What Sort Of Tale Have You Fallen Into?

There are two scenes from a movie and a book that I wanted you to see something from this morning. The first is the opening dialogue from the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and it is a wonderful movie. And the second is from The Lord of the Rings book, The Two Towers.

This is one of my favorite stories of all time, even though it begins in a basement. I'm going to tell it the way it was written by this guy - Bellini - who lives underneath the amazing, the remarkable...Mr. Magorum's Wonder Emporium. And, yes...he sleeps with a dolly.

Bellini's job is to build all the books for all the kids who come to the Emporium. But is also to chronicle the life of Mr. Magorium himslef. Mr. Magorium once made toys for Napoleon, beat Abraham Lincoln at hopscotch and holds the current record for time spent upside down.

There were those who called Magorium a genius. My mom called him an eccentric. And this one guy inexplicably called him"Steve." But Magorium's story was reaching its final chapters. That's okay, all stories, even the ones we love, must eventually come to an end, and when they do it's only an opportunity for another story to begin.

"I don't like anything here at all," said Frodo, "step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid."

"Yes, that so, " said Sam. "And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave 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 folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that say in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually - there paths were laid that was, as you put it. But I expect hey had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on - and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same - like old Mr. Bible. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?"

"I wonder," siad Frodo. "But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't now. And you don't want them to."

"No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that's a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it - and the Silmaril went on a came to Earendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We've got - you've got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end?"

"No, they never end as tales, " said Frodo. "But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later - or sooner."

"And then we can have some rest and some sleep," said Sam. He laughed grimly. " And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning's work int eh garden. I'm afraid that's all I'm hoping for all the time. All the big important plans are not for my sort. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring!" And they'll say: "yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn't he dad?" "Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that's saying a lot."

"It's saying a lot too much, " said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Same suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. "Why, Sam," he said, "to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad?"

"Now, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "you shouldn't make fun. I was serious."

"So was I," said Frodo, "and so I am. We're going on a bit too fast. You and I, Sam, are still stuck in the worst places of the story, and it is all too likely that some will say at this point: "Shut the book now, dad; we don't want to read any more."

"Maybe," said Sam, "but I wouldn't be one to say that. Things done and over and made into part of the great tales are different. Why, even Gollum might be good in a tale, better than he is to have by you, anyway. And he used to like tales himself once, by his own account. I wonder if he thinks he's the hero or the villain?"

These two instances tell me that we are in a story that is being told, and has been being told for a very long time. And we don't really get to choose the story, or even the parts that we play in it. And whether or not we play our parts well all depends on how we interpret what is going on in our lives.

Do we look at life as a challenge to be overcome, or do we just slump our shoulders and succumb to the pressure of the story and give in? I like what Frodo says to Sam about the people in the story, how they don't know what is going to happen, and you don't want them to. Life is like that, you really never know what you are going to get do you? To borrow from John Eldredge's book Epic, you have to enter into the day to find out what your part is. Good or bad, that part is actually immaterial, it is how we participate in the story that determines the outcome.

Life is unpredictable. And for those of us who want to control our environment, that can be very frustrating. But I think that's why God set it up the way He did. Because truthfully the unpredictable life is the one that is an adventure to be lived. Knowing the outcome of every moment of every day would eventually become boring, and people do not want boredom.

I watched the behind the scenes portion of a DVD one time and the actors told how they only received the part of the script that they would be acting the next day, and only their part in the scripts too. That's kind of how things are in the Kingdom of God, you get up each day, pray and seek the Father for what your part is going to be to play for that day. This is why Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day, our daily bread." Not, "Give us this day our allotted bread for the month." It's all a part of God wanting desperately to be in our lives and share them with us.

So what sort of tale have you fallen into? Mine is a great one, one that has been being told for all eternity, and is still being written new each and every day. Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!