The Shire is the place where home and family are the center of everything - where life is lived as if people mattered.
It is where the young are nurtured and protected until they are prepared to 'leave the nest and fly on their own'. It is a place of games and fun and parties. It is a place hidden away from the grossness of the ways of the world. (Think Mordor).
The Shire is nestled in a natural setting with a love of nature and the care of it being interwoven into the daily lives of all who live there.
It is a place of ideals - love of neighbor, love of country, love of God. It is where duty, self-sacrifice, fair play, and honesty are respected and are not laughed at.
I love the 'Shire'. I have longed for it, tried to hang on to it, worked to build it into my own life. The pictures and poems on my sidebar and in my posts are some of the many things that invoke the memory of the Shire to me. Some would say that the literature I read and the writing I do is just nostalgia; but I know that it is a search for truth and the true way of living in a world gone mad.
2 comments:
Your Shire is a beautiful place. And your outlook and efforts keep it a beautiful place :o)
After being away from the news/current events for many years, I recently began following again - in an effort to teach current events/politics/worldview to my oldest…..
And I am left speechless - the words you used exactly: they have all gone mad!
I wonder if Tolkien's books are a providential gift to us in this "age". . .aren't there just so many themes that relate exactly to what our times are dealing with (even though it is many decades since he wrote his books)?
It is a beautiful & comforting thing to be reminded that it really is OKAY to just simply live "a quiet life, minding your own business & working with your hands; dependent on no one." (1 Thess. 4)
Turning my radio OFF today and trying to forget all the horrifying details of our world. GOING to play in our garden & bake my kiddos a cake :-)
"I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in authority - SO THAT we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God…. (1 Tim. 2)"
I'm thinking THAT is about all a Mama needs to concern herself with, in regard to current events.
Thanks so much for this post - I love your Shire! So do your grandkiddos, who keep asking to visit Grandma's beautiful house again :-)
Sorry I wrote a whole post here……going to give you a call later this morning!
Love,
Collette
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