Luke Pearson

Dear Friends,

For anyone one who does not know already, I am a massive fan of J.R. Tolkien’s, The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I loved reading all three of the books when I was young, and I believe each one of the movies is a cinematic masterpiece. Both the books and the films contain captivating tales of fellowship and adventure, and are filled with recognizable mystical characters such as elves, dragons and wizards. Although these are classic fantasy beings that constantly spark my imagination, there is one species that is my favorite; the Ents of Fangorn Forest. Ents are creatures that resemble talking and walking trees. In the books they are considered to be the “Shepard's” of the forests, protecting them against orcs and other malicious creatures. 

As I was re-reading The Twin Towers, the second book in the trilogy, I read a particular quote from Treebeard, who is the leader of the Ents, that caught my eye. Treebeard is one of the oldest Ents in the forests and he describes how other Ents came to be and appear to those who venture into the forests. “Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them; and they speak only in whispers. But some of my trees are limb-luther, and many can talk to me.”

This quote was profound to me for two reasons. Firstly, it shows that the fates of all creatures are bound together by the earth and its inhabitants. Secondly, the quote emphasizes that even the most immobile and quietest beings need something great to rouse them. 

In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus’s ability to rouse his followers towards his truth. Christ begins by taking a blind man out of the village to try to restore his vision. When Jesus put his hand over the blind man’s eyes and asked if he could see, the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees walking.” Christ then put his hands on the man's eyes again and restored his vision so that he could see more clearly. Jesus also rouses his disciples in the form of questions when he asks them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers correctly when he calls Jesus the Messiah, but Peter is then called Satan by Jesus for rebuking his prophecy of his life, death and resurrection. Like the blind man in the Gospel who can only partly see the people ahead of him when Jesus first touches him, Peter cannot fully see and understand the divine things that are right before him. 

God is our shepherd, and like trees, we are bound together in the eternal forest of the Lord’s love. That love is the essence of what awakes our hearts, minds and spirits to seek God’s glorious works. We are all beloved beings of this earth and God is made known to us by the loudest shouts and the softest whispers. When we are blinded by the pain and suffering in the world, God will take us by the hand and lead us to a place where we can see. Our Savior is always close to us in spirit even when his presence seems distant or clouded. In those moments, Christ will reach out to us again to heal us with hands of mercy and amazing grace. To that I say, thanks be to God!  

Best,
Luke Pearson