August 12th, 2002
It is- is it?- the same moon I see now that shone on Faramir, Frodo and Sam as they watched Gollum fishing in the Forbidden Pool, just as it is the same moon I might see reflected on the surface of a lake. That moon is a reflection of this, that life a reflection of this, evolving in a world reflected off ours. But that life is more than a reflection perhaps, and likewise what it entailed and wherein it revolved. Something more than a reflection. Tolkien wrote even under the surface of the water, even between the words. All the way down past the depths to the floor. Or perhaps to the other side. Perhaps Tolkien wrote more than even he could understand. It is stories like his that are more than a tale, more than a picture on the surface. Perhaps if one could see a reflection of this whole earth, at one time, on the sea we would see Middle Earth. How can we know?

A continuation, November 5th
I think that abounding beauty can be found in the mysteries of the earth, of creation, of nature and how it all works. I think sometimes God sends authors to enlighten His people. To touch slightly further, slightly deeper upon His glory, His truth, what life is and what it means to be living. Life is the greatest gift God has given us. The life of His Son, and our own. But can we truly see our own? Does life work as our persons do, must we have a mirror to see it? Perhaps there is a mirror. Perhaps it takes a reflection to understand. Maybe every so often God sends people like J. R. R. Tolkien to see just that bit further into life. Enough to understand the basis and draw its reflections on the water with words. I have read nearly all of The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, and I think if we asked Tolkien in his life how he came up with his stories, where he got them from, he would have said he didn't know. They came out of some place that he could not reach. Maybe he would have plainly said that they came from God, or were thither inspired. He probably would have said they were not stories, not myth, (he has), but a reflection of true life; a reflection of this life. Perhaps he would have been unable to say it, but would have known that somewhere below the surface there is something more.