Volume XX, Issue XIII: The Power of Story
The Redemptive Power of Story
By Bob Kirchman
It has been very difficult, to say the least, watching so much of the America I grew up in crumble. It is easy to despair. Indeed, my default was trending towards escapism and simply forgetting the world around me – but then I remembered the message of Louis Markos in his book On the Shoulder of Hobbits. In a world that has lost its rudder, Markos presents “Stories to Steer By.” Remembering that J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis lived through the horrors of trench warfare in World War I; the almost certain destruction of Britain by the National Socialist regime of Germany during World War II, and that Lewis and Tolkien both lamented the discarding of noble ideals by modern thinkers, Markos leads us very deliberately on the path that both authors sought to take us on back to those very values. The tales of Narnia and Middle Earth lead us to the great virtues of Courage, Love, Temperance, and Friendship – usually not included in such lists of virtues, but essential in that we understand that the Divine has created man for no less than relationship with Him!
The noble quest, the heroic journey, springs to life before us. There is in Frodo Baggins the immediate need to dispose of the evil ring of power but as Frodo meets displaced elves making their way to the Grey Havens a deeper quest is revealed – that of Abraham in Hebrews 11: 10: “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, who’s builder and maker is God.” The hobbits, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, are swept into a mission greater than themselves. Likewise, Shasta in The Horse and His Boy senses a pull to a country he has never seen and yet is his true home. So with Reepicheep the mouse, who initially thinks no more of the heroic victory but when we meet him in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader he is a mouse on a far greater mission – to set foot in Aslan’s Country!
And so On the Shoulder of Hobbits presents a map for our journey in this life as we seek to redeem our culture, but it goes further, giving us a peek at the ultimate fulfillment of those virtues which guide us in our Heavenly Home.
Redemptive Stories for Today
Christina Fougnie in Clancy.
Film is often seen as the modern vehicle for story today. Many lament that the movies made by Hollywood are often dystopian threads of antihero themes. The ‘Christian’ genre is often dismissed as ‘second rate’ and prone to didacticism. Yet there are some notable storytellers in the indie Christian film world who are indeed taking the path of the redemptive journey. In Louisville Kentucky, filmmakers Jefferson Moore and Kelly Worthington have done just that with their studio, Kelly’s Filmworks [click to visit]. A recent project they collaborated on was Clancy, in which Moore stars along with Christina Fougnie in a film that is reminiscent of Haley Mills’ Tiger Bay. Both films feature an unlikely friendship, a heroic quest, and a redemptive story that rises out of the dark and present situation the characters find themselves in. Both films have quite a bit of suspense and the actors do a great job of bringing the audience into their redemptive struggle.
The 'Redemptive Journey' in Clancy.
[Click to Read]
