Tolkien's Father Christmas Letters

 

I've drawn you pictures of everything that happened - Polar Bear telling a story after all the tea things had been cleared away; me finding Polar Bear in the snow, and Polar Bear sitting with his feet in hot mustard and water to stop him shivering. It didn't - and he sneezed so terribly he blew five candles out.

Still he is all right now - I know because he has been at his tricks again: quarrelling with the Snowman (my gardener) and pushing him through the roof of his snow house: and packing lumps of ice instead of presents in naughty children's parcels. That might be a good idea, only he never told me and some of them (with ice) were put in warm storerooms and melted all over good children's presents!

- Letters from Father Christmas, J.R.R. Tolkien

We all recall when we were little the magic of Christmas. We could feel it all over town, in stores, at home, in church. There was something special about the season - maybe special traditions, a tall Christmas tree, visits from Santa, a new red dress to wear, carols that sing of Jesus as a baby, etc. Whatever memories might come to your mind, did you receive letters from Father Christmas? Maybe you did not, but J.R.R. Tolkien's children did.

The book that collects these letters (all the drawings, letters, and envelopes) and compiled were really spread out over twenty years that Tolkien created these intricate and creative letters to his children. Even when the children outgrew it, they delighted in it so much they encouraged their continuation. The story from Father Christmas at the North Pole along with North Polar Bear, the snow-elves, red gnomes, cave-bears, and goblins continues year after year. To find out what happens next, the children have to wait a whole year. Could we ever wait a whole year for the next installment? Children likely have more patience than us adults, especially when it comes to a story.

Returning to these letters is delightful. It's full of shaky handwriting, P.S. notes from North Polar Bear, and drawings of the disastrous things that occur there at the North Pole. Using languages adapted from Quenya (Elvish language of Tolkien's Middle-earth) and possibly Spanish, he writes a Goblin language and an Artic language. Over the years there are storms that hit the North Pole, a visit from the Man in the Moon, the Polar Bear falls down the stairs whilst carrying all the parcels, the tall pole breaks in the middle when Polar Bear climbs it and falls through the roof resulting in damaged parcels and then he had to move house and Polar Bear's leg got broken, and more. 

There's a lot going on at the North Pole, Father Christmas and North Polar Bear are very busy, and Tolkien had the inside scoop, using his imagination. It makes me think of how much more creative I was a child, writing silly stories, cutting out decorations, building paper chains, writing cards. Can we capture some of that creative spirit as adults? Absolutely. Take a couple hours this afternoon. Draw something. Write a silly story. Write a poem. Write a letter. Make up a play. Make something out of paper. I bet you have something to share or some talent in there, some memory from childhood or an imagination to set a world alive. 

May you have a blessed Christmas Eve!

Advent - An Icelandic Tale

 

And as if born of all this whiteness, with the craters' black rings and solitary troll-like lava pillars rising here and there, an air of solemnity marked this Sunday in this settlement near the mountains, something that tugged at the heart. An immeasurable, pure holiness surrounded the placid Sabbath smoke that rose undisturbed from the scattered, low farmhouses that nearly disappeared beneath the snow, an incomprehensible and unimaginably promising stillness. Advent. Advent!
Yes...Benedikt mouthed the word gingerly, that big, quiet, wonderfully alien yet at the same time homely word, perhaps for Benedikt the most deeply homely word of all. Admittedly, he didn't know exactly what it meant, yet there was expectation in it, anticipation, preparation - that much he understood. As the years went by, that one word had come to encompass practically his entire life. For what was his life, what was man's life on earth, if not an imperfect service, sustained by expectation, anticipation, preparation?

- Advent, by Gunnar Gunnarsson

This book. It caught my eye as a new release, as it was just published in a new English translation. First published in 1936 by the Icelandic writer, Gunnar Gunnarsson, it is a short novella, with a warm and cosy tone from the very first page. You could read it as a quiet adventure story, and you can also feel nourished by the deeper links to the season of Advent and its meaning. There are so many parallels and hints to Christ. The trio of selfless travelers, the 7 day adventure, the good shepherd, Christmas, the period of waiting, saving lost sheep in the deep cold, sacrifice of the shepherd to search for the one sheep, journey through storms, relying on God. I could go on, but it's full of such gestures. It is so beautifully written, it drew me in right away. It's easy to read but rich with atmosphere in the midst of the Icelandic landscape of cold and snow.

When I read the first two pages of the book, I immediately went online to order more copies as gifts. It's too lovely not to share. It is so slim, you could read it in one sitting. And it really could be enjoyed by anyone. It's the kind of book you'd want to read every year, as part of the Advent season, and it will reach into you differently with each read.

The story is simple - a man (Benedikt) has a tradition in Advent of venturing out into the deep winter cold with his trusty dog and sheep as companions to find lost sheep out in the wilderness and bring them home so they don't freeze to death. He feels responsible for these sheep. It's at his own peril and sacrifice, as he comes to many challenges along the way.

It's an adventure at the surface yet it reaches into the foundations of trust we can place in God. It's subtle, not forcing these reminders but showing them along the way. It's simply part of Benedikt and his beliefs. It offers so much if you want to venture deeper and notice all the references to Christ in such a beautiful story. 

The Gift of Advent

 

The story of the Incarnation is the story of a descent and resurrection. (C.S. Lewis)

Welcome to Advent. We are in the the first week of this season of waiting and seeking light. I burn my advent candle for each day as it passes, as we inch closer to the day of the Incarnation, the gift of Advent and the missing chapter of the book that was not revealed until Jesus came down.

In an essay called "The Grand Miracle", C.S. Lewis begins by laying out the idea how the miracles that have occurred in nature reveal the character of the Incarnation. Just like the natural world and the things that occur in nature showcase the character of the universe, so do the miracles reveal what the Incarnation is, though held to a different standard as the goings on of nature are continuous, as seasons change, but the Incarnation was a one time event that occurred in history, a time and place.

Nature imitates what we see reveals in Jesus's coming. Seeds are buried deep down so they can rise into a plant. Jesus enters by coming down, not only into humanity, but down deeper into death, into a corpse. This pattern in nature of dying, descending, coming to life, is there because it has been there with God. Lewis calls to mind the nature religions of the pagans, and how they believed in a nature beyond nature, which is where God fits - holding that characteristic of dying and rising, and yet "remaining quite outside and above the nature religions."

Then, to look at humans in the story, how in the search for God amongst nations and peoples, the story narrows and narrows until it lands at one point - "small as the point of a spear - a Jewish girl at her prayers. That is what the whole of human nature has narrowed down to before the Incarnation takes place." The Jewish people are selected to carry this thing that will save the world. To their burden, suffering, and honor, all in one. And yet through that suffering, they are promulgating the healing of others. Lewis introduces this as the Christian centre - how by the suffering of one many are healed. 

This, the Incarnation, Lewis says, is the missing chapter of the manuscript and the answer that fits into the problem of the whole story. It adds depth to the patterns in nature of death and rebirth, and it illuminates the rest of the story. It changes the way we think about and approach death. We can no longer say that death doesn't matter. It matters. "Christianity does not simply affirm or simply deny the horror of death; it tells me something quite new about it." We are to be humbled when we appreciate the enormous sacrifice that other people make for us, and reminded to make sacrifices for others. 

Here we are, approaching the grand miracle in just a few weeks. Take some quite moments to reflect on this season and its meaning. It comes to us each year and we can approach it with new eyes and a fresh spirit in a humble stance. May your Advent be blessed.