Kids’ Doc in Jos

Saralynn’s husband David was away doing exams last week–a difficult exam with a low pass rate, two weeks away from home, in a city that’s hot and uncomfortable even for Nigerians. And he passed the exam! Congratulations, David! While he was away, Saralynn and I started working our way again through The Lord of the Rings films. Each film in the extended version is some four hours long, and we didn’t even get through the entire second film, "The Two Towers," but it was fun, anyway.

 Courage is one of the great themes of The Lord of the Rings. Whether in the main quest of Frodo to destroy the ring in Mount Doom, or in the various sub-plots, the characters are constantly struggling against seemingly impossible odds to do what is needed, to do what is right, to do their duty.

Professor Michael Drout of Wheaton College (Massachusetts, not Illinois) has a very interesting lecture series on fantasy literature titled "Rings, Swords and Monsters," which Barb and I listened to while on the road in the US early this year. At least half the lectures are about Tolkien and his trilogy. Drout made a particular point about courage that has really stuck with me. He reminded us, first, that sloth was one of the traditional seven deadly sins. I always figured that "sloth" just meant laziness in general, didn’t you?

Drout, though, says that its original meaning, at least as one of the deadly sins, was not laziness, but inaction because of giving up hope when all the odds are against you. It’s succumbing to hopelessness and despair.

I can certainly relate to that as a person and as a missionary. I see so many ruins — good causes gone astray; spiritual mentors crashed and burned; idealism and good will that seems to bloom again and again but is always blasted by the scorching sun of African realities; my own weakness and failures. It’s such a bother to keep trying. Sloth then, as it applies to me, is letting myself focus on these things and say, "What’s the use? Why not just coast? Why not just let life go by, do what’s easy?"

In The Lord of the Rings, sloth (personified by Wormtongue) has turned King Théoden from a brave ruler to a passive shadow, waiting for the events of the world, unwilling and unable any longer to work, fight, risk, and sacrifice to try to change those events. It takes an exorcism by Gandalf to restore Théoden’s courage.

That’s the kind of en-couragement I need, we all need, to clear away the cobwebs from my brain, shake me by the shoulders, dunk my face in ice water, whatever it takes to get me back on track. So, the next time you think of "encouraging" your missionary friend directly or in prayer, don’t think (only) of the soft side of encouragement, but also of this en-couragement that exorcises my sloth and replaces it with courage.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 7:19 am and is filed under Mike's jottings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.