time, the moments in which God brings 108 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,040 situations to their fulfillment, where eternity intersects with 109 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,600 Kronos. We have a sense of both Kronos 110 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,040 and Kairos in our English term time, our single English term 111 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:48,840 time, we say what time Is it referring to Kronos or it's time 112 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,240 we picked those flowers referring to Kairos? 113 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,960 To the modern person pressed to live time according to the 114 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,680 ticking of hands and the scheduling of online calendars, 115 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,440 Kronos may seem like the main kind of time. 116 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,000 Kronos runs in one long straight line, and the modern person's 117 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,560 encounters with the eternal, if he perceives them, breakthrough 118 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:14,720 here and there, perhaps one when he is 16 and again when he is 23 119 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,400 and 40, etcetera. The Kairos moments seem to be 120 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:24,040 more or less unrelated, isolated events in our world. 121 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,960 Rightness, ripeness, maturity and eternity are not the main 122 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,160 measures by which we view the development of time. 123 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,320 Children don't graduate from college when they become men or 124 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,880 women. They graduate, on average four 125 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,400 years after matriculation. We don't ask our coworkers to 126 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,600 bring the project back when it seems to be in its most 127 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,000 excellent form. We ask for it by close of 128 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,600 business. On Friday, the CEO of a tech 129 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,320 company wrote this summer that artificial intelligence is 130 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,360 poised to make the world better by driving faster scientific 131 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:56,280 progress and increased productivity. 132 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,440 Perhaps nothing is quite as significant as the fact that we 133 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,520 can use advanced AI to do faster AI research. 134 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,520 If we can do a decade's worth of research in a year or a month, 135 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,480 then the rate of progress will obviously be quite different. 136 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,800 The rate of technological progress will keep accelerating, 137 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,360 he forecasts. This is Altman from Open AI, by 138 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,360 the way. And it will continue to be the 139 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,320 case that people are capable of adapting to almost anything. 140 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,440 There will be very hard parts, like whole classes of jobs going 141 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,560 away, but on the other hand, the world would be getting so much 142 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,039 richer so quickly that we'll be able to seriously entertain new 143 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:34,120 policy ideas we never could before. 144 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:41,080 Faster, quicker, more production, acceleration. 145 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,600 These are words that reflect a certain philosophy driving the 146 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,120 tech sector, to be sure, but they are also a mirror of our 147 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,200 awareness of mortality of Kronos time ever running out. 148 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,480 This CEO himself has invested millions of dollars in a biotech 149 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,920 startup that is trying to develop drugs to extend the 150 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,280 human lifespan, and he has reportedly joined a waiting list 151 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,960 to preserve his brain after death by uploading it to the 152 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,760 cloud. In a world of progress run by 153 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,080 mortals, we adhere to Kronos as our main reality, and thus often 154 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:17,840 our only priority. But this is not the only way, 155 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,320 and certainly not even the most accurate way to understand time 156 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,520 and eternity. Christians believe that we live 157 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,520 in a world where history curves around the divine, breaking in 158 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,240 of eternity into time, the incarnation. 159 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,880 This poses a bit of a problem if we want to view time only as a 160 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,880 line that keeps going and going, of days that we must continually 161 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,160 seize in order to have meaning beyond our life spans. 162 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,560 Here's what I mean. In his book How to Inhabit Time, 163 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:50,200 James KA Smith walks the reader through Kierkegaard's 164 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,880 philosophical fragments. In Philosophical Fragments, 165 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,120 Kierkegaard wonders whether a person alive during the 1st 166 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,160 century, during Jesus's ministry was closer to Jesus simply 167 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,520 because he was there at the same chronos time. 168 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,120 Am I not more removed from Jesus since I live in the 21st 169 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,800 century, so many centuries after he walked this earth? 170 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,960 Isn't that 1st century citizen less distant from him simply for 171 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:16,640 having breathed at the same time? 172 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,240 No, he is not, is what Kierkegaard concludes. 173 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:26,240 Because of that first century man or woman saw Jesus and did 174 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,720 not know him for who he was, did not believe that he was the 175 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,680 Incarnate God, then there is no confrontation with the eternal 176 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:37,200 on his part, as Smith puts it. Even if that man did happen to 177 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,960 glance up as Jesus strode by, Smith continues, historical 178 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,400 proximity is not the same as an encounter with the God who 179 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:50,200 arrives in history. God calls us to follow him and 180 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,120 makes our first hand encounter of Him available no matter what 181 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,480 age we live in. In Smith's words, God is as near 182 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,840 to the 21st century disciple as to the medieval St., and the 183 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,360 medieval peasant is as near to God as the 1st century apostle. 184 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,920 If this is true, then our Kairos moments of experiencing the 185 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,840 fullness of time are not pieces of eternity such that you 186 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,680 encounter this piece at 16 and that piece at 23 and that piece 187 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,160 at 40. They are encounters with the 188 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,440 same thing, the same plane, the same fabric as it were 189 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,440 encounters with eternity and the one whose nature defines 190 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,040 eternity. This brings us back to the three 191 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:33,520 on the Way Feast of the Fellowship. 192 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,120 I believe these feasts are occurrences of Kairos time for 193 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,480 the hobbits and the other members of the Fellowship. 194 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,600 For the purposes of this talk, by the way, I am counting the 195 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,680 full stay in each of these three places as a multiple day feast. 196 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:51,280 Each feast has a different focal point. 197 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:54,480 I would argue that the feast in Bombadil's house focuses on the 198 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,720 past primarily through story, that the feast in Rivendell 199 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,000 focuses on the present largely through song, and the feast in 200 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,200 Lathlorian focuses on the future, especially with the 201 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:07,080 giving of objects. And if I had more time, I would 202 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,920 spell out the details. But the commonality between them 203 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,920 all is that they are all Kairos moments. 204 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,480 What marks a Kairos moment? You might remember a time when 205 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:22,120 it seemed like you were getting a foretaste of eternity. 206 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,320 Let's look at 5 hallmarks of Kairos demonstrated in these 207 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,120 three feasts, the way Kairos affects the people as they 208 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,320 experience it, and see if they resonate. 209 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:34,960 The first is a sense of timelessness. 210 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,880 In Bombadil's house, the text tells us whether the morning or 211 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,440 evening of one day or of many days have passed. 212 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,000 Frodo could not tell. He did not feel either hungry or 213 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,840 tired, only filled with wonder. The stars shone through the 214 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,600 window, and the silence of the heavens seem to be round him. 215 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,920 Later that day, after listening to Tom, the hobbits find that 216 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,000 under the spell of Tom's words, they may have missed one meal or 217 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,120 many. This is a big deal for hobbits, 218 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,680 as you know, but when the food was before them, it seemed at 219 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:09,640 least a week since they had eaten in Elrond's house. 220 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,800 Bilbo tells Fredo. I can't count days in Rivendell, 221 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:15,760 and as the Fellowship makes their way under the golden 222 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,880 malorn trees of Lofleurian, we are told Frodo felt that he was 223 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,320 in a timeless land that did not fade or change or fall into 224 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,800 forgetfulness when he had gone and passed again into the outer 225 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,280 world. Still, Frodo, the wanderer from 226 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,120 the Shire, would walk there upon the grass among Eleanor and 227 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,760 Nifidel in fair Lofleurian. Lorian, if you remember from the 228 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,880 passage I quoted earlier, is where Sam loses passage, loses 229 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:43,760 track of the passage of time altogether. 230 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,840 Kronos time still flows, but they are caught up in something 231 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:49,640 that eclipses the movement of the sun. 232 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,120 That sense of timelessness is a mark of the best feasts I have 233 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,120 personally known, those gatherings when all the children 234 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,720 are elated that their bedtimes have slipped unheated into the 235 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,720 late night hours because conversation, laughter and 236 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,800 sometimes healing tears have filled up the souls of those in 237 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,120 attendance. Cairo satisfies us with its 238 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,520 fullness. The second is the experience of 239 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,400 refreshment and rest. Frodo is so rejuvenated at 240 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,120 Bombadil's house that after his first night stay, he wishes to 241 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,200 linger when it rains all day the next day. 242 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,600 He is glad in his heart and blesses the kindly weather 243 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:30,880 because it delays them from departing. 244 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,400 In Rivendell he wakes as a Hobbit, renewed. 245 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,040 He found that he no longer felt in need of rest or sleep, but 246 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,360 had a mind for food and drink, and probably for singing and 247 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:45,600 storytelling afterwards. The Lord of Lofleurian, 248 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,360 Kelaborn, extends an invitation to the fellowship with this 249 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,600 particular end in mind, saying You are worn with sorrow and 250 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,440 much toil. Even if your quest did not 251 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,800 concern us closely, you should have refuge in this city until 252 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:04,080 you were healed and refreshed. Now you shall rest, and we shall 253 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,040 not speak of your further Rd. for a while. 254 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,160 And so they rest. It isn't a complete healing, 255 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,120 remember that Frodo's wound will trouble him for all his days on 256 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,680 this side of the sea. But the restoration that the 257 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,400 Fellowship experiences is still a mark of sojourn in Kairos 258 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,760 time. There's a little aside. 259 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:27,160 I don't think I'm going to be able to get to this, but it's 260 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,360 wonderful to track. See if you can do this next time 261 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:30,840 that you read The Lord of the Rings. 262 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,840 The many times that the hobbits or members of the Fellowship are 263 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,040 confronted with the sound of running water as they're going 264 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,960 through their journey, it comes to light in a lot of different 265 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,520 places, but especially during these feasts of the Fellowship. 266 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:50,520 I think it Harkins to back to the Silmarillion, to Ulmo, who 267 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,400 is the valor in charge of water, I believe. 268 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,480 And he's associated with the sound of water. 269 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,640 And I think one of the loveliest passages from the Silmarillion 270 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:05,120 is that says, and it is said by the Eldar, that in water there 271 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,920 lives yet the echo of the music of the inor more than in any 272 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:10,880 substance else that is in this earth. 273 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,400 And many of the children of a Lou Vatar hearken still unsated 274 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,480 to the voices of the sea. And yet no, not for what they 275 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:21,120 listen. So in the sound of running water 276 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,080 there is this beckoning to eternity. 277 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,200 And we can talk about that and Zane Zuked and the inconsolable 278 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,280 longing. If you would like to come up 279 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:29,680 afterwards. We'll see. 280 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,920 But thirdly, on to our third feature. 281 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,640 We see reorientation happening within the minds of our 282 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,280 travelers. I love that Grace mentioned 283 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,440 Sojourner Truth saying what time of night is it? 284 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,200 Because reorientation is when we figure out when we are, when we 285 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,680 are where we are. In these feasts in The Lord of 286 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,680 the Rings, our travelers understand that they are part of 287 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,640 a larger story, and they understand where they are in the 288 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,400 larger story. Tom tells the Hobbit's 289 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,400 remarkable stories that began at the Old Forest and course back, 290 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,440 and then further back to the kings of ancient kingdoms, and 291 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,319 further back still, into strange regions beyond their memory and 292 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,520 beyond their waking thought. Into times when the world was 293 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,680 wider and the seas flowed straight to the western shore. 294 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,000 And still on and back Tom went singing out into ancient 295 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,040 Starlight when only the elf sires were awake. 296 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,119 Later, as they listen to Goldberry songs, they perceive 297 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:29,680 greater expanses, the sky and pools and waters in their minds, 298 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,600 which seem to have a similar effect as when Job considers the 299 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,680 cosmic work of God. The Council of Elrond brings the 300 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,000 danger of the Ring and the plight of the surrounding lands 301 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,520 to the forefront of the Fellowships attention so that 302 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,400 they know what role they must each play in the journey to 303 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,960 come. In Loflaurian, as Frodo looks 304 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:52,080 into Galladriol's mirror, he sees swift scenes that he in 305 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,200 some way knows to be parts of a great history in which he has 306 00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:00,040 become involved. In Kairos we see more clearly 307 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,440 what we miss as we go through our daily routines. 308 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,040 We see where our lives fit in the great tale of creation, 309 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,040 fall, redemption and restoration, and we have a sense 310 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:14,400 that our faithfulness matters more than we think. 4th There 311 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,680 seems to be something in the nature of Cairo's time that 312 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,360 gives its participants a desire to create. 313 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,200 Around the table at Bombadil's house, the hobbits find 314 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,640 themselves drawn into the musical language of the place, 315 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,800 the narrator observes. They became suddenly aware that 316 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,280 they were singing merrily, as if it was easier and more natural 317 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,600 than talking. In the Great Hall in Rivendell, 318 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,480 Frodo finds Bilbo intent upon making up a song, and in Loft 319 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,280 Laurie and Frodo himself begins to put something of his sorrow 320 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,720 into halting words. His thought took shape in a song 321 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,640 that seemed fair to him, yet when he tried to repeat it to 322 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,160 Sam, only snatches remained, faded as a handful of withered 323 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,320 leaves. In this way, Cairo's time itself 324 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,720 seems to be generative, which is Makoto Fujimura's term for a 325 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,720 contribution that over time recognizes, produces, or 326 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,800 catalyzes more beauty, goodness and flourishing. 327 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,440 We might recall Hannah and Mary's songs from scripture 328 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:15,240 which are born of their separate encounters with the Almighty. 329 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,160 It seems that being in the presence of the Eternal Creator 330 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,200 sets a resonant sub creative desire ringing in our own souls. 331 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,960 Lastly, and this 5th aspect is mainly shown in Frodo, the three 332 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,880 feasts show us that entering Cairo's time puts us in closer 333 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,000 connection with other times and places. 334 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,440 In Bombadil's house, Frodo dreams about Gandalf being 335 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,320 rescued from a tower by an eagle, an event that actually 336 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,560 takes place about 9 days prior. When he nods off while listening 337 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,920 to Elvis songs in Rivendell, Frodo seems to be swept along by 338 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,240 their power almost. It seems that the words took 339 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,280 shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had 340 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,840 never yet imagined opened up before him, and the firelit hall 341 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,560 became like a golden mist above seas of foam that sighed upon 342 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:06,480 the margins of the world. Then he falls asleep, and there 343 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,720 he wandered long into a dream of music that turned into running 344 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,480 water, and then suddenly into a voice. 345 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,680 It seemed to be the voice of Bilbo chanting verses. 346 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,320 Later, in Lathlorean, Frodo sees an image in Galladriol's mirror 347 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,200 that looks very much like Gandalf, although surely this 348 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,840 could not be as Gandalf fell in Moria. 349 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,840 A figure clothed not in Gray, but in white, A white that's 350 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,320 shone faintly, faintly in the desk, and in its hand there was 351 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,080 a white staff. He has no explanation for the 352 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,920 image, but the vision is clear. Kairos, by its very nature, 353 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,440 allows us a glimpse outside of Kronos time. 354 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,440 And we find, as Kierkegaard reflected regarding the 355 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,680 contemporaries of Christ, that some events are more closely 356 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,880 related and intertwined in the work of eternity than clocks and 357 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:58,120 calendars would have us believe. The whys of Middle Earth know 358 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:02,840 the importance of Kairos time. Bombadil, Elrond and Keliborne 359 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,680 and Galadriel counsel their guests to leave when certain 360 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,160 circumstances have ripened and the time is meet. 361 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:12,320 Not, as my husband noted, on such and such a date at 6:00 PM. 362 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,320 They are living with an awareness of Kairos even though 363 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,880 urgent matters in Kronos time press upon them. 364 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,160 All the feasts they host in their troubled age may be one of 365 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,440 the most important things we witness in reading The Lord of 366 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,320 the Rings today. As creatures who are made to 367 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,840 live in Kronos time, we do not control Kairos. 368 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,600 We cannot force the situation to rightness the way we force 369 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,040 forsythia or Tulip bulbs to flower in winter. 370 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,200 We cannot dictate when eternity should break in and bring its 371 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,680 timeless refreshment and reorientation and creativity and 372 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,360 connection to other points and Saints in history. 373 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,840 But feasting is one of the few active ways that we can make 374 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,920 room for Kairos, through which we can invite eternity in and 375 00:21:57,920 --> 00:21:59,800 ask our Eternal King to do his work. 376 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,400 I think of the feasts I've had the honor of attending, 377 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,560 Thanksgiving meals, dinners with friends, birthday gatherings, 378 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,040 retreats or conferences where relationships were deepened and 379 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:15,400 priceless memories were made. If the hosts hadn't taken the 380 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,400 initiative to host them. If the Anselm Society staff 381 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,880 hadn't planned this weekend for months and months. 382 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,640 If our churches shuttered themselves on Sunday, none of 383 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:26,160 those gifts would have come into being. 384 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,920 Imagine such a feast with me then, patterned after both the 385 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,320 three feasts we have been discussing and the example of 386 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,920 our God who prepares a table before us even in the presence 387 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,640 of our enemies. We begin with preparation. 388 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,360 The guests of our feast are given the opportunity to feel 389 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:48,640 clean and rested and dignified again, like our own master who 390 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,440 Stoops to wash his disciples feet. 391 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,400 Bombadil cries. Come now, my merry friends, and 392 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,480 Tom will refresh you. You shall clean grimy hands and 393 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,920 wash your weary faces, cast off your muddy cloaks and comb out 394 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:04,880 your tangles Before the evening meal at Rivendell, Frodo finds 395 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,280 laid, ready, clean garments of green cloth that fit him 396 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:13,040 excellently. Our table is laden with good 397 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,360 food, something more than bare rations. 398 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,560 The very definition of a feast is that it is more than 399 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,920 necessary, which reminds me of Wendell Berry in his poem The 400 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,680 Mad Farmer's Manifesto, about making more tracks than 401 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,520 necessary. Not excess for the sake of 402 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:33,200 excess, but a joyful expression of abundance that sets this 403 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,360 occasion apart from the usual. At Bombadil's table the hobbits 404 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:40,240 partake of yellow cream and honeycomb and white bread and 405 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,200 butter, milk, cheese and green herbs and ripe berries. 406 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,720 It was a long and merry meal, we are told. 407 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,480 Though the hobbits ate as only famished hobbits can eat, there 408 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,760 was no lack. The drink in their drinking 409 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,560 bowls seem to be clear cold water, yet it went to their 410 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,080 hearts like wine and set free their voices. 411 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,760 This is simple, but plenteous and pleasant, fair, and is 412 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:06,160 redolent of the wine. At the wedding of Cana, which 413 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:12,240 was also good and abundant. Our imagined merrymaking is held 414 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,280 to mark some notable occasion. Whether is it is momentous, as 415 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,200 when Gandalf says at Rivendell. Soon there will be feasting and 416 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:21,760 merrymaking to celebrate the victory at the Ford of 417 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:26,000 Brewingen, and you will all be there in places of honor, or 418 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:29,840 more along the lines of ordinary miracles, as when Goldberry says 419 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,480 the rain has ended and new waters are running downhill 420 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,800 under the stars. Let us now laugh and be glad 421 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,320 Kelleborne and Galadriel hold their parting feast to build to 422 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:46,000 bid their last farewell, and in their words to the fellowship to 423 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,120 speed you with blessings from our land. 424 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,080 The feast prescribed in the Old Testament mark the provision, 425 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,160 redemption and rescue of God's people. 426 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,840 So we celebrate and find occasion for celebration. 427 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,000 And so our imagined feast is also a place for reminding 428 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,720 ourselves of what is old and enduring and good truths that we 429 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,920 already know but need to hear again, so that we meet them as 430 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,840 the Church meets the folds of the liturgical calendar with a 431 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,200 newness that is yet steeped in history year after year. 432 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,280 In such a feast, conversations weave between members of 433 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,600 multiple generations for, as Smith suggests, and how to 434 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,200 inhabit time. If you want to transcend time, 435 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,720 build friendships across generations. 436 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,280 Though you can't stand outside your season, you can hear from 437 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,120 those who've lived through such seasons. 438 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,520 Friendship, in this respect, is akin to time travel. 439 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,280 One gets the sense that when the hobbits ask Tombadil, Tom 440 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,320 Bombadil, excuse me, all sorts of questions on their first 441 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,960 night, or when Frodo watches Elrond, Gloerfendel and Gandalf 442 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,520 seated together. That courage woven by wisdom and 443 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,000 respect between the old and the young and the very, very old is 444 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,520 not a cloth easily torn. And of the elements of our 445 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,480 feasting, perhaps most arresting of all is the art that we have 446 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,800 to offer each other. That is more than the knowledge 447 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:14,480 or skills that we can pass on. Stories and songs and dance and 448 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,040 visual art invite us into the reality of a wider story, 449 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,360 whether in Middle Earth or on present day earth. 450 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:25,760 Come, be still and listen. The sharing of art reminds us 451 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,160 that we still have hearts that can be broken, tears that can be 452 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,840 shed, and nobility hidden in our neighbors. 453 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:37,000 Still, At a feast like this, it is a gift to realize that there 454 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,120 is more goodness in the world than you had thought. 455 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,520 We raise our glasses to our lips and find the bright nourishment 456 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:48,640 of hope flowing into our souls. When Frodo and Sam and all the 457 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,600 rest of the Fellowship find themselves in Italian after the 458 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,680 War of the Ring, and they are rested and washed and clad, a 459 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,680 minstrel of Gondor begins singing the tale of Frodo of the 460 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:04,200 9 Fingers and the Ring of Doom. And all the hosts laughed and 461 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,280 wept, and in the midst of their merriment, in tears, the clear 462 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,760 voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold. 463 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:14,640 And all men were hushed. And he sang to them now in the 464 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,360 elven tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, 465 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:22,360 wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was 466 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,720 like swords, and they passed and thought out to regions where 467 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:29,680 pain and delight flow together, and tears are the very whine of 468 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:35,560 blessedness. We still live in Kronos time. 469 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,040 It is right that we should be mindful of Kronos and even 470 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,560 embrace it, because this is the time in which we are given to 471 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,800 work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and the work that 472 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:47,320 each one of us has been given to do. 473 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,960 The fellowship had their road to travel as the apostles had 474 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:56,360 theirs, and we have ours, but it is in Cairo's time that we are 475 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:00,640 strengthened to do our work. Remember Lucy Pevensey burying 476 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,480 her head in Aslan's mane and lifting her face, no longer 477 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,760 afraid. Remember the example of Christ 478 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,480 at the last, at the Last Supper, with his friends, making ready 479 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,600 for what was to come. We are giving Kairos stops to 480 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,560 remember who we are and who walks with us, especially when 481 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,560 the days are dark and the progress is hard. 482 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,960 Sometimes those stops do not last as long as we'd like, but 483 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,400 what is important is that we accept their welcome. 484 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,000 When Samwise Gangi draws near to the end of his time in L'athe 485 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,120 Lurie and he confesses. I've often wanted to see a bit 486 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:39,480 of magic, like what it tells of an old tales, but I've never 487 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,360 heard of a land better than this. 488 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,040 It's like being at home and on a holiday at the same time. 489 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,640 If you understand me, I don't want to leave. 490 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,680 All the same, I'm beginning to feel that if we've got to go on, 491 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,560 then we'd best get it over. He has been made ready. 492 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,840 Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good 493 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,240 works, not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one 494 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,120 another. And all the more as you see the 495 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,960 day drawing near. The book of Hebrews urges us, 496 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:14,560 and so, even if it should prove hard, to gently rise and softly 497 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,240 call good night and joy be to you all as the song, the parting 498 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,600 glass ruse. Let us raise our cups, look to 499 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,840 Him who is head of both our body and our table, and make room for 500 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,840 the Kairos feast. Thank you for the honor of your 501 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:36,120 time. The Imagination Redeemed podcast 502 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,040 is a production of the Anselm Society. 503 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,320 It's easy to see this world as disenchanted and to give up hope 504 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,000 that there's more. But you were made to see the 505 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,240 world with the eyes of heaven and to live a bountiful life 506 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,240 that participates in the life of God, like in the great stories. 507 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:56,200 To help make the show possible, go to anselmsociety.org/podcast 508 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:00,840 25 and make a donation. The Anselm Society is a place 509 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,800 where you can come in and experience that beauty, joyful 510 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:09,560 celebration, and ancient wisdom and go out renewed, bringing 511 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,360 that life to your vocation, home, and church. 512 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,600 Learn more at anselmsociety.org and join us next time as we 513 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,480 pursue a renaissance of the Christian imagination together.