A Healing Obsession

Fifty Times-Plus
Reads for The Lord of the Rings

I have a confession to make. I have read The Lord of the
Rings by J. R. Tolkien more than 50 times over the past thirty-two
years beginning with a course requirement while in my last year of
undergraduate school, many lifetimes, it seems, ago.

I’ve just finished watching the extended version of the
movie on DVD for probably the tenth time. Fortunately, because my son is home for the summer before starting
graduate school, I was even happier to not watch it alone. He is quite an avid fan himself.

 
The Heroic Quest

I am a sucker for The
Heroic Quest. When I was a child my
mother used to take my brother and me to our local branch of the library every
week, where I managed to read every book on fairy tales the library
possessed. 

I have an insatiable hunger for myths, and agree with some
literary critics who say The Lord of
the Rings was the finest example of a great myth written in the
twentieth century.

I believe all the elements of the heroic quest are
wonderfully exemplified by Tolkien in this great epic, which offers the
essentials for spiritual survival and ultimate happiness in one’s lifetime. 

 

My List for Spiritual
Happiness and Completion

 
So here is my “list”, in no particular order:

1. We are meant to
undertake a Great Quest to complete a well-lived life of personal
transformation. It is our birthright and
our greater destiny – how we are meant to offer ultimate service, including sacrifice,
in the world – that creates and extends our authentic integrity.

2. Great Quests are
not taken alone. Companions are meant to
accompany us, and they pretty much present themselves in “right order” as
needed.

3. These are
archetypal journeys, meant to express great themes that inspire and extend us
as human beings, far beyond what we might assume is our real capability.

4. They engage our
whole beings, and require courageous choice-making – even  demand from us our complete willingness to
offer our lives, if necessary, to complete the heroic mission that presents
itself.

5. In that sense, and
perhaps in related others, heroic quests include an essential sacrifice that
ends up being our key to greater transformation.

6. As a result of
experiencing our heroic quest, our relationships, our greater purpose and our
world view profoundly change for the greater good.

7. Heroic quests
always involve understanding and practicing magic.  

 

The Mystical Number
of Spiritual Completion

Speaking of which, the number seven is considered to be a
mystical number of spiritual completion. Consider your inner call to embark on a heroic quest that fulfills all
of the above seven elements.

Might you already be fully engaged in a heroic quest that
begs to transform your life, and bring you to greater creativity and
service? Imagine this is true.

 

My Closing
Recommendation for You

Here is my closing recommendation for you. Settle back comfortably, close your eyes,
take a couple of deep, cleansing breaths – and imagine yourself experiencing a Great Heroic Quest.

Make sure all the above seven points are covered. When it’s all over, take a little more time
and write it all down.

 

Enough to Shake the
World

Now consider what would happen in your life if you brought
your Heroic Quest into it as fully and creatively as possible. That is your exact blueprint for spiritual
transformation and happiness.

We are all versions of Frodo Baggins – and that is enough to
shake the world, which begs us to participate in all ways that touch and
inspire us.