“‘Despair, or folly?' said Gandalf. 'It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope.
Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy!’”
-J.R.R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring
It is a marvelous thing how God’s mercy can cut a path - from deepest night to brightest hope. A few verses from Job were lodged in my mind while creating this drawing - First, the wonderfully cheerful Job 10:20-22:
“Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and utter darkness,
to the land of deepest night,
of utter darkness and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”
And then, the mercifully redemptive Job 42:2, at the conclusion of the book:
“I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
God’s declarations - His declarations of power and creativity and aggressive, endless love - those declarations link these two passages, and the change that His presence effects is stunning. I’m inspired by that - by God’s interventions; His unapologetic declarations of hope and a future. I cling to those declarations when I find myself untangling the difficult and messy moments of life - And I find hope.
….