Good morning.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of JRR Tolkein the great master myth-maker and storyteller. It is a day for remembering the wisdom of wizards and the bravery of hobbits and for celebrating a writer of extraordinary tales and fables.

Fantasy writing and myth-making, like all good storytelling only achieve greatness when they manage to convey great truths. Sometimes they speak of pilgrimage and describe journeys from one place or state of mind to another. Sometimes they delight in the complexities and unexpected realities of love and relationship. Sometimes they simply tell that age-old story of the victory of goodness over evil for just one more glorious time.

It is good to celebrate the creativity of a great writer. The pictures and images that Tolkein used remind us that the great truths of the world can be conveyed by words that were never meant to be treated merely literally. The magic of mind-changing myth-making depends on being able to accept an imaginative landscape – a place in our minds designed for drama.

The imagination is a spiritual place in which we can play out our own parables, legends and sagas. In the theatre of the mind we can rearrange the world to better suit our hopes and our dreams.

Let us ask a blessing on all who use their creativity to cultivate and create worlds of wonder, wisdom and insight. Let us pray for the grace to accept the truth wherever we find it and nurture what is good wherever we are.

God of love, help us to imagine better worlds and to pursue kindness, bravery and wisdom through all our days. Amen

UPDATE – listen to this here