Friday, January 29, 2021

Close Friends

 

On a cool September night, two close friends strolled along Addison's Walk next to the River Cherwell.  Their conversation was "spirited" as usual and took them well into the next day.   They frequently didn't agree, but their common interests and deep friendship ensured that their conversations were almost always civil.  Both men were authors, and both were students (and teachers) of ancient myths.  On this evening, Jack proclaimed that "myths are lies".  Tollers replied, "Myths are not lies.  The myths we tell reflect a fragment of the true light."   A couple of weeks later, Jack wrote to another friend: "The story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us the same way as the others, but with the tremendous difference that it actually happened."   Jack gives credit to Tollers for leading him to see the truth of Christ.   The year was 1931, and the two men are more well known as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.


C.S. Lewis is the author of the Chronicles of Narnia and some of the most popular Christian Books of all time. I thank God that J.R.R. Tolkien cultivated a friendship that allowed him to share his truth, and I pray that I will have the courage to do the same with others.

Most of the information for this post came from this article.  Also, a non-profit group is trying to buy Tolkien's home where he wrote "Lord of the Rings" so that it can be established as a literary center.  Click here for more.

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