The opening chapters of The Fellowship always serve to draw me deeply into the story right away. This time was no exception, and the life portrayed in the Shire seems particularly winsome and wonderful. I am no friend of “agrarianism” as an ideology, but the quiet country life of the hobbits just seems so appealing. One thing that grabbed me this time was the fellowship that these folk enjoy with one another as they live and work together. Sam and the Gaffer can sit and enjoy a pint with Ted Sandyman even though Mr. Sandyman is a bit of a turd (and later proves to be quite a turd). Why do they fellowship with a sometimes irritating fellow like Ted? It seems to me that if we were to ask the Old Gaffer why he wouldn’t understand the question. Who else are we going to drink beer with? He’s our neighbor, our fathers were friends, and so on. We are trying to build a sense of parish at TCC, but it’s terrifically difficult. That’s partly because our parishioners farthest to the northwest live about 70 miles from the folk who live southeast of the city, with everyone else spread out in between. It is hard to “share life together” under those conditions, and thus when we are together, it is usually a church event or a planned get together. I don’t run into my folk at the market or the pub or while walking down a sidewalk. This is all a well documented failing of modernity, of course, but the solution is not immediately apparent. And the result is that because I leave my neighborhood to be with TCC folk, I don’t know my neighbors at all. (That’s also partly because my Espaňol isn’t so sharp anymore.) De-compartmentalizing life is easier dreamed than done.
There are a couple of other things from this trip to the Shire that aroused some thoughts, and I’ll write about them later.
Honoring the King
2 responses so far ↓
williamso // at
Good applications from LOTR. I think that a strong community is one of the most attractive things about the Shire . . . for me anyway.
Cathe // at
This is a very true comment about modern community. The Internet has further complicated the situation by making it easy to find a set of like-minded friends who are convenient and undemanding. My emotional and social needs are met online by very good friends - some of whom I have never met in real life. This is a blessing, to be sure, but it also prevents me from seeking friends in my community and establishes a standard of “likemindedness” so high that it’s unlikely that many people in my own town would interest me! And since my needs are met, I am not motivated to search far. And yet… it does keep me from wandering from house to house! LOL… Internet friends are easy to work into my schedule. I can breakfast with them after getting my guys off to work and school, work all morning, check in on them at lunchtime, have a coffee break with them later in the day… all the while managing to accomplish my own work at home!
I don’t neglect the local body, but it’s also a valid point that it’s harder and harder for a woman to find other local women who are committed to being “keepers at home” - even in the church. When the working women ARE at home, their time is (rightly) taken up by their own family’s needs. It’s hard to find a strong community when no one is home!
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