Singing the Silmarillion

It was a kind of epiphany during the Divine Liturgy today.  We were singing about St. Macarius the Great of Egypt (300-391 AD) this morning and it hit me... we are singing The Silmarillion!  I’ve recently been re-reading that book by JRR Tolkien and becoming immersed in its beautiful imagery and subtle theology as it lays out the history, myths and legends of Middle Earth.  

It was St. Macarius who famously said, “The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and there are also lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasuries of grace—all things are there.”

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In retrospect it was in my early to mid-twenties that I first read The Silmarillion when I was living overseas in South Korea feeling lost and alone.  There seemed to be little mystery left in life, though not from a lack of looking for it in this strange (to me) and exotic culture.  My childhood faith was waning with nothing seemingly to replace it.  The stories from The Silmarillion stoked a hunger for something ancient, profound, and intellectually/spiritually deep.  But where was I to find such a thing?  It was in this time period of my life that the Orthodox Church first came into my awareness and it quickly pulled me into its powerful current.

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As the Divine Liturgy and other services unfold day in and day out throughout the year we sing the stories and history of the church reaching back to the moment of creation itself and even beyond to the circle of love and fellowship that exists outside of time between the persons of the Holy Trinity in the Godhead.  There also we find the problem of evil and the exile of Lucifer who in his beauty and power sought to assume to himself that which was for God alone.  These recurring services with the cycles of feasts and their preparatory fasts sanctify time and in a paradoxical way point to God’s kingdom which is not bound by time.

It is very much like the story of the corruption of Melkor, his conflict with the celestial powers of the Ainur & Maiar, and its effects on elves and men as the children of Ilúvatar.  It hints at the deeper story that takes evil into account and how it is inexplicably used for the ultimate healing of that which was sickened subsequent to the creation of our world.

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It was all there this morning intermingled in the stories of The Silmarillion in my mind with touching points throughout the Divine Liturgy.  The parallels are numerous and nearly comprehensive.  It seems I am living out an epic adventure that may be partially or wholly outside my awareness, until I start to listen to what I am actually singing and it becomes nearly overwhelming in its beauty and power.  

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