Understanding Spirituality and Culture through Christ
What Virgil was for Dante in Divine Comedy, Tolkien was for my in my reading journey. He opened up a new intellectual avenue for me to my heart, I travelled this highway back to literature.
Read MoreThe account, of Souron and the Numenorean men, is a retelling of the Genesis chapter 3 account of the Fall of man. In Genesis the devil, in the form of the serpent, plants an idea in the mind of Adam and Eve - the idea that God was "holding out on them." God was preventing them from eating the fruit, becoming God-like. Once Adam and Eve allowed this distrustful seed to take root, the bait was taken.
Read MoreNext time you see the see the Sun and the Moon, hopefully, it will not merely an incandescent ball of fire and a cold crater ridden piece of rock, rather your heart will be drawn to the unrequited love story between the angelic beings, Tilion and Arien. May be, it is not as unrequited as I make it to be, thanks to the eclipses! And the brilliance of Illuvathar's creation... pointing back to the brilliance of God's handiwork.
Read MoreTrees are spiritual because they have deep roots, roots that are unseen but their strength comes from their deep roots. Just like the trees, the deep roots of my own spirituality are not seen outside but it is those deep roots that strengthen me. The trees are also a place where many living things find their abode. . Christ is the one in whom I find my adobe and rest in. If I am deeply rooted in Christ, and grow out of Christ, then I will become an extension of Christ’s love that points people to the rest in Christ. The tree is a deeply mysterious being which reflects God’s nurturing and life giving side. So being among big trees in the evening was to be mystic presence of God.
Read MoreAt the end of fourth movement, Tchaikovsky resolves the music into a final victory over sorrowful Fate. Experiencing the release of musical deeply drawn tension helped me realize why someone would want to listen to it over and over again, as a way of feeling Gospel hope breaking into sorrow, during a times of trail as in WWII or as in the struggle against pervasive compulsions, the Original Sin.
Read MoreHappiness is an allegory as happiness is always pointing to something else. One does not get to rest in happiness. On the other hand unhappiness makes for a better story because suffering and struggle makes for a good story. If the prince did not have to suffer crossing seven seas, climbing seven mountains, defeating seven monsters to get to the princess, it wouldn't be meaningful story or romance. In fact, one could almost say, blessed are the unhappy for it makes their story more meaningful (Matt 5:4). That is why unhappiness in not (always) a bad things after all.
Read MoreTolkien's Hobbit world, in which I wish I was living in, as of today, having crossed over my 33rd year, I would no longer be considered a Tween. Between ages 20 and 33, the Hobbits were considered to be in their "irresponsible twenties" - the tweens.
Read MoreAfter 10 years of working in the Software field, here I, on my last day of work am looking back with happy contentment and looking forward with an anxious excitement! Looking back to the cherished times I enjoyed working in the twilight zone between human beings and technology. Looking forward to the adventurous journey of going to Seminary to pursue my call to become a Theologian, Writer and Preacher, where I will navigate through the world of timeless ideas to bring new meaning into the lives of people.
Read MoreIn the depths of deep despair, when we appear to be lost tumbling about in void without a sense of orientation of who we are and what we are to do, we will do ourselves a favor by reminding ourselves of the our true place in the BIG Story of redemption that God is writing.
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