Zoom Transcript of SFUU Sunday Service - May 23, 2021: Lord of the Rings Sunday

25 00:06:27.570 --> 00:06:42.000 Pam she/her: Good morning, and welcome to the Sierra foothills unitarian universalists for our Lord of the Rings Sunday service, for which I am dressed in elvin Cape and pin here this morning.

26 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:47.790 Pam she/her: i'm Pam Downs member of the worship committee of this congregation.

27 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:56.580 Pam she/her: Our congregation is served by the Reverend AJ van time, who is available for pastoral care by phone or email.

28 00:06:57.750 --> 00:06:59.430 Pam she/her: we're joined for this service.

29 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:08.640 Pam she/her: By patty leverage our music director and Adrian delay our director of religious education, who will tell the story for all ages.

30 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:14.130 Pam she/her: also live or Domingo provides the vocals for today's special music.

31 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:20.160 Pam she/her: And we are joined by all of you, you are all welcome here today.

32 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:29.850 Pam she/her: And all the beauty of languages, cultures and skin tones that come together in your uniqueness, you are welcome here.

33 00:07:31.110 --> 00:07:35.730 Pam she/her: And all the ways you experienced that express gender, you are welcome here. 34 00:07:37.230 --> 00:07:41.970 Pam she/her: In the beauty, that is, who you love and how you love you are welcome here.

35 00:07:43.320 --> 00:07:56.220 Pam she/her: In all the varied ways you move through and interact with the world, you are welcome here with all the religious and ethical traditions that inform your spiritual life, you are welcome here.

36 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:03.960 Pam she/her: Whether you come feeling despair or hope for our world in its future, you are welcome here.

37 00:08:05.520 --> 00:08:16.500 Pam she/her: Whether you are a writer a Teller a reader or a listener of stories, you are welcome here today as we ponder and explore the Lord of the Rings epic.

38 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:25.890 Pam she/her: And meanings it may have for your own life's journeys, no matter how long you've been away or how soon you will return, you are welcome here.

39 00:08:26.910 --> 00:08:32.460 Pam she/her: You were invited to join with us with an open mind a loving heart and willing hands.

40 00:08:33.630 --> 00:08:34.920 Pam she/her: We welcome you today.

41 00:08:37.410 --> 00:08:53.190 Rev. AJ van Tine: Thank you Pam i'd like to add my own welcome as well it's always wonderful to see everyone here this morning I especially welcome newcomers, we thank you all for spending your Sunday mornings with us and i'd also like to issue a special one, welcome to our.

42 00:08:54.540 --> 00:09:01.980 Rev. AJ van Tine: UAE Pacific Western Region primary contact Annie Scott, who is joining us for worship this morning from Astoria, Oregon.

61 00:12:09.150 --> 00:12:17.280 Rev. AJ van Tine: I invite Pam to begin our worship service by leading us in the lighting of our chalices.

62 00:12:20.520 --> 00:12:24.270 Pam she/her: We light our chalice from these words from the Lord of the Rings.

63 00:12:27.540 --> 00:12:38.250 Pam she/her: All that is gold does not glitter not all those who wander are lost the old that is strong, does not wither deep roots are not reached by the frost.

64 00:12:39.390 --> 00:12:52.080 Pam she/her: from the ashes of fire Shelby woken a light from the shadows shall spring renewed she'll be the blade that was broken the Crown less again she'll be king.

65 00:12:53.490 --> 00:13:02.520 Pam she/her: We light our chalice for the what up for those who wander for the promise of renewal and for the joy and mystery of myth and story.

70 00:16:12.990 --> 00:16:18.240 Rev. AJ van Tine: Thank you, I now invite Adrian deals up to offer our story for all ages.

71 00:16:22.890 --> 00:16:24.180 Adrean Dills: Good morning, everyone.

72 00:16:26.190 --> 00:16:29.280 Adrean Dills: Even if you're the type of person who is happy to.

73 00:16:29.280 --> 00:16:30.270 Adrean Dills: walk around.

74 00:16:30.930 --> 00:16:39.630 Adrean Dills: don't you enjoy the feeling of going fast on a bicycle or in a car from time to time. isn't it exciting?

75 00:16:40.380 --> 00:16:50.820 Adrean Dills: Well, what if, instead of the wind rushing by your face, you have a magical object that made you feel powerful, important and capable.

76 00:16:51.420 --> 00:17:11.460 Adrean Dills: The Lord of the Rings is just such a story about a magical ring that gives the wearer real power, not the feeling of power, but real power to bend others to their will. you'd have to have a really good heart to avoid taking advantage of such a power.

77 00:17:13.020 --> 00:17:26.550 Adrean Dills: And this is the story of the Lord of the Rings. I am going to be challenged here to retell the story and just a few minutes, it is epic but just so we all have a basic understanding of it.

78 00:17:27.060 --> 00:17:41.130 Adrean Dills: let's give it a try. the Lord of the Rings starts in a beautiful little village, full of hobbits. hobbits are simple people who love nature and are happy to live in their little town nestled among their fields.

79 00:17:42.030 --> 00:17:52.980 Adrean Dills: This magical ring has been kept hidden here for many years, but now a powerful sorcerer named Sauron wants to take over the whole of middle Earth.

80 00:17:53.340 --> 00:18:05.880 Adrean Dills: And the ring must be moved from it safe place in hobbit town to the place where it was created and cast into the fire from which it was forged in order to be destroyed.

81 00:18:06.570 --> 00:18:23.640 Adrean Dills: Unfortunately, that place is where Sasuron lives, a scary place called mordor. how can the forces of good get this powerful ring back to mordor and cast it into the fire right under Sauron's nose? 82 00:18:24.300 --> 00:18:38.520 Adrean Dills: Well, another wizard named gandalf has an idea he'll have one of the hobbits take the ring everyone ignores hobbits and they are so good at heart that they might be able to resist using the ring themselves.

83 00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:54.540 Adrean Dills: gandalf sends the ring with a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins. like many young people Frodo wants to go on an adventure but almost as soon as they set out he realizes that this is serious business - it's life and death.

84 00:18:54.990 --> 00:19:12.060 Adrean Dills: And it's really scary. he made a promise, however, so he keeps going. to keep him company Frodo has his best friend Samwis Gamgee Sam is a wonderful friend and he promises to stand by Frodo until the end.

85 00:19:12.690 --> 00:19:28.170 Adrean Dills: to other hobbits named pippin and Merrie end up coming along with them by accident, they are mysterious and brave certainly not trustworthy with the ring or anything else for that matter, but they're good friends to have by your side anyway.

86 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:41.820 Adrean Dills: But a little hobbits get some help from a mysterious warrior named aragorn and an Elf named Arwen. they make it to the safety of the Elf kingdom where they regroup and a Council is convened.

87 00:19:42.390 --> 00:19:48.570 Adrean Dills: That means that a group of leaders gathered together to make some decisions about what should be done with the ring.

88 00:19:49.110 --> 00:19:57.780 Adrean Dills: gandalf was there, along with the Elf king and representatives from the dwarves and the humans, they decide that a group should go together.

89 00:19:58.170 --> 00:20:04.500 Adrean Dills: After all, hobbits are not trained to fight and these guys don't really know where they're going after all. 90 00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:18.030 Adrean Dills: So the four hobbits team up with aragorn and Boromir, who's another human who's worried about his kingdom. Legolas the Elf warrior and Gimle, a dwarf, decided to go along to.

91 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:37.380 Adrean Dills: This is the fellowship of the ring I love that they call themselves a fellowship not an army or a unit, but a fellowship which is like a group of friends and they all set off together again to try to get this terrible ring back to mordor and into the fire.

92 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:46.740 Adrean Dills: Along the way they encounter many dangers and each member of the fellowship is tempted to use the ring themselves.

93 00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:56.820 Adrean Dills: Boromir, for example, thinks that he can save his own kingdom that's a great reason to want a ring of power, but it's not a good idea, right?

94 00:20:57.330 --> 00:21:09.360 Adrean Dills: Samwise at one point starts to feel jealous of Frodo who is suffering under the weight of the ring Why is he so much better than me think Sam wouldn't you think so too.

95 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:16.650 Adrean Dills: They are chased by wraiths which are ghostly warrior kings orcs and other murderous beings.

96 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:30.450 Adrean Dills: They are betrayed by humans and followed by a very sneaky being called gollum who had the ring for many years and wants it back, he is so greedy for it, that he calls it his precious.

97 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:41.700 Adrean Dills: Frodo realizes that anyone who keeps the ring, no matter how good they are at heart, will eventually become like gollum wanting its power, more and more.

98 00:21:42.570 --> 00:21:53.610 Adrean Dills: gandalf tries to help as much as he can, but another wizard name Saroman betrays him because he believes that if he can help the army and mordor he can stay in power to.

99 00:21:54.480 --> 00:22:04.950 Adrean Dills: me and Frodo finds himself alone exhausted at the brink of the volcano, which is the only place that has the power to destroy the ring.

100 00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:16.530 Adrean Dills: He and Gollum fight for it and Frodo who feels like he has not one ounce of strength left in his body is tempted, one more time to use the ring.

101 00:22:17.010 --> 00:22:28.590 Adrean Dills: It is a terrible and difficult situation, but in the end the ring is burned, melted and the forces of good are eventually able to overcome the armies of mordor.

102 00:22:29.850 --> 00:22:37.710 Adrean Dills: I hope I haven't given away too many of the surprises in the book and that you'll have a good idea of how the story goes.

103 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:46.050 Rev. AJ van Tine: Thank you so much, Adrean for that Herculean effort of summary epic story.

104 00:22:47.250 --> 00:22:51.300 Rev. AJ van Tine: Now I invite Pam to offer our reading for this morning.

106 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:11.610 Pam she/her: today's reading is one of the many walking songs that you find intelligent the road goes ever on by bilbo Baggins.

107 00:23:13.800 --> 00:23:34.020 Pam she/her: Roads go ever on an on over rock and under tree by caves were never son has shown by streams that never find the sea over snow by winter sown and through the Mary flowers of June over grass and over stone and under mountains and the.

108 00:23:34.020 --> 00:23:34.410 moon.

109 00:23:35.550 --> 00:23:46.260 Pam she/her: Roads go ever ever on under cloud and under star yet feet that wandering have gone turn at last to home afar.

110 00:23:47.550 --> 00:23:51.960 Pam she/her: eyes that fire and sword have seen and horror and the halls of stone.

111 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:58.050 Pam she/her: Look at last I meadows green and trees and hills they long have known.

112 00:23:59.370 --> 00:24:16.800 Pam she/her: The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began, and now far ahead, the road is gone and I must follow if I can pursuing it with eager feet until it meets some larger way where many paths and aaron's meet.

113 00:24:18.330 --> 00:24:35.490 Pam she/her: The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began now far ahead, the road has gone and I must follow if I can pursuing it with weary feet and tell it meet some large away, where many paths and aaron's meet.

114 00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:38.850 Pam she/her: And whether, then I cannot say.

115 00:24:40.890 --> 00:24:49.170 Pam she/her: The road goes ever on an on out from the door where it began now far ahead, the road is gone.

116 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:55.110 Pam she/her: let others follow if they can let them a journey new begin.

117 00:24:56.700 --> 00:25:05.340 Pam she/her: But I had last with weary feet will turn towards the lighted in my evening rest and sleep to meet. 119 00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:27.000 Rev. AJ van Tine: In our community of mutual care in this congregation we celebrate the great joys of life together and help share the burdens of sorrows and grief and as such we make time in each service each Sunday to share a specific joys and sorrows from the lives of our Members.

120 00:25:28.170 --> 00:25:32.280 Rev. AJ van Tine: If, during the week, you have a joy or sorrow, you would like shared on Sunday.

121 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:42.060 Rev. AJ van Tine: You can email joys and sorrows at my SF you you at any time.org at any time with what you would like shared.

122 00:25:42.870 --> 00:25:48.570 Rev. AJ van Tine: But if you have something that you haven't emailed that you would like to share now, you may type it into the chat bar for others to read.

123 00:25:49.560 --> 00:26:07.710 Rev. AJ van Tine: And, otherwise we have no specific joys and sorrows to share, but we hold all that we bring we have all that we know that each of us brings joyful and sorrowful in our hearts from this past week to this space and aware of all that and holding all of that.

124 00:26:10.020 --> 00:26:14.610 Rev. AJ van Tine: I invite you now into a time of meditation reflection and prayer.

125 00:26:21.090 --> 00:26:24.570 Rev. AJ van Tine: great mystery which grounds us and surrounds us.

126 00:26:26.100 --> 00:26:29.670 Rev. AJ van Tine: divine presence known by many names and, in many ways.

127 00:26:31.590 --> 00:26:44.640 Rev. AJ van Tine: known in tolkien's mythology is very elusive Avatar he that is alone father of all that one ever present a person who is never absent and never named.

128 00:26:47.340 --> 00:27:02.670 Rev. AJ van Tine: May our minds and hearts be aware and open to that which is never absent and never truly named which can be named in 1000 half ways understood uniquely by each human heart.

129 00:27:03.690 --> 00:27:12.390 Rev. AJ van Tine: met and acknowledged through religions, historical and ancient as well as through stories and myths and fantasies within ever have a new.

130 00:27:15.150 --> 00:27:27.480 Rev. AJ van Tine: May we find and cherish those narratives those stories that give us life that helped shape our, meaning that help us find our identities and sharpen our moral imaginations.

131 00:27:28.950 --> 00:27:44.040 Rev. AJ van Tine: They we cherish those heroes great and small, who we come to know as friends seeing the secrets of our own strengths and weaknesses reflected in them and played out using the most ancient of human technologies, the story.

132 00:27:45.060 --> 00:27:48.870 Rev. AJ van Tine: Creating connection and emotion that touches our very core.

133 00:27:51.390 --> 00:28:07.530 Rev. AJ van Tine: We are grateful for these stories whichever stories we each of us may find meaningful we're grateful for these names these many names of the mythic and divine however literally or metaphorically, we may understand them.

134 00:28:08.820 --> 00:28:16.140 Rev. AJ van Tine: And we are grateful for our kith and kin from whom we hear the stories and to whom we tell them in return.

135 00:28:17.580 --> 00:28:39.870 Rev. AJ van Tine: For we are each in our own part of our own stories somewhere along the way some beginnings some endings some stuck in the middle, some journeys there and back again others from which we cannot return, or at least never return, the same as we were.

136 00:28:41.070 --> 00:28:47.850 Rev. AJ van Tine: Some elated in our times of joy others bearing the sting of newfound grief.

137 00:28:49.140 --> 00:28:58.410 Rev. AJ van Tine: Some fighting alone as hard as they can against insurmountable odds others finding support in sucker in the fellowship of friends.

138 00:29:00.600 --> 00:29:09.030 Rev. AJ van Tine: The journey is ever present the roads go on and on the wandering a part of living, our truth.

139 00:29:10.410 --> 00:29:20.940 Rev. AJ van Tine: And when all the other lights go out may we find like the light of a rendell star a boon of otherworldly comfort and solace to give us courage and strength.

140 00:29:21.810 --> 00:29:42.210 Rev. AJ van Tine: In our struggles against the powers of domination and exploitation dehumanization, but we know that violence and justice done upon any can and will spread like a creeping shadow to cover our own beloved homelands affect our own dear friends, if they are not already.

141 00:29:45.510 --> 00:30:01.470 Rev. AJ van Tine: But living mercifully and joining together in fellowship and alliance, we may stem the tide of hate and greed and usher in a new age, prosperity and flourishing for all the creatures of this our own middle Earth.

142 00:30:02.910 --> 00:30:05.190 Rev. AJ van Tine: amen and blessed be.

143 00:30:07.320 --> 00:30:13.800 Rev. AJ van Tine: invite you to continue in the spirit of reflection meditation and prayer as we hear may it be.

145 00:34:47.670 --> 00:34:50.220 Pam she/her: In March of 2020.

146 00:34:51.270 --> 00:34:56.430 Pam she/her: I began an SF U U reflection like this, and I quote.

147 00:34:58.080 --> 00:35:08.490 Pam she/her: before all the recent events, the title of today's service was going to be the wisdom of stories and storytelling inspired by Tolkien reading day march 25.

148 00:35:09.060 --> 00:35:21.150 Pam she/her: The day in the Lord of the Rings that sauron is finally defeated, however, events have overtaken us and the new service deals with the wisdom in the time of the corona virus.

149 00:35:22.350 --> 00:35:22.620 Pam she/her: well.

150 00:35:24.090 --> 00:35:34.350 Pam she/her: Here we are back at the door, where we began with the Lord of the Rings having walked our separate parallel paths through goodness knows what.

151 00:35:35.730 --> 00:35:43.650 Pam she/her: to wear our victory balances on a knife edge To misquote lady Galadriel in the stories.

152 00:35:45.510 --> 00:35:46.620 Pam she/her: My first.

153 00:35:48.270 --> 00:36:09.690 Pam she/her: Exposure to fantasy literature came from two books, I found in the library, when I was in the third grade the Princess and the goblin and at the back of the north wind, but both by George McDonald and influential figure to both CS Lewis and jrr Tolkien the author of the Lord of the Rings.

154 00:36:10.950 --> 00:36:15.420 Pam she/her: I innocently opened those books and I fell in. 155 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:25.800 Pam she/her: I was transported to an imaginary fairy world that required of its heroines and heroes both courage and morality.

156 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:29.910 Pam she/her: Fast forward about 10 years.

157 00:36:31.050 --> 00:36:40.890 Pam she/her: To when I was a freshman in college in 1968 I was at a crossroads in my life, where I was questioning so many things my Christian upbringing.

158 00:36:41.640 --> 00:36:57.720 Pam she/her: The veracity of the government in the face of the Vietnam War and my own future would I choose the sensible and safe path of becoming a high school English teacher or would I cast my fate to the wind and the theater.

159 00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:11.820 Pam she/her: Well, this is when the Lord of the Rings found its way into my hands like power and became the most important book in my life i've now read the trilogy seven times.

160 00:37:13.620 --> 00:37:22.620 Pam she/her: Not long after the first time I like Frodo stepped away from my door and safety and forever was changed by that journey.

161 00:37:23.820 --> 00:37:27.960 Pam she/her: Now fast forward about 50 years or more.

162 00:37:29.160 --> 00:37:36.780 Pam she/her: When the pandemic hit and suddenly a new journey through the valley of the shadow of strange online teaching began.

163 00:37:38.010 --> 00:37:50.580 Pam she/her: I thought, what can I do to help this isolation and despair that so many of my students and some of my friends and frankly I were experiencing.

164 00:37:52.530 --> 00:37:54.810 Pam she/her: gandalf says, and the Lord of the Rings.

165 00:37:56.460 --> 00:38:07.890 Pam she/her: I have found that it is the small things everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay simple acts of kindness and love.

166 00:38:10.740 --> 00:38:30.180 Pam she/her: I decided that I would ring I would read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy out loud on zoom so a small group of mostly students spent April, through the end of July, four nights a week, reading the amazing fantasy together.

167 00:38:31.200 --> 00:38:37.590 Pam she/her: We would spend a little time after discussing what it just happened and what was happening with us.

168 00:38:38.970 --> 00:38:47.880 Pam she/her: I never experienced the book so deeply before my, especially the long poems which one has a tendency to skip over when reading to oneself.

169 00:38:49.110 --> 00:38:57.780 Pam she/her: This group continue to meet once a week once a week after I had to move on to other teaching and directing duties.

170 00:39:00.060 --> 00:39:01.320 Pam she/her: Frodo says.

171 00:39:03.450 --> 00:39:05.790 Pam she/her: I wish the ring had never come to me.

172 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:08.910 Pam she/her: I wish, none of this had happened.

173 00:39:10.200 --> 00:39:11.220 Pam she/her: gandalf says.

174 00:39:13.590 --> 00:39:19.500 Pam she/her: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide.

175 00:39:20.670 --> 00:39:25.860 Pam she/her: All we have to decide, is what to do with the time that has given us.

176 00:39:28.230 --> 00:39:36.870 Pam she/her: There are many, many themes in the trilogy but the one that spoke most to me during last summer's reading.

177 00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:40.620 Pam she/her: Was the idea of fighting the good fight.

178 00:39:41.850 --> 00:39:50.280 Pam she/her: That is is not necessary to be great and powerful to overcome evil or to uplift good.

179 00:39:52.260 --> 00:40:00.690 Pam she/her: In the Lord of the Rings the hobbit Mary knows that he is a very small warrior in the final battles.

180 00:40:02.040 --> 00:40:04.830 Pam she/her: But he volunteers any way to help.

181 00:40:05.970 --> 00:40:06.720 Pam she/her: his friends.

182 00:40:08.430 --> 00:40:17.670 Pam she/her: The blow he strikes against the Lord of the nas school doesn't kill the evil creature, but it sets up the killing blow.

183 00:40:19.470 --> 00:40:29.670 Pam she/her: fighting the good fight also means that we use the gifts that we have to the best of our abilities and that some tasks are appointed to some people.

184 00:40:31.380 --> 00:40:37.170 Pam she/her: When important things are at stake, though, we should step up, even if the task seems daunting. 185 00:40:38.970 --> 00:40:44.070 Pam she/her: Or, to quote a less prestigious epic the TV series the walking dead.

186 00:40:45.150 --> 00:40:47.700 Pam she/her: If you're asked to be a hero, be a dang hero.

187 00:40:49.590 --> 00:40:50.880 Pam she/her: that's on my refrigerator.

188 00:40:53.310 --> 00:41:09.000 Pam she/her: Also moral choices have a cumulative effect a single poor choice like Frodo'sv at the crisis does not counteract the many dangerous and good choices, he had made throughout the quest.

189 00:41:10.470 --> 00:41:13.260 Pam she/her: I had a long talk with myself after I wrote that sentence.

190 00:41:14.790 --> 00:41:22.020 Pam she/her: i've been beating myself up a little about the things i've let slip over the long period of quarantine i'm going to work on that.

191 00:41:23.700 --> 00:41:27.210 Pam she/her: Even failure can be part of the fight of fighting the good fight.

192 00:41:28.980 --> 00:41:34.380 Pam she/her: Think of all the failures that the hardworking scientist made before the successful vaccines were found.

193 00:41:36.630 --> 00:41:37.710 Pam she/her: One of the things.

194 00:41:38.820 --> 00:41:41.940 Pam she/her: That I admire about the folks in this congregation.

195 00:41:43.080 --> 00:41:46.320 Pam she/her: Is their willingness like Frodo and the fellowship.

196 00:41:47.910 --> 00:41:49.140 Pam she/her: To fight the good fight.

197 00:41:50.310 --> 00:41:51.480 Pam she/her: it's inspirational.

198 00:41:52.890 --> 00:41:54.660 Pam she/her: It is the stuff of legends.

199 00:48:25.230 --> 00:48:29.550 Rev. AJ van Tine: Thank you for the gift to that beautiful music patty. it gives you such a.

200 00:48:30.510 --> 00:48:48.600 Rev. AJ van Tine: I think a sense of whether you've seen the movies, and the reminiscent, or if you haven't it's gives you a sense of that epic scale of the stories and the balance of the adventure and action and longing for the peace of that home for the hobbits, of course, in Britain that.

201 00:48:49.680 --> 00:49:03.360 Rev. AJ van Tine: peace and prosperity that we are that you go on the journey to safeguard and also such gratitude for lyra do mingus, of course, for her beautiful singing of the three songs we have another one last song from her to finish off our service.

202 00:49:05.610 --> 00:49:13.470 Rev. AJ van Tine: And, of course, for me, it's the music from the movies, and the movies, is particularly stirring for myself because.

203 00:49:13.890 --> 00:49:25.350 Rev. AJ van Tine: I must admit I fess up that my nerd cred is not quite as strong as patty's I have only read the novels via audio book and even then i've only gotten partway through.

204 00:49:26.190 --> 00:49:37.410 Rev. AJ van Tine: My introduction to Lord of the Rings and what will likely always be my main mode of connecting with that story is through the epic trilogy of movies. 205 00:49:39.330 --> 00:49:49.440 Rev. AJ van Tine: Ada and I both love these films, for a variety of reasons, including of course the depth and excitement and emotional content of tokens saga itself.

206 00:49:49.980 --> 00:50:00.210 Rev. AJ van Tine: but also because of the high quality of the movie making, which unfortunately was not reproduced for the hobbit trilogy but we'll just focus will pretend that doesn't exist and we'll just focus on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

207 00:50:01.290 --> 00:50:16.080 Rev. AJ van Tine: and also this even the story of them these films being made themselves becomes an epic saga of friends triumphing over adversity, the narrative of all the writers actors special effects artists, all this community and.

208 00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:23.790 Rev. AJ van Tine: New Zealand coming together to build what was really a family, a fellowship of artists taking on this massive task.

209 00:50:24.390 --> 00:50:34.830 Rev. AJ van Tine: One that many thought could not be done to translate a beloved and many, including myself, would argue that, at this point, then, essential piece of English literature.

210 00:50:35.160 --> 00:50:44.580 Rev. AJ van Tine: Translating that to the screens huge task it really echoes and mirrors the tasks and relationships of the members of the fellowship of the ring.

211 00:50:45.930 --> 00:50:57.300 Rev. AJ van Tine: Of course we know as art imitates life and life imitates art, many of the actors played roles within their troupe of actors and within the production company.

212 00:50:57.780 --> 00:51:13.470 Rev. AJ van Tine: akin to their characters right so Elijah wood is the central main character and Sean Aston who played Sam wise Ganji took on the role of caring for Elijah and attending to his needs, as did Sam wise game G take care of Frodo. 213 00:51:15.300 --> 00:51:25.770 Rev. AJ van Tine: Ian mckellen, of course, playing the wise wizard gandalf Ian mckellen is the wise old actor who gives sage advice and mentorship to many of the younger and newer actors involved.

214 00:51:27.210 --> 00:51:39.450 Rev. AJ van Tine: And viggo Mortensen who plays aragorn takes on the mantle of the leader of the fellowship of the crew as the natural leader who eventually he says yes to his destiny as king.

215 00:51:42.090 --> 00:51:54.720 Rev. AJ van Tine: And so having developed a beloved familiarity with the Lord of the Rings films and the saga of their creation Ada and I have at least twice during these past 14 months of pandemic.

216 00:51:55.200 --> 00:52:05.910 Rev. AJ van Tine: We found ourselves coping with the stress and anxiety and trauma of everything by watching the 11th hour epic the extended versions of these movies.

217 00:52:07.110 --> 00:52:14.400 Rev. AJ van Tine: Multiple times just on repeat, we finish return of the King we're very sad because it's all over, and then we start right back at the beginning with.

218 00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:19.800 Rev. AJ van Tine: Well, with the epic prologue but then with Putin and the shire and all the green pastoral hills.

219 00:52:20.430 --> 00:52:28.350 Rev. AJ van Tine: Sometimes will shake it up with one of the for audio commentaries by the actors and the writers and producers of the special effects artists.

220 00:52:29.160 --> 00:52:34.560 Rev. AJ van Tine: And of course we can't forget about the entire making of documentary which is found in the.

221 00:52:34.800 --> 00:52:44.160 Rev. AJ van Tine: What they call the appendices really just the special features on the original DVDs which constitute another several hours of storytelling and magic that's where that story of.

222 00:52:44.460 --> 00:52:53.760 Rev. AJ van Tine: The actors and the crew and the special effects and everybody coming together to go on this, many years long journey together, where that story is told.

223 00:52:56.100 --> 00:53:01.050 Rev. AJ van Tine: And it also hasn't just been with Lord of the Rings that we've been watching things.

224 00:53:01.770 --> 00:53:11.370 Rev. AJ van Tine: That we've seen again right we spent a lot of time choosing to rewatch old favorite movies and TV shows in this pandemic and it turns out, many people have done this, perhaps you have.

225 00:53:11.820 --> 00:53:29.640 Rev. AJ van Tine: as well, there are a number of articles that you can find published during the pandemic and even some since the election of 2016 that'll basically answer the question that will pose as the headline of something like Why do I keep watching the same TV shows over and over again.

226 00:53:31.230 --> 00:53:38.190 Rev. AJ van Tine: Well, from one of these articles written by mallory Rocha watching the same thing multiple times gives you a calming effect.

227 00:53:38.670 --> 00:53:47.550 Rev. AJ van Tine: That researchers crystal Russell and Sydney levy have termed as experiential control which provides you emotional regulation.

228 00:53:48.390 --> 00:54:06.780 Rev. AJ van Tine: Because you've seen that film or TV show before you already know how the story is going to end, which means that you already know how you'll feel when it ends, whether it's happiness relief sadness or anger this emotional payoff is something that only old favorites can guarantee.

229 00:54:09.750 --> 00:54:22.770 Rev. AJ van Tine: Now this again is a phenomenon that's found with what re watching multiple shows, whatever it may be, but I also think there's something more powerful even with Lord of the Rings at least I found that for Ada and myself.

230 00:54:23.940 --> 00:54:33.630 Rev. AJ van Tine: The fact is, there's something comforting about watching a story about regular everyday hobbits struggling against Great Powers far beyond their can.

231 00:54:34.170 --> 00:54:47.250 Rev. AJ van Tine: and trying to do their part and experiencing real trauma in the process, as we ourselves are every average everyday people trying to live through epic difficult times in our human history and society.

232 00:54:48.480 --> 00:54:53.430 Rev. AJ van Tine: And of course it's not hard to imagine token in his life that, as he was writing these stories.

233 00:54:53.820 --> 00:55:01.200 Rev. AJ van Tine: He was as he was creating this world of middle earth as a history and a home for his invented language that he was also processing his own.

234 00:55:01.650 --> 00:55:11.250 Rev. AJ van Tine: Life experiences and trauma as a veteran of world wars, even though he was very clear that sorrow and was not an allegory for Hitler or the ring for the atomic bomb.

235 00:55:11.730 --> 00:55:24.810 Rev. AJ van Tine: He had a lot of harsh words for CS Lewis and the topic of allegory but even as he was clear about this it's hard not to imagine that, of course, he was informed by his own experience of trauma and war.

236 00:55:25.560 --> 00:55:34.290 Rev. AJ van Tine: And he must have found some processing or some solace in his admittedly genius participation in that ancient tradition of storytelling.

237 00:55:36.180 --> 00:55:45.330 Rev. AJ van Tine: Much of the story of Lord of the Rings touches on those questions of finding hope in dark times or finding out how to do the right thing.

238 00:55:45.720 --> 00:56:02.460 Rev. AJ van Tine: of maintaining our humanity and resisting the lure of selfishness and greed and acknowledging and accepting the limits of our own strength and finding the potential of enduring strength in relationship and fellowship and trust.

239 00:56:05.340 --> 00:56:14.730 Rev. AJ van Tine: Because, as much as we may spin a yarn of epic fantasy all storytelling in some degree, is telling our own stories and hearing their own stories.

240 00:56:15.330 --> 00:56:23.220 Rev. AJ van Tine: And the most evocative and enduring stories that are passed down from generation to generation, because they are so because they invoke.

241 00:56:23.550 --> 00:56:36.300 Rev. AJ van Tine: These you those universal themes that i've just listed, they are helpful applicable to people living out their own stories and trying to make sense of this difficult and often obscure life that we live.

242 00:56:38.220 --> 00:56:47.580 Rev. AJ van Tine: And not just as Lord of the Rings a story that can help us do that, but the characters themselves do this the characters live within cultures with rich storytelling traditions.

243 00:56:47.910 --> 00:56:54.660 Rev. AJ van Tine: And they model, the use of these stories to process and frame their own experiences, even as they're going through them.

244 00:56:55.620 --> 00:57:09.120 Rev. AJ van Tine: And I read you a small excerpt from the near the end of the two towers it's a one point where Frodo is overwhelmed and feels like giving up and Sam comforts him and gives him the following speech.

245 00:57:12.330 --> 00:57:22.980 Rev. AJ van Tine: I don't like anything here at all said Frodo step or stone breath or bone earth, air and water all see my cursor but so our path is laid.

246 00:57:24.630 --> 00:57:31.110 Rev. AJ van Tine: Yes, that's so said, Sam and we shouldn't be here at all if we'd known more about it before we started.

247 00:57:32.520 --> 00:57:34.530 Rev. AJ van Tine: But I suppose it's often that way.

248 00:57:35.700 --> 00:57:49.080 Rev. AJ van Tine: The brief things in the old tales and songs Mr Frodo adventures, as I used to call them I used to think that they were things the wonderful folks of the stories went out and looked for because they wanted them.

249 00:57:50.160 --> 00:57:56.010 Rev. AJ van Tine: Because they were exciting and life was still a kind of sport, you might say.

250 00:57:57.360 --> 00:58:02.520 Rev. AJ van Tine: But that's not the way of it but that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered.

251 00:58:04.620 --> 00:58:06.810 Rev. AJ van Tine: Or the ones that stay in the mind.

252 00:58:08.100 --> 00:58:22.740 Rev. AJ van Tine: folks seem to have been just landed in them, usually their paths were laid that way as you put it, but I expect they had a lot of chances, like us, of turning back only they didn't.

253 00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:29.160 Rev. AJ van Tine: And if they had we shouldn't know because they'd have been forgotten.

254 00:58:35.940 --> 00:58:36.990 Rev. AJ van Tine: Even after.

255 00:58:38.010 --> 00:58:50.760 Rev. AJ van Tine: Even after all the fighting and traveling across countryside and wasteland is over the fictional characters in this story also go ahead and tell their own stories to the future generations.

256 00:58:51.840 --> 00:59:02.610 Rev. AJ van Tine: For instance, the original novel by token, the hobbit it actually exists within the fictional universe, because bilbo Baggins wrote this story about his own adventures.

257 00:59:03.690 --> 00:59:18.780 Rev. AJ van Tine: And while I believe that it's an invention of Peter Jackson to have the movies repeat that theme, they have a closing scene, where Frodo puts the finishing touches on his own novel or rather his work of history, called the Lord of the Rings.

258 00:59:20.310 --> 00:59:29.370 Rev. AJ van Tine: And, of course, many of those long poems that pan pan mentioned are actually written by the characters within the story.

259 00:59:30.540 --> 00:59:46.170 Rev. AJ van Tine: Including the text that we used to light our chalice this morning in the movies it's sort of presented as this prophecy and it's just recited by the Elf made an hour window because it's about aragorn and his his journey to reclaim the throne of the king.

260 00:59:47.370 --> 00:59:57.360 Rev. AJ van Tine: But in the novels it's it's not it's not a prophecy in the novels but it's more clear that it's poetry written by the unassuming hobbit bilbo about the great ranger aragorn.

261 00:59:58.980 --> 01:00:15.870 Rev. AJ van Tine: And, as all good poetry and story does it is at once very specific, in particular, about this one character aragorn and it's words ECHO in our hearts putting articulation to universal sentiments.

262 01:00:18.450 --> 01:00:25.110 Rev. AJ van Tine: All that is gold, not all that is gold i'm sorry, all that is gold does not consider.

263 01:00:26.160 --> 01:00:29.280 Rev. AJ van Tine: Not all who those who wander are lost.

264 01:00:31.290 --> 01:00:39.300 Rev. AJ van Tine: I actually had this on an old T shirt that I got from a unitarian universalist conference way back when with that line about wandering on it.

265 01:00:40.590 --> 01:00:47.910 Rev. AJ van Tine: Now, although the staunch Catholic Tolkien was hardly thinking of religious pluralism and finding our own paths when he wrote it.

266 01:00:48.630 --> 01:00:55.920 Rev. AJ van Tine: This is still a phrase that so clearly describes how you our unitarian universalism calls us to a wandering.

267 01:00:56.430 --> 01:01:12.900 Rev. AJ van Tine: An individual journey informed by a panoply of religious sources which might make us look last to some others out there, but it is in fact the embodiment of our conviction that it is the journey, not the destination, which defines us.

268 01:01:15.240 --> 01:01:21.840 Rev. AJ van Tine: To continue the verse the old that is strong, does not wither deep roots are not reached by the frost.

269 01:01:23.100 --> 01:01:33.570 Rev. AJ van Tine: Again, that line speaks to aragorn longer than normal lifespan given his kingly lineage and the power that he still wields even as his ancestors empire has fallen into ruin.

270 01:01:35.310 --> 01:01:36.090 Rev. AJ van Tine: And also.

271 01:01:37.500 --> 01:01:53.850 Rev. AJ van Tine: As I find myself using these words in the role of a sacred texts for a worship service, I hear them balance and they caution the wanderings of our pluralism and our freedoms from the lines before they bring in the responsible part of our search for truth and meaning. 272 01:01:55.230 --> 01:01:58.830 Rev. AJ van Tine: We must have deep roots to survive the frost.

273 01:01:59.730 --> 01:02:09.960 Rev. AJ van Tine: So while we have freedom to articulate our own beliefs, whatever they may be, we also would do well to ensure that they are deep and strong and will hold up in times of crisis.

274 01:02:10.410 --> 01:02:19.080 Rev. AJ van Tine: That they will help us process and make meaning of life, help us to tell our own stories, even in the winters and the dark ages of our own journeys.

275 01:02:21.270 --> 01:02:34.530 Rev. AJ van Tine: To finish the poem from the ashes of fire shall be woken a light from the shadows shall spring renewed Shelby blade that was broken the Crown list again shall be king.

276 01:02:37.380 --> 01:02:44.400 Rev. AJ van Tine: Echoing, of course, some of the prophetic traditions of Judaism and Christianity, which of course Tolkien was fully committed to as a Catholic.

277 01:02:45.180 --> 01:02:54.660 Rev. AJ van Tine: These lines of verse emphasize that the Lord of the Rings is a story of renewal of hope of victory against the forces of evil and destruction.

278 01:02:55.290 --> 01:03:03.090 Rev. AJ van Tine: of ordinary acts of love and justice and simplicity, overcoming an insurmountable tide of industry and evil and empire.

279 01:03:03.780 --> 01:03:16.890 Rev. AJ van Tine: It is a story of endings and beginnings, with the destruction of sorrow on the fourth age begins, but the elves are leaving middle earth and returning to the shores of the undying lands.

280 01:03:18.330 --> 01:03:32.970 Rev. AJ van Tine: Those in the fellowship of the ring are forever changed by their experience some even losing their place in middle earth in the saving of it as Frodo and the other ring bearers to must go to the undying lands.

281 01:03:34.590 --> 01:03:52.800 Rev. AJ van Tine: The ending of the epic has such a bittersweet tinge to it as the friends who endured so much adventure and adversity, together, have to go to their separate fields and the world of magic and mystery begins to fade and change into the world of men.

282 01:03:54.390 --> 01:03:59.280 Rev. AJ van Tine: And yet there is a relief and a lightness because an evil has been overcome.

283 01:04:01.410 --> 01:04:07.710 Rev. AJ van Tine: It is an ending as beautiful and terrifying and sad as the mystery of death itself.

284 01:04:08.820 --> 01:04:15.960 Rev. AJ van Tine: Another universal theme of our mortality, this time explored through this immortal legend.

285 01:04:19.290 --> 01:04:31.650 Rev. AJ van Tine: And so, whether Lord of the Rings is one of these immortal myths for you or if a more ancient and traditional sacred text contains the stories that companion your life and help you make meaning.

286 01:04:32.490 --> 01:04:50.010 Rev. AJ van Tine: Or if it is the story of a loved one or an ancestor or simply the animals have your own adventures through life or if you're still searching still listening to the abundance of stories in the great archive of human culture in history for the story that speaks to you.

287 01:04:51.270 --> 01:05:10.500 Rev. AJ van Tine: Wherever you are on this journey, I hope that you can see the NIH inexhaustible capacity for human stories and storytelling to comfort us to challenge us to give a sage counsel, as well as grave warnings, as my beloved old wizard.

288 01:05:13.530 --> 01:05:20.310 Rev. AJ van Tine: Let us then hold it dearly to that core promise of our unitarian universalist story. 289 01:05:21.660 --> 01:05:30.480 Rev. AJ van Tine: and whatever we call sacred these for each of us to discover and to claim and to share with one another joyfully.

290 01:05:31.860 --> 01:05:34.590 Rev. AJ van Tine: made ever be so and blessing be.

301 01:10:13.740 --> 01:10:29.610 Pam she/her: It is said that the offering is the sacrament of the free church, that is to say everything this congregation is and has is only what we bring to it, our time our talents and our treasures.

302 01:10:31.020 --> 01:10:36.960 Pam she/her: in person, this is embodied by the powerful ritual of literally passing the plate and chipping in.

303 01:10:38.220 --> 01:10:48.090 Pam she/her: With our online services, however, we ask that you contribute to our collection after the service by going to our website or using text to give.

304 01:10:49.800 --> 01:10:52.890 Pam she/her: us as part of the ethic of generosity.

305 01:10:53.940 --> 01:11:00.720 Pam she/her: We also split our monthly collection with a local community organization aligned with our values.

306 01:11:01.560 --> 01:11:22.860 Pam she/her: This month, the share the plight recipient is Sierra streams institute a local scientific community dedicated to environmental conservation and land and water stewardship stewardship its mission is to link water science and people for the benefit of human, environmental health.

307 01:11:24.060 --> 01:11:41.940 Pam she/her: The building and everything in it that house Sierra streams burned to the ground during the Jones fire on August 18 2020 and they are in the process of raising funds to replace vital equipment and sustain their organization during the recovery process.

308 01:11:43.680 --> 01:11:45.450 Pam she/her: Thank you for your generosity.

310 01:11:55.410 --> 01:11:59.400 Rev. AJ van Tine: I offer you these words in benediction as we close our service.

311 01:12:00.840 --> 01:12:18.720 Rev. AJ van Tine: They will never stop telling stories and may we together make a community which celebrates all stories forging a fellowship across diversity of origins and diversity of font full of friends who will support each other as the road goes on and off.

312 01:12:20.640 --> 01:12:25.920 Rev. AJ van Tine: Please join me in our words to extinguish the chalice as we go forth there we carry the.

313 01:12:26.250 --> 01:12:26.820 Pam she/her: flame.

314 01:12:27.000 --> 01:12:29.280 Rev. AJ van Tine: of peace and love and until we.

315 01:12:29.610 --> 01:12:31.650 Pam she/her: meet again blessed be.