Podcasts about Bilbo Baggins

A warm welcome to another Middle Earth sleep story, where you are the main character. This track incorporates soft, soothing music, detailed sound effects and a perfect sleepy atmosphere towards the end. You start your adventure journeying back to The Shire, where upon arrival you have a dinner scheduled with old Bilbo Baggins. As you venture home, however, you notice a storm brewing, and move as quickly as you can to find shelter in The House Under The Hill, where a warm fire waits for you, where fresh hot food will be brought straight to your lap, and where a magical sleep will envelop you. *With the rise of AI generated content, I feel it appropriate to reassure you that I am a human creator, with a deep love of storytelling, meditation and sleep. I work on my own to bring you as many varied tracks as possible, and I hope you continue to enjoy my creations!* If you would like to enjoy ad-free content, exclusive sleep stories, live readings and more, then you can join our wonderful Patreon community here: https://www.patreon.com/sleepycatmeditations Writing, Voiceover & Edits property of © Sleepy Cat Meditations (est. 2020). All rights reserved. Music by Liborio Conti & Enlightened Audio (All Licenses & Permission granted)

Chapter Three: Time, Quartz Hills and ResolutionTrash and quartz can exist within the same geography… if we let it.Today, I want to talk about time. Time, to me, is the movement of objects through space. As we witness movement, we call this “time”. A clock does not depict time, it depicts movements of its arms around the clock face. The movement of objects through space.The reason I am talking about time is that our stay at our Reservoir of Power has been clocked by movement of objects and people.But when objects start appearing and disappearing from space, or spaces that were not there before, suddenly are, we can no longer ignore that when we say “yes” to a Gaia and high-frequency human collective request, things are going to step out of time and into the realm of conscious co-creation.OK, the above might sound a bit cryptic, so let me tell you what has been happening, and you can share your own conclusions around it during our Friday Meetup for Driving To The Rez.Our guests as well as our Olympic Peninsula tribe and the co-conspirators in my Birthday Party Celebration, left Colorado and went home. Some went home via long routes to other locations, but eventually they all got there. Suddenly, there was silence in the land, coffee for two instead of twenty, desert birds singing instead of laughter.The silence after everyone left was enormous.For days the land had been full of movement. Music, generators, conversations, shovels, laughter, vehicles arriving and leaving, people cooking, people in discussion, people hugging, people working. And then suddenly there were only the two of us, our three dogs, the wind, and whatever remained behind after the gathering dispersed.Even the Reservoir of Power itself felt different. Larger somehow.It is weeks later now and Larry and I are still at the land, which does not feel exactly like home, but not exactly away from home either.I knew, coming in, that Larry and I would need to stay at least another few working days in Colorado, as I had received clear indications that we had to sort out our legal land claims as well as claiming the space completely away from darkness. And that we needed to remove living structures left behind from last October. I mentally planned to do that after everyone left.In case you are new to this story, the land we own in Colorado is desert land that was completely covered in drug addicts and their shanty town. Gaia requested, no, actually she demanded that we remove all that darkness from this land. After which she revealed that this land was, in fact, a reservoir of power.Larry and I are softies, and when some of those people who had been evicted seven months ago asked for more time for them to be able to remove their prior living quarters, we allowed them to procrastinate for months. Seven months, in fact.While here, and as our guests, who are all highly skilled in expansion of awareness, can testify, the removal of those living structures was important. The structures impinged greatly, despite their small footprint on the vast acreage. An impression beyond the physical.Darkness likes to make you wait because as you wait, they still have an energy line straight into your life. Lightworkers think that waiting for darkness to sort itself out before moving out is compassionate, it is not.Anyway, the few extra days needed to get the land fully into our names have now turned into nearly a month. The path was filled with what Larry calls “monkey mind communication.” In other words, it wasn't a simple “Gaia asks us to remove these things from the land” and we do it. If we had done it, maybe we would be home by now.Every time we prepared to leave before things were settled, another obstacle appeared forcing us to stay.When we ignored the requests, things escalated. One of the people who had left last October decided she was moving back in. When we refused entry, she physically attacked us. It escalated into both criminal and civil court very quickly, but resolution moved much slower. Delays stacked upon delays, keeping us on the land a few more days at a time.Once the pattern became clear, we decided to stop resisting what we were being asked to do and simply do it.Also, if monkey-mind communication is required, we would much rather receive it through a mountain full of quartz crystals than through violent confrontation.Done!Things started moving.Spaces became visible that were otherwise invisible. I woke up one day with the words “Tartaria” in my mind. The Larger Earth. What the heck?? That was my initial reaction, then I became curious. So, Larry and I started exploring mountains and canyons with our eyes wide open.The canyons themselves felt impossible. Massive walls of stone, strange formations, an entire hill glittering in the sunlight as if someone had cracked open the inside of the Earth and left it exposed. A mountain of quartz pieces! The deeper we drove, the stranger the landscape felt. Not dangerous. Not even unfriendly. Just… hidden in plain sight. Radical changes in landscape from desert dry to forests and lakes. The earth would go from deep red to black, to brown, to gold.Lost objects started appearing back on our land, we detected Tartaria technology nearby, chemtrails filled the skies, and we found out that there is something very strange happening in Delta, Colorado.By all appearances, Delta is a small, insignificant city. Barely bigger than a town, really. However, as we started noticing how odd this town was, including what increasingly appeared to us to be a major power reservoir northeast of the city… We also noticed a ton of other strange things, such as billionaires/trillionaires living all around it, the city logo being an Illuminati pyramid, and signs of Tartaria left in the canyons and hills close by.It might, by all appearances, seem that Larry and I stopped moving through time. After all, we still have not started our journey back to Washington.But in truth, it feels as if we are standing in the center of immense movement through space. Space expanding. Revealing a past covered in mud, a present filled with wonder and power, and perhaps a future written by what we are willing to imagine into being.Will next week see us finally begin the journey home?Perhaps.But then again, Bilbo Baggins did return home eventually, and yet he was never entirely the same afterward. Nor was the Shire untouched by what he brought back with him. We don't plan on a ring to rule them all, that's for sure. At most, maybe a truck full of quartz.We will share some of photographs and videos of our strange and wondrous discoveries on the Wisdom Keeper hour of DrivingToTheRez.comThe discussion doesn't stop here - listen to the full podcast episode for unfiltered insights from Inelia and our panelists. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dttr.substack.com/subscribe

The only regret Aaron may have is not checking his microphone before recording. He sounds like he's in a tin can! This episode includes an abandoned poem found on a loose leaf of college lined paper in Aaron's old stuff. It's about love lost or never pursued...for good reason? Or maybe it was left unfinished for a better reason. Dave plays with homophones in his hastily written poem of the week. My Bad Poetry Episode 8.19: "No Regrets"End Poem from a Real Poet: "The Riddle of Strider" by Bilbo Baggins (translated by J. R. R. Tolkien from The Red Book of Westmarch) . or ... by Tolkien in The Fellowship of the Ring . Podcast Email: mybadpoetry.thepodcast@gmail.comBluesky: @mybadpoetrythepod.bsky.social Instagram: @MyBadPoetry_ThePodWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mybadpoetry.com

Pastor David Eiffert pulls back the curtain on how he understands and lives out the Christian faith. The title says it all: Jesus, etc. Jesus is the centering principle, and everything else, all the "etc," radiates from him.Starting in John 1, we see that no one has ever seen God, but the Son has made him known. God is the ultimate mystery, the one thing you would never find by scanning the universe, because he creates from outside of it. On our own, we can no more find God than Bilbo Baggins can find J.R.R. Tolkien. Unless the author writes himself into the story. That is the incarnation.From there we walk up Mount Tabor with Peter, James, and John, watch Jesus transfigured beside Moses and Elijah, and hear the Father say the one thing he says again and again in the New Testament: "This is my Son. Listen to him."Three movements anchor the message:1. We start with Jesus.2. Jesus is what God looks like. He does not change the Father, he reveals the Father.3. Jesus informs all the "etc." Family, work, politics, money, ethics, everything.Jesus does not save us from God. Jesus reveals God as savior. There should be no dark corner in your life where Christ does not reach.This week, pick one "etc." The loudest one. The one that has become a little too central. Ask Jesus what it looks like for him to be at the center of that one thing.Scriptures referenced: John 1:14-18, Colossians 2:2-3, Matthew 17:1-8, John 5:39-40, Luke 24:27, Hebrews 1:1-3, Colossians 1:15.Facebook: / believerscenterInstagram: / believerscenterGiving: https://pushpay.com/g/believerscenterFirst Time: https://believerscenter.churchcenter.com/people/forms/797243Salvation / Rededication: https://believerscenter.churchcenter.com/people/forms/797600#BelieversCenter #JesusEtc #Incarnation #Transfiguration #FollowingJesusThanks so much for listening to the Believers Center podcast! Service Times:   Sundays at 10AM (online + in-person)Tuesdays at 7PM (in-person only)Follow us on Instagram @believerscenterTo learn more about Believers Center, visit https://www.believerscenter.com​​To submit a prayer request, or to get connected with a pastor, visit https://www.believerscenter.com/prayforme

Chapter 1 - A Flat Tire in HeavenAt the end of the very first day on the road, we had a destructive blowout of one trailer tire.As Larry was changing the ruined one, the tire next to it was also damaged and went flat.Two flat tires.One spare.Here is the interesting thing about that moment. It happened near a highway exit, next to a massive empty carpark with big bright lights that allowed us to see everything and be outside of highway danger. We also noticed that there were multiple stores nearby that carried new trailer wheels and tires, which is extremely rare. On our last trip we had to shop around for hours to find a store that had them.This brought us to discuss good and bad news, and while things may happen as often as not, when the light rises and becomes form, things will happen where support is most available.A flat tire in hell, or a flat tire in heaven.. WTF, why even get a flat?But perhaps I should start at the beginning.May the Fourth: Calling the Legions of LightThis year, 2026, I turned 60 years old. For many decades I have talked about what I would do in my 60th year, if I ever got to it, which I doubted, and here we are.One of the items was that I would start smoking again once the year began. Why is that? And why did I quit in the first place? Listen to the podcast to find out the details.Even before this year arrived, however, I had already decided smoking was a prospect with challenges. Larry agreed, let's maybe not start smoking again. Ah well. Things change and plans with them.Which brings me to my topic for this article.Instead of starting to smoke again, I decided to have a big birthday party at our land in Colorado.The Shamanshack mystics, our panelists Dr Kara, Ash and Iliana, asked me if I wanted them to plan and execute the party in Colorado. I said, “yes.”And here we are, several months later and Larry and I are still on the land after the celebration, which we decided to hold on May The Fourth. This date known as Star Wars Day is celebrated annually on May 4th, a pun on the iconic “May the Force be with you” phrase.Why hold my party on Star Wars Day, you may ask. Well, I had opened the invitation to the legions of light. And, we would be holding it on what is now established as a land that is a reservoir of power. There is a whole story behind how we discovered this land to be a reservoir of power, and what Gaia and the human collective asked of Larry and me. We will share that story on the podcast as well, DrivingToTheRez.comBecause of that, the day May The Force Be With you seemed to fit perfectly.The party was scheduled and the invitation went out. The planners had planned for 20-30 attendees. I had envisioned 5,500 people minimum, with an optimum number of 20,000.However, as I looked at the disparity between the numbers planned and the ones in my mind, I realized that we are not trained, or equipped, to host legions of lightworkers this year. Therefore, I said, “20 people is perfect.” I knew that whomever was ready for the land, would arrive. We had a total of 25 participants, excluding Larry and me.The RoadLeaving our home in Washington, which is 1,345 miles away from our land in Colorado, was a challenge. We are well rooted to our rewe and routines. But we got on it and prepared the RV, truck, animal care, and our 20 year old son for holding the fort while we were away.Some of you may remember last year's article Crystals, Black Magic, and Sanity: A Colorado Initiation, where I shared part of our first experiences with this land in Colorado. At the time, I thought the initiation was about cleaning the land. I am beginning to suspect the land had other ideas.One of my favorite subtitles ever written is There and Back Again, which many people think belongs to The Lord of the Rings, but it is actually the subtitle of The Hobbit. It was the title of Bilbo Baggins's memoir, his journal of leaving home, having an adventure that changed him completely, and then returning home again. But journeys are rarely the same in reverse. We like to think we simply go somewhere and then come back unchanged except perhaps for a few stories and photographs. Yet, on some journeys, something happens on the road, especially when the journey is difficult, meaningful, or strange, and the person who returns is not exactly the same person who left. And perhaps that is why the “back again” part matters just as much as the “there.” We get home and notice how everything is “the same,” while we have radically changed, a change we may never have consciously noticed without the sameness of home waiting for us.The journey “there” began with our cat Theadora in tow, but after only 6 miles down the road we had to turn back and drop her off at home again. She really wanted to go, but not really in a truck or a trailer.Then there was the $6-7 per gallon gas prices! Oops, did we have enough funds? Not really.Also, we were scheduled to travel in convoy with the organizers and friends from our Peninsula Tribe. But we didn't leave in time, and didn't catch up with them for a full day.And then there was the tire situation.Larry had two spare tires for the trailer, and a niggle to bring them both, but he left one behind thinking it was silly to bring two. There's no real place for two, and who needs two anyway?Well… At the end of the very first day, we had a destructive blowout of one tire and the one next to it was also damaged and went flat as he was changing the ruined one… niggles.A niggle is an interesting thing. Quiet. Easy to dismiss. Often inconvenient. And oftentimes absolutely correct.Miracle Hot SpringsThe next night, we finally caught up with our travel companions at one of our favorite hot springs locations, Miracle Hot Springs in Idaho. We spent a couple of hours playing in the hot springs, had a wonderful evening meal and good sleep. The journey to the land concluded the day after that, and I will tell you more of what happened there in next week's article and podcast titled “Wind, Sigils, and Lightworkers With Shovels.” It has been quite the adventure! And it is not over yet.Continue the journey in next week's article and podcast: “Wind, Sigils, and Lightworkers With Shovels” at DrivingToTheRez.comFor the full story behind the smoking revelation, the reservoir of power, and what Gaia asked of Larry and me — tune into the podcast episode.The discussion doesn't stop here - listen to the full podcast episode for unfiltered insights from Inelia and our panelists. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dttr.substack.com/subscribe

Send us Fan MailJason Smith is a personal trainer, nutritional advisor and the founder of Fit in Midlife. After transforming his own health and fitness at the age of 50, he is on a mission to help people in midlife start and maintain their own fitness journey.Now 55, Jason trains and coaches clients worldwide through in person and online coaching and inspires a social media audience of more than half a million followers, including 271k on Instagram and more than 115k on TikTok. He regularly appears in the media and has been featured on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine.How Jason is today is a far cry from how he was when he first decided to improve his own health and fitness at the age of 50. Depressed, overwhelmed and lethargic, Jason was taking antidepressants and statins and had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a fatty liver.In January 2019, he saw a picture of Bilbo Baggins, the main character from The Hobbit films, running through the shire with the words ‘I'm going on an adventure'. This was a lightbulb moment for Jason who decided he wanted his own life to feel like an adventure and to have the energy to enjoy it.From that moment, he joined a gym, started going for walks, quit alcohol and began eating healthier. In just four months, he lost 25kg, reduced his body fat percentage from 28% to 12% and was able to come off all his medication. During his own fitness journey, he realized there was a huge lack of older personal trainers who were relatable and approachable for people over 40.This prompted him to give up his corporate job, qualify as a personal trainer and nutritional advisor and launch his business Fit in Midlife. Jason lives in Horsham, Surrey.Find Jason at-IG- @fitinmidlifeTK- @fitinmidlifeFind Boundless Body at-myboundlessbody.comBook a session with us here! 

What does it mean to be inconvenienced? Chesterton has a paradoxical answer. Joe Grabowski and Grettelyn Darkey unpack one of Chesterton's most beloved aphorisms — "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered; an inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered" — tracing it from its original context in a real 1906 London flood, through the essay "On Running After One's Hat," and all the way to Boethius, St. Lawrence, and the Christian vocation to embrace the cross. In This Episode: The original context of the quote in Chesterton's essay "On Running After One's Hat" from All Things Considered, prompted by the great London flood of June 1906 What running after a windblown hat has to do with Innocent Smith in Manalive—and why the sport of hat-hunting haunted Chesterton's imagination for years The difference between a sunny attitude and a genuinely Chestertonian embrace of inconvenience, and why it matters on a spiritual level Boethius, St. Lawrence, and St. Peter hanging upside down—what the saints reveal about the adventure of embracing the cross The thread running through all of Chesterton: how a single paradox in a flood-inspired newspaper column illuminates his entire worldview Chapters: 00:00: Introduction 01:52: Parsing the Quote 04:50: Bilbo Baggins and Engaging with Life 07:49: The 1906 London Flood 20:23: Running After One's Hat 23:05: Innocent Smith in Manalive 28:41: The Thread of Chesterton's Philosophy 35:00: Daily Inconveniences 37:06: The Spiritual Dimension Resources Mentioned: All Things Considered by G.K. Chesterton (includes "On Running After One's Hat") Manalive by G.K. Chesterton The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius FOLLOW US Instagram Facebook X SUPPORT Consider making a donation Visit our Shop Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

John 16:16-24,“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, ‘because I am going to the Father'?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.Our passage begins with something like a riddle. Jesus says,“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” We're reading The Hobbit at home, and so I couldn't help but think of Bilbo Baggins and Gollum in the cave trading riddles while Bilbo hides the ring. What has roots as nobody sees / Is taller than trees / Up, up it goes / And yet never grows? . . . (A Mountain). Voiceless it cries / Wingless flutters / Toothless bites / Mouthless mutters. . . (Wind). Jesus had a little Bilbo in him here. He says, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” You can picture poor Andrew sitting there and thinking it over. . . . Mmm mountain! No, wind! The disciples are all turned around here.Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, ‘because I am going to the Father'?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about.”I don't think these guys would have made it out of the cave with Gollum's ring. “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So what did he mean? He's talking about what's about to happen in the next few days. He's talking about the cross, the tomb, and the victory. In a matter of hours, you will not see me because I'm going to be killed. The good shepherd is about to lay down his life for the sheep. . . . And then, in a couple days, you're going to see me again. Oh you're going to see me.You Won't See MeFirst, he's preparing them for his death. “A little while, and you will not see me. . . .” Friends, I'm going to die. . . . You're going to have to watch me be betrayed, and slandered, and mocked, and then nailed to a tree and left to hang there until I can't breathe anymore. You're going to watch me bleed to death. And you're going to be sad. And it's right to be sad. It's going to be terrible, the worst nightmare any of you have ever seen. The crucifying of the Son of God is the greatest evil and heartache in history — and our history is filled, from Adam to Iran, with lots of evil and heartache. Whatever sorrow you're bringing in here — and there are serious sorrows in this room — whatever sorrow you're bringing in here, this is greater. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14) — and they murdered him. They met all of that grace and mercy face to face, and they spat on him. They drove nails through his glorious hands, his sinless feet. He came to die for their sins, and they saw him, and they went and sinned even harder against him. They tortured him, and they savored his pain and shame. Verse 20, Jesus says to his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.” I'm really going to die, and you're really going to weep. At the darkest hour, you're going to wish you couldn't see me anymore. That's how bad it'll be. And the world is going to watch you cry and they're going to cheer. In just a little while, it's going to be awful.You Will See meThat's not the whole riddle, though.“A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”I'm going to die — but hear me, I ain't going to be dead long.“And again a little while, and you will see me.”I'm really going to die — my heart will stop, my eyes will empty, my lungs will collapse, my flesh will go cold — and then I'm really going to rise.“You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”I'm not going to be dead long, and so you won't have to be sad for long. I love the comma at the heart of that key sentence: “A little while, and you will not see me [comma, not a period] and again a little while, and you will see me.” The three days aren't even long enough for a period. Almost as quickly as he left and died, he's going to rise and return to them. He's going to walk with them, talk with them, even eat with them.He gives them a picture for what's about to happen in verse 21. “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come. . . .”Can he get an amen, Cities Church? I mean Jesus is speaking our language here. We love babies in this church. We max out nurseries in this church. Some of us buy passenger vans. This is a familiar picture for us. And pregnancy is hard. God says to the woman, Genesis 3:16: “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.” These nine months are nine months of multiplying pain. You have back pain from carrying that little bowling ball everywhere you go. Your blood pressure might spike, threatening you or the baby. Your hormones surge, making you more anxious and irritable and sometimes sad. You're tired because your body's constantly in overdrive — your heart, lungs, kidneys all straining to support another human being. You're tired, but you don't sleep well at all, which makes everything (even the smallest tasks) ten times harder. You have to go to the bathroom every 12 minutes. You feel sick and you probably throw up. Some women throw up a lot — for months. And then, at the end of all of that, you might be in the agony of labor for hours (or even longer).Listen to what Jesus says: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come [comma] but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” She doesn't remember?!If he wasn't Jesus, we could say he's just another naïve guy who doesn't get it. But he gets it. “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him,” — the baby, the womb, the placenta, the epidural — “and without him was not anything made that was made.” He gets it. And you get it, if you've ever seen a mother after she's had her baby. She's not holding her baby and grumbling about how much her back hurt for the last nine months. She's not complaining about all the times she had to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She's not hung up on all the extra doctor visits and the poking and prodding and anxiety. No, if you watch her, it really seems like she just forgot all of that. She forgot months of pain and exhaustion and vomitting in minutes — in seconds even. In just 6 pounds and 8 ounces, all of that is behind her. Why? She has her baby!“When she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish,” Jesus says. Then verse 22: “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”You're going to have sorrow when I die, but you're going to see me again soon, and when you do, you're going to be absolutely overcome with joy. You'll be so overcome with joy that you just might forget the pain. The joy will be so full and so intense that you won't think about how sad you were. And he wasn't lying. In just a little while in the Gospel of John, we're going to see this happen. Here's John 20, after his death on the cross:On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.Their sorrow turned to joy, and no one and nothing took that joy from them. Remember, most (if not all) of these men will be killed for following Jesus, and none of that could touch their joy. Preparing You for Your SorrowsNo sorrow could touch their joy in him, and no sorrow in your life can touch the joy you have in the risen Jesus. In these verses, Jesus is clearly preparing his friends for his suffering on the cross, but he's also clearly preparing them for their own suffering to come. And we see this all over this final meal together. He told them, again and again, that they were going to suffer when he was gone.“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:19)“The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. . . . I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.” (John 16:1)“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)If you follow me, you're going to have tribulation. You're going to have tribulation. You're going to have tribulation. This is going to be hard. Do you know that, Cities Church? Do you remember that when tribulation comes to your door? . . . So many Christians in the world have been led to believe that life with Jesus should be only joy and never sorrow. And so they're devastated when sorrow comes, and sorrow comes to us all. Jesus told us that, he warned us — but they're not listening to Jesus.Jesus said, I'm going to rise from the dead and so you're going to have untouchable, unshakeable hope and joy, but you're going to suffer. You're going to have sorrows of various kinds — prayers that go unanswered year after year. And I want you to be ready. And so he prepares his disciples for those sorrows in at least three ways here in these verses.1. You can have joy, even in sorrow.First, when sorrow comes, Christian — and sorrows will come — know that you have a reason to rejoice, even now. Verse 20: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. . . . 23 You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”This was true when Jesus died, and it's still true right now. He's still risen and living and reigning! He's as real and alive in heaven as you are in this room. Because he rose, we have joy, even now, even in the sorrows that come. We are sorrowful, yes, but always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10), because Christ has conquered death, he's overcome the world, and he's preparing a place for us in glory where we will live with him forever. Our sorrows are real and heavy and painful, but they cannot touch that joy.He gives us another reason to think that we can have joy now, though, even in sorrow. Look down at verses 23–24:In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.While they live and wait and hurt in a world without Jesus — with sorrows everywhere they turn — he wants them to pray. Ask me anything, he says. And he's specifically encouraging them to pray (notice) that their joy may be full. Pray in my name, ask me anything, that your joy might be full. And not full one day in heaven, but full right now in sorrow.He's not talking about joy when he comes again and takes them home. That will be a joyful day — the fullest joy and pleasures forevermore. No, he's saying pray here and now so that your joy might be full here and now. That's how powerful my resurrection is. You have a reason to rejoice and a power to rejoice no matter what your circumstances are. So many Christians in the world have been led to believe that life with Jesus should be only joy and never sorrow (and so they're undone when sorrow comes). Other Christians (maybe this is you) have suffered so much that you've started to think that life with Jesus, at least in this life, is only sorrow and never joy. And so you've stopped expecting to experience any joy here on earth. If Jesus has risen, and I can assure you he is not dead anymore, you can have joy, even now — if you ask.2. Joy comes to those who ask.So, when sorrow comes, first, know that you can have joy, even now. You still have big, strong reasons to rejoice. Second lesson here: joy comes to those who ask. It comes to those who pray. And that's where Jesus goes in verse 22:I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.Whatever you ask. . . What does the whatever really mean here? Clearly, it doesn't mean that God will automatically give us whatever we ask. We know that from experience, if we've ever prayed for anything for long. No, God doesn't immediately give us whatever we ask for. That wouldn't be loving. Parents understand this. Our kids ask for all kinds of things all the time, and we want to give them all the best things — but often that means not giving them what they want in the moment. No, he says, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name” — whatever you ask in reliance on me and for my glory. He said that earlier in the night, John 14:13–14: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” There you have it again, whatever you ask. No, he doesn't immediately give us whatever we ask (because he loves us). No, the whatever here means we can ask him anything in this name. There's no ask too small or big. We're invited to ask like children. Children don't worry about asks being too small or too big. They just ask. That's how your Father wants you to ask, so that your joy might be full. Joy comes to those who ask.And our sorrows keep us asking, don't they? They keep us praying. In fact, this is one great reason for sorrow in Christian life. What do you pray for most often and most passionately? You probably pray for the things in your life that hurt — the loved one who isn't saved, the relief or healing that won't come, the bill that won't go away, the temptation that won't relent, the person who won't talk to you. You pray for those things because you have to. Sorrows keep us asking, and that means they keep us closer to Jesus. And in his presence, close to him, is fullness of joy — “that your joy may be full.” This is why the saints in your life who have suffered most are often strangely the happiest in him.3. Your sorrows will have a baby.Lastly, your sorrows will have a baby. What do I mean by that? I mean your sorrows, all your sorrows, have a purpose. They're going somewhere. Your pain, in the hands of God, it's producing something. Soon and very soon, your sorrows are going to give birth to a new life, a new world with only joy and never sorrow. God wants you to know that, in a little while, the baby's coming.In these verses, the sorrow of losing Jesus gives birth to the eternal joy of his rising from the dead. His suffering, every inch and millisecond, was filled with divine and perfect purpose. And your suffering, all of your suffering, has that kind of purpose. It's part of your path to glory, and this pattern is all over the New Testament.2 Corinthians 4:15-17,[When sorrows come] “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”Or Romans 8:16–18,“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him” — we're going to suffer, we're all going to have sorrows — “in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”John 16:21,“When she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”Your sorrows are going to give birth to a joy so great that it'll make you forget the sorrows you're carrying right now. When Jesus returns, you won't have to carry them anymore. Your joy in Jesus is going to outlast your sorrow. No one can take away your joy, but someone can take away your sorrow. If you entrust your sorrows to Jesus, he's going to take them away.You Will Ask Me NothingI skipped over a line in verse 23, and I want to end there:“In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”What did Jesus mean when he said, “In that day you will ask nothing of me”? It might mean, “You'll stop asking me for things, and you'll start asking the Father in my name.” It might mean that, but I don't think that's what's going on here, and that's because the words for ask here are two different words in the Greek: “you will ask nothing of me” and “whatever you ask of the Father in my name.” The second one (“whatever you ask of the Father in my name”) is typically used for supplication: asking someone for something or to do something. The first Greek word (“you will ask nothing of me”) is most often used when someone's asking for information — when they need someone to explain something. And Jesus says to his confused disciples, who have all kinds of questions: “In a little while, you're not going to ask those questions anymore.” Think about all of their questions just in the last couple chapters:“Lord, where are you going?” “Lord, why can I not follow you now?” “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”“What does he mean by ‘a little while'?”They actually say in our passage, verse 18: “We do not know what he is talking about.”And Jesus is saying to them: You're going to know really soon, and then you will ask me nothing. You won't ask me where I'm going, and when, and how you're going to find me. In that day, you will ask me nothing, because I will have already died and rose. You're going to know what you need to know. And that's what we remember right here at this Table. Each Sunday, we come with all kinds of questions, all kinds of sorrows we desperately want him to heal and take away. But we're not asking how Jesus is going to save the world anymore. We know. With all our hearts, we know.This Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried — “a little while, and you will see me no longer.” He descended into hades. “And again a little while, and you will see me.” The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. And when he does, he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore — only joy and never sorrow.

Introducing Mysterium Tremendum.  "Not all who wander are lost", wrote Bilbo Baggins.  We have been wandering, but we are not lost - not entirely.  Seventeen months after our last episode, we return: slower, deeper, darker.

Mark & Scott are joined by singer Colin Chisholm, whose performance of The Hearts Song at Tynecastle before the recent game against Aberdeen earned him rave reviews. The boys also […]

This week, the Dwarves and the Halfling continue their journey to reclaim their home land in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.Support the showCatch new episodes of the Where to Stick It Podcast every Tuesday and Thursday. If you like the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon where we upload exclusive content each month for only $3 a month.

The boys bring it back to the Shire this week as they review The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey. With the wild success of the Lord of the Rings movies from the early 2000's Peter Jackson returns to the well, and creates another banger from Middle Earth. The Hobbit follows the story of a young Bilbo Baggins as he travels with a group of dwarves to reclaim a kingdom that was taken over by a dragon.Support the showCatch new episodes of the Where to Stick It Podcast every Tuesday and Thursday. If you like the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon where we upload exclusive content each month for only $3 a month.

Hello to you listening in South Bend, Indiana!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk With 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.  The line on the birthday card from my sister goes like this: “The sun is up and you are alive to see it. Start there.” [Lin-Manuel Miranda] It's just what I need to light my way in the early morning dark to the coffee pot in the kitchen.  Following are 5 inspirations chosen for you. Dance with the one that calls today:  “Well, I've often felt that dreams are answers to questions we haven't yet figured out how to ask.” [David Duchovny playing the character Fox Mulder The X-Files 1995)]“Roll out, snakes! It's daylight in the swamp!” [The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich]“Always remember Bilbo, when your heart wants lifting, think of pleasant things...  Eggs and bacon. A good, full pipe. My garden at twilight.” [Gandalf & Bilbo Baggins]"When nothing's working, it might be a cosmic conspiracy to get you to experiment." [Caroline Casey]“What's really important is not the big things others have created but the continuous, each-by-each little things you are bringing into being. Never underestimate your singular power as a creator.” [Diane Wyzga]And thank you for listening.You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, email me to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

WELCOME TO ONE RULES THEM ALL: A LORD OF THE RINGS PODCAST... Hosts Baz Greenland and Sam Stokes wrap up their Hobbit season on One Rules Them All by examining two alternative adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. They discuss the 12-minute animated adaption from 1967, directed by Gene Deitch and the Russian Hobbit - AKA, The Fabulous Journey of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, Across the Wild Land, Through the Dark Forest, Beyond the Misty Mountains. There and Back Again - from 1985, directed by Vladimir Latyshev. Bilbo's princess wife, an evil Gandalf and a Battle of the Five Armies dance number - these adaptations have it all! Host/Editor Baz Greenland Co-host Sam Stokes Executive Producer Tony Black Find us on /Threads/Instagram/Bluesky: @onerulesthemall Website: www.filmstories.co.uk Title music: ES Legions (c) Jo Wandiri via Epidemic Sounds Artwork by Quill Greenland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The boys are jumping into the Shire on this week's episode as they review the first entry in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, Fellowship of the Ring. For those who are unaware, The Lord of the Rings is a series of books created by J.R.R. Tolkien that follows the story of young Frodo Baggins on his quest to destroy the one ring. The Fellowship of the Ring, being the first in the series, lays out our main characters on the very beginning of their journey.Support the showCatch new episodes of the Where to Stick It Podcast every Tuesday and Thursday. If you like the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon where we upload exclusive content each month for only $3 a month.

An ancient mystery about ancient things. Today on Odd News+ we go back several thousand years to investigate a Tolkien-related mystery. Plus, coffee vs tea and your daily horoscope. An Indonesian island holds the key to a mystery about a special early human cousin. Could it be Bilbo Baggins? If you're a Gemini, today's horoscope is for you. Pay attention to the advice. It could save you a trip. We want to settle the debate over coffee vs. tea. And we know exactly who can help us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An ancient mystery about ancient things. Today on Odd News+ we go back several thousand years to investigate a Tolkien-related mystery. Plus, coffee vs tea and your daily horoscope. An Indonesian island holds the key to a mystery about a special early human cousin. Could it be Bilbo Baggins? If you're a Gemini, today's horoscope is for you. Pay attention to the advice. It could save you a trip. We want to settle the debate over coffee vs. tea. And we know exactly who can help us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe it was a troll, but this meal was GARBAGE, avoid, avoid, avoid! We also rant on "Ozempic Life" and the current state of health scam in the industry, as well as new releases and Bilbo Baggins returning to say some WILD ish. Join The SwoleFam https://swolenormousx.com/membershipsDownload The Swolenormous App https://swolenormousx.com/swolenormousappMERCH - https://papaswolio.com/Watch the full episodes here: https://rumble.com/thedailyswoleSubmit A Question⁠ For The Show: https://swolenormousx.com/apsGet On Papa Swolio's Email List: https://swolenormousx.com/emailDownload The 7 Pillars Ebook: https://swolenormousx.com/7-Pillars-EbookTry A Swolega Class From Inside Swolenormous X: https://www.swolenormousx.com/swolegaGet Your Free $10 In Bitcoin: https://www.swanbitcoin.com/papaswolio/   Questions? Email Us: Support@Swolenormous.com

The three Lord of the Rings stories quickly became huge hits when first released as novels in the 1940s. They quickly built a cult fan base due to the fantastical universe created by author JRR Tolkien.  But his works reached a whole other dimension with the epic Hollywood adaptations of the 2000s. These blockbusters brought the stories to life, wowing audiences with stunning visual effects and an Oscar-winning musical score. A number of films based on the life of Bilbo Baggins then followed, but the story didn't end there. Fans are currently getting stuck into The Rings of Power the latest series linked to the Lord of the Rings universe. The first episodes were released on Amazon Prime Video in early September 2022. Let's take a few minutes to discuss some of the little-known secrets behind the massively successful franchise.  How did Tolkien come up with the idea of creating the Lord of the Rings universe? What secrets did the Hollywood films bring? Did Tolkien leave any loose ends in his story?  ⁠In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions !⁠ To listen to the latest episodes, click here: ⁠What is tagskryt, the Scandinavian sustainable travel trend?⁠ ⁠Is it time the UK acknowledged its role in the slave trade?⁠ ⁠Why do we sneeze?⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance First Broadcast : 17/09/2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we explore three courageous decisions that show just how unexpected Bilbo Baggins can be, as he shatters all low expectations and inspires all of us, no matter how small, to be courageous. We wander chapter 16 of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit: “A Thief in the Night.” And as a bonus we dig into the oft-tossed around theory that the Arkenstone is a Silmaril–hint, it's—no spoilers! I'll answer that at the end.Save 15% at uncommongoods.com/lotrpodShare this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/240Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Our Sponsors:* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/lotrpodSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today we explore three courageous decisions that show just how unexpected Bilbo Baggins can be, as he shatters all low expectations and inspires all of us, no matter how small, to be courageous. We wander chapter 16 of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit: “A Thief in the Night.” And as a bonus we dig into the oft-tossed around theory that the Arkenstone is a Silmaril–hint, it's—no spoilers! I'll answer that at the end.Save 15% at uncommongoods.com/lotrpodShare this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/240Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Our Sponsors:* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/lotrpodSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Like Elwin Ransom, we're going on a walking tour, or like Bilbo Baggins, we're going on an adventure! Maybe not literally, but imaginatively as we briefly leave the works of C.S. Lewis and wander into Middle-earth. Our first stop will be The Hobbit. Read ahead if you don't want spoilers.Next Episode: The Hobbit, chapters 1-9

Does JLR realize he slurps? The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. Snitzer went to the Sphere in Las Vegas to see The Wizard of Oz. Unfiltered 6.

Does JLR realize he slurps? The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. Snitzer went to the Sphere in Las Vegas to see The Wizard of Oz. No filter 6. Jeffrey's dream show. Virginia Giuffre's memoir claims that Ghislaine Maxwell performed a sex act on George Clooney. Duji wants to put out her Christmas decorations before Halloween. A jogger was caught on camera vandalizing a home's Halloween decorations. Organ donors. People are criticizing Selena Gomez's face. A dad is in court for giving his son a hickey. A man wearing a Nazi uniform hit a woman in the face with a glass. The Laroque clan drove out to Pickering Farms. People are concerned about a video Tomas posted on TikTok. The DraftKings leaderboard.

Does JLR realize he slurps? The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. Snitzer went to the Sphere in Las Vegas to see The Wizard of Oz. Unfiltered 6.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does JLR realize he slurps? The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. Snitzer went to the Sphere in Las Vegas to see The Wizard of Oz. No filter 6. Jeffrey's dream show. Virginia Giuffre's memoir claims that Ghislaine Maxwell performed a sex act on George Clooney. Duji wants to put out her Christmas decorations before Halloween. A jogger was caught on camera vandalizing a home's Halloween decorations. Organ donors. People are criticizing Selena Gomez's face. A dad is in court for giving his son a hickey. A man wearing a Nazi uniform hit a woman in the face with a glass. The Laroque clan drove out to Pickering Farms. People are concerned about a video Tomas posted on TikTok. The DraftKings leaderboard. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine a small hobbit, armed with nothing but his wits and a ring of power, engaging in a high-stakes conversation with a fearsome dragon. In this episode, we explore the mesmerizing encounter between Bilbo Baggins and Smaug in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Get ready to unravel the riddle-titles, decipher the subtle clues, and witness the remarkable transformation of our beloved hobbit.Save 15% at uncommongoods.com/lotrpodShare this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/237Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Our Sponsors:* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/lotrpodSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Imagine a small hobbit, armed with nothing but his wits and a ring of power, engaging in a high-stakes conversation with a fearsome dragon. In this episode, we explore the mesmerizing encounter between Bilbo Baggins and Smaug in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Get ready to unravel the riddle-titles, decipher the subtle clues, and witness the remarkable transformation of our beloved hobbit.Save 15% at uncommongoods.com/lotrpodShare this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/237Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Our Sponsors:* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/lotrpodSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

ABOUT APRIL RINNE:BIO: My North Star: Helping people and organizations understand what's on the horizon – and how they fit into it. I decipher signals of change, help leaders and teams improve their tolerance for uncertainty, and scout new insights and opportunities in a world in flux. Over 25+ years and 100+ countries, I've been exposed to a wide range of companies, cultures, business models, leadership styles, and norms. And I've seen time and time again: Every organization, every team, and every individual struggles with change and uncertainty in some way. Even before the pandemic, and especially today. We've all had different experiences of change, and we could all use some help with the unknown. Leveling up our relationships to change and uncertainty is the opportunity of our lifetimes.My career portfolio includes futurist, speaker, author, advisor, global development executive, microfinance lawyer, investor, mental health advocate, certified yoga teacher, globetrotter, insatiable handstander, and ambassador of joy. Along the way I've been named one of the 50 Leading Female Futurists in the world, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a member of Thinkers50 Radar and the Silicon Guild, and one of the earliest Estonian e-Residents. I'm also the author of the international bestseller Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.My journey to Flux has been deeply personal. It began with the death of both of my parents in a car crash when I was 20. My entire life flipped upside-down. And today, there is nothing I enjoy more than sharing with others how I learned to see differently, find meaning, and strengthen my Flux Superpowers -- and how you can do so, too.April's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilrinne/Websites: https://aprilrinne.comBUY THE BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Flux-Superpowers-Thriving-Constant-Change/dp/1523093595email: april@aprilrinne.comSHOW INTRO:Welcome to Season 7 of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast – Episode 80!What started at a pivotal moment during the COVID pandemic in early 2020 has continued for seven seasons and now 80 episodes. This season we continue to follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts. In the coming weeks we have some terrific conversations that are both fun and inspiring. They are going to include thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We'll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us.We'll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.And I don't know, maybe there will be a couple of mystery guests that will just shake things up and give us a perspective on things that we've never thought about before.As in the past couple of seasons, we are grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org So, fasten your seat belt we're in for some good times…Today, EPISODE 80… I talk with April Rinne whose North Star is helping people and organizations understand what's on the horizon – and how they fit into it. April deciphers signals of change, helps leaders and teams improve their tolerance for uncertainty, and scouts new insights and opportunities in a world in flux. As well as being an excellent hand stander, (check out pics of her doing handstands in places all over the world on her website), she is also the author of the international bestseller “Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.”We will get to her book, some of the key ideas and so much more in a minute but first a few thoughts…It seems to me that over the past few seasons I've tended to talk about the idea of ‘the pace of change' a lot.I'm beginning to think it's a little like my unnatural fear of sharks (thank you Steven Spielberg) and that I keep on talking about them and seeking out images of them on Instagram as some sort of cognitive behavioral therapy to get me better with the idea that I can actually go swimming in the ocean and not feel afraid of Spielberg's Bruce sneaking up on me. I seem to talk about change a lot for a few reasons…maybe because, I will confess, that I don't think that I was actually good with change for years. I was pretty set in my ways about having a plan and making sure the plan was followed. I got significantly bent out of shape if the plan didn't go as, well… planned.If we were off on our timing, if something was late or if some spontaneous moment interrupted the calendar and I was going to have to re-adjust, it took me sometimes quite a while to recalibrate and get with the ‘new' program.And then there was the spring of 2020 where, well…everything changed. No doubt for someone who wasn't so good with the idea that things could change on a dime and a path you had so expertly crafted into the near future would just disappear in front of you,I came to understand that there were three types of change:the change that's innate - you know built into the system of everything the seasons the sun rising in the east and setting in the West and that kind of change that if it didn't happen you would think something was significantly wrong with the universethere was the change that we choose that gives us a sense of agency the kind of change we actually like more than others because we get to determine where it's going and what it actually means for usand then there's a kind of change like the COVID pandemic that is thrust upon you and in those moments shifting circumstances open a door to uncertainty that sense of clarity and purpose dissipates into a swell of unknowns and deep discomfort settles in making everything seem tenuous.That kind of change, I would hazard a guess, not many of us are fond of.That sort of change demands an openness to confront the necessity of things we have often held so dear or the veracity of things we've believed in about ourselves and others.This type of change asks us to embrace the unknown and find an opportunity for transformation in the ambiguity.This kind of change is the kind of change that requires you to stare long into the face of hard questions, discover inconvenient answers and make challenging decisions.That kind of change, turns out, is where all the growth is.That kind of change is embracing the Robert frost poem of the ‘path not travelled…'The thing is… as I think I've said before… it's easy for us to fall for nostalgia.It's cozy. It's welcoming and reassuring because it's familiar and it's easy to continue to keep doing the same thing that we have always done because, for some, there's security in choosing the familiar in preference for going on an adventure.I love that one scene from The Hobbit where Bilbo Baggins, after refusing to go on the trip with the dwarves, finally gets it that maybe there's something in it for him, a growth opportunity, and he runs after the company exclaiming to neighbors, when asked where he was going, that he was ‘going on an adventure.'But there's a strange paradox in all of this and that is; we both avoid the perceived danger of the unknown because the unfamiliar signals potential dangers and our neurobiology is geared to sounding the alarms when the unfamiliar lurks near…while at the same time being driven towards novel and the unexpected because that's where our brain ultimately finds learning opportunities (should we care to pay attention).There's no point in continuing to pull a covers over your head and hope that the uncertainty will pass because it's quite likely that when you reemerge whatever the challenge was it will still be thereand you'll open up your eyes and feel a like Dorothy and you not being in Kansas anymore,because while you were conveniently not paying attention, the world was swept up tossed upside down and blown into a new reality in the context of the ever-increasing pace of change that we are all now exposed to.Of course, all of the speed that we're exposed to these days is forcing cultural shifts to happen, some of which we are not neurobiologically or evolutionarily adequately adapted to. Remember, it's taken a few billion years to get where we are. We can't expect that we'll be able to keep up with the mental machinery we now have. (Another challenge to talk about another time.)As we move into a new experience paradigm of continual change, failing fast and continual iteration may become ‘de rigeur' because constant change will demand it and make it mainstream. In order to remain in sync with change, we will have to find a way to get right with the idea of change.This presents a particular problem for leaders of all sorts who have been traditionally looked upon to be able to divine the future and help lead their teams with certainty into a near ordistant future state. How do leaders maintain a sense of trust and engender followership from their teams when they may legitimately be unsure of where their businesses might need to go as the ground shifts beneath their feet?All of this suggests a need for extraordinary flexibility when trying to plan a pathway through a period of unprecedented change. That flexibility in large part comes not from our ability to develop some sort of control over the pace of change in the outer world - those things that are happening around us - but trying to find a sense of calm and flexibility within our inner world - to adjust and find a way to be in relationship with change rather than imposing our will on and resisting change as it comes to us.This is where I get to introduce April Rennie, author of the book “Flux: 8 Superpowers For Thriving In Constant Change.”April's highly readable book landed on my desk during the COVID pandemic when I was struggling with trying to adapt to the unknown. Her idea of flux is looked at as a noun and a verb;in the case of a noun, FLUX could be considered as “constant change”as a verb FLUX can mean “to learn to become fluid”What April really focuses on however is 8 Superpowers that help you to develop what she calls the “FLUX Mindset”- ‘the state of mind that allows you to see all change whatever it is, the good the bad, the things that you have control over and the things you can't control, the expected and the unexpected, and see all of it as an opportunity to learn to grow and improve.'For April Rinne, the idea of change and living within a world in flux, as about seeing it as a space of emergent possibility.That has a lot to do with feeling OK with being lost, being comfortable with not knowing.This may mean letting go of old scripts, narratives that just don't fit anymore but that you've come to rely on as a way of explaining, or explaining away, circumstances of your life.Perhaps we need to embrace a mindset of change that is closer to indigenous wisdom than perhaps other more wired cultures on our planet.It's not that we control nothing, but that we shift our view to be in relationship with change.April suggests that when we can be in relationship with uncertainty there's a kind of a dance, a push and pull, and that indigenous cultures seemed to have a keener sense of relationship - a relationship with themselves, with one another and with Mother Nature.Our conversation leads to the invitation to see the value in our interdependence to each other and the world around us ( even if the world is in a state of FLUX ) and that we work on growing our appreciation for and prioritization of fostering a positive relationship with change.If we can, the healthier we will be, both individually and collectively….    The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Bilbo Baggins finally becomes the burglar that Gandalf promised he would be. I'm not sure that exactly great expectations on Gandalf's part, but who am I to argue with a wizard? Come explore chapter 9 of JRR Tolkien's classic tale The Hobbit.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/234Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Bilbo Baggins finally becomes the burglar that Gandalf promised he would be. I'm not sure that exactly great expectations on Gandalf's part, but who am I to argue with a wizard? Come explore chapter 9 of JRR Tolkien's classic tale The Hobbit.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/234Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In his book, The Warrior Savior, Owen Strachan states in the very first three sentences in the first chapter the point of every page in the Bible: It was a tree that damned us. It was a tree that redeemed us. And it will be a tree that heals us in the age to cometime beyond all time.[1] I want to borrow and use Strachans opening statement in his book as the point of this sermon series. It is the big idea of the overall message of the seventeen sermons that will make up this series that I have titled, The Tree. I assume that you already know this, but just in case you dont, here it is: We are in a war! If you are a Christian as I am, then WE are at war. The war we are in is both spiritual and supernatural for we are warned: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). We are told that there is a domain of darkness (Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9) over which a powerful malevolent being rules (John 8:44; Eph. 2:2). Before we look into how it is that the domain of darkness came into existence, let me read something for you, and see if what you hear sounds like a commentary on the kinds of things that seem to be more and more common: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power... (2 Tim. 3:1-5) So, how did we get here? Where are we going? What hope do we have that it will ever get better? To answer that question, we need to go to the beginning. The Tree of Life and Its Life-Giving Fruit Like all stories, our story also has a beginning. Genesis 1:1 begins in the same way all good stories begin: In the beginning... What happened in the beginning? God created the heavens and the earth (v. 1). This is how we tell stories: Once upon a time A long, long time ago In a galaxy far, far away Like all other stories, our story begins in the mind of God. When, And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters (v. 2), God spoke into the emptiness and created out of nothing that which did not exist previously. Out of the imagination of the mind of God came forth a world brimming with life and worship. On the first day God created the heavens and the earth; day and night. On the second day He divided the heavens from the earth. On the third day God created the land, sea, and vegetation. On the fourth day He created the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day, God created creatures great and small. On the sixth day, God created land animals and finally mankind. And, on the seventh day God rested. The crowning moment of creation was when God said, Let us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness.... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (vv. 26, 27). Humanity was bornnot simply another creature, but a unique reflection of the Creator Himself. Among all living things, only human beings bear the image of God, set apart to represent Him in the world He created with design, beauty, and purpose. God blessed the man and his wife and commanded them to, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth (v. 28). Owen Strachan makes the point concerning Adam: Adam, the first man, was a priest and a king onto God. He lived and ruled under the divine regency of his Maker.[2] The woman, later to be called Eve in the story, came from Adams body and God brought her to Adam as his wife and helper to join him in the mission to exercise dominion on the earth and fill it with humans like themselves and so that they too would walk in obedience and love with their Creator. When God created, He didnt use special effects or any tricks; He spoke, and everything in the universe and beyond came into existence. When He had finished with creation, God declared it to be very good (v. 31). In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1) when he took the blank canvas of nothing and then painted the beauty of creation with the brush of His omnipotent Word. Before Eve was brought to Adam as a helper, God gave Adam another command: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die. (2:15-17). The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and Its Curse-Producing Fruit Before God formed Adam from the dust, He had already created trees on the third day. Among all the trees He made, two were of great significance: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Both of these were placed at the center of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1:11; 2:9). The fruit from the Tree of Life was available for Adam and Eve to freely enjoy, and by eating it, they could live forever (3:22). In contrast, eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would lead to death. In this way, God presented humanity with a choice in Eden: each day, Adam and Eve could choose life by lovingly obeying God, or they could choose death by turning away from Him in disobedience and rebellion. Just as J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit begins with the memorable line, In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit, introducing the humble yet unexpectedly heroic Bilbo Baggins, Genesis 3 ushers us into a pivotal moment with the arrival of a seemingly ordinary serpent. However, unlike Bilbo, whose heroism gradually unfolds, the serpent in Genesis 3 is far from harmlesshe is revealed as the true antagonist of humanitys story. Its important to remember Adams unique role in the garden: he was appointed by God to serve both as priest and king, entrusted to live and rule under Gods authority. The significance of Genesis 3:1 cannot be overstated, as it marks the moment when the serpent targets Eve, the wife of Gods chosen representative, with cunning intent. The serpents temptation comes in the form of a subtle question, challenging Gods word: Did God really say...? (v. 1). This question sets the stage for the unfolding drama of deception and a choice that will shape the course of human history. The root of the temptation was to question the goodness of God because He withheld fruit from only one tree in the garden. In other words, Satan was tempting Eve to doubt the goodness of God. Thomas Watson once wrote concerning sin, Sin first tempts and then damns. It is first a fox and then a lion.[3] So Eve, saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate... But she did not stop there, ...and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate (Gen. 3:6). Their innocence was violated by their rebellion, Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings (v. 7). Instead of choosing life, Adam and Eve chose death; they believed the lie of the serpent and thought that by eating the forbidden fruit that they would be Gods equal. They were wrong. They doubted the truthfulness of Gods word and His faithfulness to honor all of His promises and what they received was a curse instead of the blessing the serpent promised. The serpent was much more than what Adam and Eve believed him to be. Jesus said of the serpent, that he, was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is not truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Throughout the Bible, we learn that the serpent is also the Accuser (Rev. 12:10), the Adversary (1 Pet. 5:8), the Beast (Rev. 14:9-10), and Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24). He is the dragon (Rev. 12:9), the evil one (John 17:15), the father of lies (John 8:44), and the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). The serpent is the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:8-10), the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:1-2), the ruler of demons (Luke 11:15), the tempter (Matt. 4:3), the thief (John 10:10), and the wicked one (Eph. 6:16). In every description, he is the embodiment of evil who disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Yet, the serpent was, is, and always will be no more than a created being whose desire to be like God preceded his temptation of Adam and Eve to be like God. The serpents motive in tempting Adam and Eve to sin was rooted in his deep-seated hatred for God and for humanityGods unique creation made in His own image. Yet, it was not the devils decision that caused Adam and Eve to fall; rather, it was their own deliberate choice to disobey God. By choosing to sin, Adam and Eve forfeited the life and relationship with God that He had originally designed for them. It was not the serpent who chose death over life for the couple, but Adam and Eve who chose death instead of life. The Promise of Another Tree In Genesis 3, it was the snake who spoke first out of his own deception that he would have the last word. Yet, it was not the serpent, but God who had the final word. The response of Adam and Eve was that of shame and hiding, yet it was God who came near and found them in their shame! Do not miss what happens next in the story and how God approached the couple. We are told in Genesis 3:8, ...the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then, we come to Genesis 3:9! Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you? God did not call to both Adam and Eve, but only to Adam. Why? Was it not Eve who gave the forbidden fruit to Adam; was she not also guilty of sinning against God? Though both Adam and Eve sinned, it was Adam who represented mankind as the first priest and king. He was made first and was placed in the created order as head over his wife. He had headship and also served as the representative on behalf of all mankind; this is the point of Romans 5:12, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned... This is why God called to Adam and not to Eve. The couple could not hide from God; when God called Adam to account for his actions, he pointed his finger at his wife: The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate (v. 12). In other words, according to Adam, it was ultimately everyone elses fault that he chose to sin. The truth is that Adam failed to protect his wife through obedience God. When Eve was asked what it was that she had done, she also shifted the blame but was more truthful than Adam, she admitted that she ate because she was deceived (v. 13). God could have chosen to begin again. He was fully justified in withholding mercy and delivering only justice through His wrath. Yet, instead, He gave Adam and Eve what they did not deserve: which was mercy, love, and grace. God had the final word, and it was good news! Yes, death would spread to all mankind from one generation to the next because of Adam and Eves sin. Eve would experience great pain through giving birth to life, and Adam would experience great toil through bringing life from the earth (3:15-19). Suffering, pain, and thorns would serve as continual reminders of a world under the weight of the curse. Nevertheless, this is not how the story ends! God had the final word, and it came in the form of a promise that would lead to the destruction of the serpent and life for mankind: And I will make enemies Of you and the woman, And of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel. (3:15) From Adam and Eve would come a Deliverer who would crush the head of the great serpent-like-dragon under His heal.Although Adam and Eve were not given all the details, God had already determined that the Deliverer would be His own Son who would obediently choose a different tree in another garden, that would then result in His cursing for our redemption (see Gal 3:13). Although the consequence of Adam and Eves sin was expulsion from Eden and the presence of God, there was coming another Day when the Descendant would remove the curse of sin and make all things new. Although they were driven from Eden and forbidden to eat from the tree of life, God would make the forgiveness of sins and eternal life available through a different kind of tree, namely the cross of Christ. Conclusion We are told throughout the Bible that the choice of life over death is before mankind. Just before the Hebrew people were permitted to enter the land promised to them through Abraham, Moses said to the people: I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, so that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. (Deut. 30:19-20). The question we must all answer remains unchanged from the one asked throughout Scripture: Will you choose life or death? Permit me to leave you with six lessons from Genesis 1-3 in closing: Sin is always costly. Consider what Adam and Eves sin cost them; it cost them their intimacy with God, their intimacy with each other, and it robbed them of a joy that far exceeded what their sin could have delivered. Sin never delivers what it promises. Adam and Eve were told that if they sinned against God by eating the forbidden fruit that they would be just like God, but what they received is pain and death. Sin destroys peace. Before the fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed peace in the garden. There was harmony and continuity in the garden, but their sin disturbed what they once enjoyed. Sin vandalizes the peace of God. Sin brings unwanted shame. The moment Adam and Eve sinned against God; their innocence was turned into shame. They once enjoyed each others company naked and unashamed, but their sin resulted in their need to cover up their shame by covering up their nakedness. Sin will rob you of genuine joy. Adam and Eve were made to enjoy, experience, and bring forth life, but their sin robbed them of life and delivered only death. No Sin is bigger than Gods mercy, love, and grace. Even though there were consequences to their sin, Adam and Eve experienced the overpowering grace of God over their sin. [1] Owen Strachan, The Warrior Savior (Phillipsburg, NJ: PR Publishing; 2024), 1. [2] Ibid. [3] Thomas Watson. The Mischief of Sin (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications; 1994), p. 20.

In his book, The Warrior Savior, Owen Strachan states in the very first three sentences in the first chapter the point of every page in the Bible: It was a tree that damned us. It was a tree that redeemed us. And it will be a tree that heals us in the age to cometime beyond all time.[1] I want to borrow and use Strachans opening statement in his book as the point of this sermon series. It is the big idea of the overall message of the seventeen sermons that will make up this series that I have titled, The Tree. I assume that you already know this, but just in case you dont, here it is: We are in a war! If you are a Christian as I am, then WE are at war. The war we are in is both spiritual and supernatural for we are warned: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). We are told that there is a domain of darkness (Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9) over which a powerful malevolent being rules (John 8:44; Eph. 2:2). Before we look into how it is that the domain of darkness came into existence, let me read something for you, and see if what you hear sounds like a commentary on the kinds of things that seem to be more and more common: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power... (2 Tim. 3:1-5) So, how did we get here? Where are we going? What hope do we have that it will ever get better? To answer that question, we need to go to the beginning. The Tree of Life and Its Life-Giving Fruit Like all stories, our story also has a beginning. Genesis 1:1 begins in the same way all good stories begin: In the beginning... What happened in the beginning? God created the heavens and the earth (v. 1). This is how we tell stories: Once upon a time A long, long time ago In a galaxy far, far away Like all other stories, our story begins in the mind of God. When, And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters (v. 2), God spoke into the emptiness and created out of nothing that which did not exist previously. Out of the imagination of the mind of God came forth a world brimming with life and worship. On the first day God created the heavens and the earth; day and night. On the second day He divided the heavens from the earth. On the third day God created the land, sea, and vegetation. On the fourth day He created the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day, God created creatures great and small. On the sixth day, God created land animals and finally mankind. And, on the seventh day God rested. The crowning moment of creation was when God said, Let us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness.... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (vv. 26, 27). Humanity was bornnot simply another creature, but a unique reflection of the Creator Himself. Among all living things, only human beings bear the image of God, set apart to represent Him in the world He created with design, beauty, and purpose. God blessed the man and his wife and commanded them to, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth (v. 28). Owen Strachan makes the point concerning Adam: Adam, the first man, was a priest and a king onto God. He lived and ruled under the divine regency of his Maker.[2] The woman, later to be called Eve in the story, came from Adams body and God brought her to Adam as his wife and helper to join him in the mission to exercise dominion on the earth and fill it with humans like themselves and so that they too would walk in obedience and love with their Creator. When God created, He didnt use special effects or any tricks; He spoke, and everything in the universe and beyond came into existence. When He had finished with creation, God declared it to be very good (v. 31). In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1) when he took the blank canvas of nothing and then painted the beauty of creation with the brush of His omnipotent Word. Before Eve was brought to Adam as a helper, God gave Adam another command: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die. (2:15-17). The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and Its Curse-Producing Fruit Before God formed Adam from the dust, He had already created trees on the third day. Among all the trees He made, two were of great significance: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Both of these were placed at the center of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1:11; 2:9). The fruit from the Tree of Life was available for Adam and Eve to freely enjoy, and by eating it, they could live forever (3:22). In contrast, eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would lead to death. In this way, God presented humanity with a choice in Eden: each day, Adam and Eve could choose life by lovingly obeying God, or they could choose death by turning away from Him in disobedience and rebellion. Just as J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit begins with the memorable line, In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit, introducing the humble yet unexpectedly heroic Bilbo Baggins, Genesis 3 ushers us into a pivotal moment with the arrival of a seemingly ordinary serpent. However, unlike Bilbo, whose heroism gradually unfolds, the serpent in Genesis 3 is far from harmlesshe is revealed as the true antagonist of humanitys story. Its important to remember Adams unique role in the garden: he was appointed by God to serve both as priest and king, entrusted to live and rule under Gods authority. The significance of Genesis 3:1 cannot be overstated, as it marks the moment when the serpent targets Eve, the wife of Gods chosen representative, with cunning intent. The serpents temptation comes in the form of a subtle question, challenging Gods word: Did God really say...? (v. 1). This question sets the stage for the unfolding drama of deception and a choice that will shape the course of human history. The root of the temptation was to question the goodness of God because He withheld fruit from only one tree in the garden. In other words, Satan was tempting Eve to doubt the goodness of God. Thomas Watson once wrote concerning sin, Sin first tempts and then damns. It is first a fox and then a lion.[3] So Eve, saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate... But she did not stop there, ...and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate (Gen. 3:6). Their innocence was violated by their rebellion, Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings (v. 7). Instead of choosing life, Adam and Eve chose death; they believed the lie of the serpent and thought that by eating the forbidden fruit that they would be Gods equal. They were wrong. They doubted the truthfulness of Gods word and His faithfulness to honor all of His promises and what they received was a curse instead of the blessing the serpent promised. The serpent was much more than what Adam and Eve believed him to be. Jesus said of the serpent, that he, was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is not truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Throughout the Bible, we learn that the serpent is also the Accuser (Rev. 12:10), the Adversary (1 Pet. 5:8), the Beast (Rev. 14:9-10), and Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24). He is the dragon (Rev. 12:9), the evil one (John 17:15), the father of lies (John 8:44), and the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). The serpent is the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:8-10), the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:1-2), the ruler of demons (Luke 11:15), the tempter (Matt. 4:3), the thief (John 10:10), and the wicked one (Eph. 6:16). In every description, he is the embodiment of evil who disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Yet, the serpent was, is, and always will be no more than a created being whose desire to be like God preceded his temptation of Adam and Eve to be like God. The serpents motive in tempting Adam and Eve to sin was rooted in his deep-seated hatred for God and for humanityGods unique creation made in His own image. Yet, it was not the devils decision that caused Adam and Eve to fall; rather, it was their own deliberate choice to disobey God. By choosing to sin, Adam and Eve forfeited the life and relationship with God that He had originally designed for them. It was not the serpent who chose death over life for the couple, but Adam and Eve who chose death instead of life. The Promise of Another Tree In Genesis 3, it was the snake who spoke first out of his own deception that he would have the last word. Yet, it was not the serpent, but God who had the final word. The response of Adam and Eve was that of shame and hiding, yet it was God who came near and found them in their shame! Do not miss what happens next in the story and how God approached the couple. We are told in Genesis 3:8, ...the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then, we come to Genesis 3:9! Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you? God did not call to both Adam and Eve, but only to Adam. Why? Was it not Eve who gave the forbidden fruit to Adam; was she not also guilty of sinning against God? Though both Adam and Eve sinned, it was Adam who represented mankind as the first priest and king. He was made first and was placed in the created order as head over his wife. He had headship and also served as the representative on behalf of all mankind; this is the point of Romans 5:12, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned... This is why God called to Adam and not to Eve. The couple could not hide from God; when God called Adam to account for his actions, he pointed his finger at his wife: The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate (v. 12). In other words, according to Adam, it was ultimately everyone elses fault that he chose to sin. The truth is that Adam failed to protect his wife through obedience God. When Eve was asked what it was that she had done, she also shifted the blame but was more truthful than Adam, she admitted that she ate because she was deceived (v. 13). God could have chosen to begin again. He was fully justified in withholding mercy and delivering only justice through His wrath. Yet, instead, He gave Adam and Eve what they did not deserve: which was mercy, love, and grace. God had the final word, and it was good news! Yes, death would spread to all mankind from one generation to the next because of Adam and Eves sin. Eve would experience great pain through giving birth to life, and Adam would experience great toil through bringing life from the earth (3:15-19). Suffering, pain, and thorns would serve as continual reminders of a world under the weight of the curse. Nevertheless, this is not how the story ends! God had the final word, and it came in the form of a promise that would lead to the destruction of the serpent and life for mankind: And I will make enemies Of you and the woman, And of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel. (3:15) From Adam and Eve would come a Deliverer who would crush the head of the great serpent-like-dragon under His heal.Although Adam and Eve were not given all the details, God had already determined that the Deliverer would be His own Son who would obediently choose a different tree in another garden, that would then result in His cursing for our redemption (see Gal 3:13). Although the consequence of Adam and Eves sin was expulsion from Eden and the presence of God, there was coming another Day when the Descendant would remove the curse of sin and make all things new. Although they were driven from Eden and forbidden to eat from the tree of life, God would make the forgiveness of sins and eternal life available through a different kind of tree, namely the cross of Christ. Conclusion We are told throughout the Bible that the choice of life over death is before mankind. Just before the Hebrew people were permitted to enter the land promised to them through Abraham, Moses said to the people: I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, so that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. (Deut. 30:19-20). The question we must all answer remains unchanged from the one asked throughout Scripture: Will you choose life or death? Permit me to leave you with six lessons from Genesis 1-3 in closing: Sin is always costly. Consider what Adam and Eves sin cost them; it cost them their intimacy with God, their intimacy with each other, and it robbed them of a joy that far exceeded what their sin could have delivered. Sin never delivers what it promises. Adam and Eve were told that if they sinned against God by eating the forbidden fruit that they would be just like God, but what they received is pain and death. Sin destroys peace. Before the fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed peace in the garden. There was harmony and continuity in the garden, but their sin disturbed what they once enjoyed. Sin vandalizes the peace of God. Sin brings unwanted shame. The moment Adam and Eve sinned against God; their innocence was turned into shame. They once enjoyed each others company naked and unashamed, but their sin resulted in their need to cover up their shame by covering up their nakedness. Sin will rob you of genuine joy. Adam and Eve were made to enjoy, experience, and bring forth life, but their sin robbed them of life and delivered only death. No Sin is bigger than Gods mercy, love, and grace. Even though there were consequences to their sin, Adam and Eve experienced the overpowering grace of God over their sin. [1] Owen Strachan, The Warrior Savior (Phillipsburg, NJ: PR Publishing; 2024), 1. [2] Ibid. [3] Thomas Watson. The Mischief of Sin (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications; 1994), p. 20.

Bilbo Baggins almost gets eaten (again), has to save the dwarves (again), and meets elves (again). Today we explore JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, chapter 8, Flies and Spiders.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/233Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Bilbo Baggins almost gets eaten (again), has to save the dwarves (again), and meets elves (again). Today we explore JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, chapter 8, Flies and Spiders.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/233Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How do I move forward in life without any queer representation in my life?Today we meet Troy Ford and we're talking about the queer book that saved his life: The Hobbit by J.R.R. TolkienTroy Ford is an author and editor, and the publisher of two popular newsletters: the writing-focused Ford Knows Books, and Qstack, an LGBTQIA+ Directory, Platform, and Community of newsletter writers and readers on Substack. His debut novel, Lamb, released in June 2025. Unsung, his short film with co-director Kimberly Warner of Unfixed Media, received the OurPride 2025 Innovative Storytelling Award. A native Californian, he grew up overseas in the Middle East and eventually settled in the San Francisco-Bay Area where he earned a B.A. in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley. Since 2019, he has lived in Sitges, Spain with his husband and AmStaff Terrier.In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.J.R.R. Tolkien was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.Connect with Troysubstack: troyford.substack.comwebsite: troyfordauthor.combluesky: @mrtroyfordauthor.bsky.socialinstagram: @mrtroyfordauthorOur BookshopVisit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbookBuy The Hobbit: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780547928227Buy Lamb: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9798992613810Become an Associate Producer!Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbookCreditsHost/Founder: John ParkerExecutive Producer: Jim PoundsAssociate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean SmithPatreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy EricksonQuatrefoil LibraryQuatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can't buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1Support the show

Bilbo Baggins becomes bacon . . . or at least he fears that he has. Some new creatures want to eat him, another new creature seems to want to eat him; yet despite feeling like food, Bilbo is starting to change, but is it all for the best? Come explore JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, chapter 6.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/230Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Bilbo Baggins becomes bacon . . . or at least he fears that he has. Some new creatures want to eat him, another new creature seems to want to eat him; yet despite feeling like food, Bilbo is starting to change, but is it all for the best? Come explore JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, chapter 6.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/230Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One of the most chilling elements of a fantasy story is the descent into darkness. Darkness is the realm of evil, where wicked power have a home-court advantage. But journeys into the dark have a way of bringing out the light, of forcing the actors of light to evolve and emerge stronger than when they entered the darkness. Today we wander in the dark as we explore Bilbo Baggins's journey into darkness as told in chapter 5: Riddles in the Dark, of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/229Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Our Sponsors:* Visit Oscha Slings and use my code LOTRPOD for 10% off: https://oschaslings.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One of the most chilling elements of a fantasy story is the descent into darkness. Darkness is the realm of evil, where wicked power have a home-court advantage. But journeys into the dark have a way of bringing out the light, of forcing the actors of light to evolve and emerge stronger than when they entered the darkness. Today we wander in the dark as we explore Bilbo Baggins's journey into darkness as told in chapter 5: Riddles in the Dark, of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/229Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Our Sponsors:* Visit Oscha Slings and use my code LOTRPOD for 10% off: https://oschaslings.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

I want to revisit the very first essay I published on the very first chapter of Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring. In that essay I talked about the Loneliness of Bilbo Baggins and how I thought there were a lot of underwritten things as well as overt things that showed that Bilbo didn't really seem to have too many good friends. And that he only realized a little too late how dear a friend Frodo was. And the same with Frodo…he only realized how much he loved Bilbo after Bilbo had left for another adventure.

If you've seen or read Tolkien's The Hobbit, then you know that Gandalf convinced Thorin and the dwarves to take Bilbo Baggins, a simple hobbit from the Shire. But you may not know why Gandalf chose Bilbo in the first place, or how Gandalf and Thorin met, or how Gandalf received the map and key that he could pass along to Thorin, and still yet how unlikely the whole story is and how the tale is tangled up in the larger fight against Sauron. Today we explore the tale called “The Quest for Erebor” from JRR Tolkien's Unfinished Tales.Share this episode using this link:ringspodcast.com/221Who are you?Please tell me a little about you: ringspodcast.com/surveyWander Farther: A Free Reading GuideDownload my FREE guide for reading Tolkien's Silmarillion: https://ringspodcast.kit.com/a982347493Deals for you, my fellow wandererExclusive discount for Lore of the Rings Listeners: 25% off your entire order at Manly Bands. Details at https://www.ringspodcast.com/p/rings/Want to sponsor the Lore of the Rings?Sponsor rates, details, and inquires hereSupport Lore of the Rings with a donationAbout the Lore of the Rings PodcastContact the show, donate, and find past episodes: ringspodcast.comEmbark on an immersive journey through the captivating realms of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, where the epic sagas of the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and more come to life. Join us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Tolkien's masterful storytelling, drawing intriguing comparisons between his literary works and the cinematic adaptations crafted by Peter Jackson. Be at the forefront of the latest developments as we explore the highly anticipated Rings of Power series from Amazon. Prepare to be enthralled as we uncover hidden connections, untold tales, and delve into the depths of Middle-earth lore. Tune in now and become part of our fellowship on this extraordinary journey!This podcast is not affiliated with the Tolkien Estate.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/ringspodcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In one way or another, economy touches almost everything in a world. Even without currency or capitalism in the sense that we currently know it, the idea of obligations and repayment exert pressure on society. So how can we make interesting worldbuilding choices when it comes to money, debt, gain, and other aspects of economy? Guest Elizabeth Bear joins us to explore the options! Where does money intersect with other kinds of power and privilege? What's the income equality or inequality like -- what conflict is there between the haves and have-nots? How much opportunity is there for mobility between classes? Even issues as simple as currency are worth interrogation: What is your currency made from? There's a reason many societies have always used copper, silver, and gold -- but others use things like shells or polished stones. Then, of course, there are things like faery markets and the stock market, both of which operate on the trade of abstract nouns. So how can you make these choices for the world you're building in a way that serves the story you're telling? [Transcript for Episode 158] Our Guest: Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Astounding Award winning author of dozens of novels; over a hundred short stories; and a number of essays, nonfiction, and opinion pieces for markets as diverse as Popular Mechanics and The Washington Post. She lives in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts with her spouse, writer Scott Lynch. 

This week, get ready for a whole loot box of gaming-related stories!First up, we find out about a video game that could give people the power to battle misinformation. We also hear how scientists are putting harbour seals in front of a computer monitor to decipher how they navigate under the water. And Dr Brett Kagan from Cortical Labs joins us down the line to tell us why he taught a clump of brain cells to play the 1970s arcade game Pong. Along the way, we discover what happens when artificial intelligence tries to explain idioms, we learn about a tiny frog named after Bilbo Baggins and try to establish whether or not video games benefit your brain. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Leonie Joubert Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Imaan Moin and Minnie Harrop

Jason, Rob, and Asher are taking out a huge, unaffordable mortgage on the housing crisis. What's behind the shortage in housing? Why is it that no one, except canine Tik Tok influencers with billion-dollar bank accounts, can afford to own a home? While mainstream pundits press for an energy-blind buildout of desert sprawl and gleaming towers of glass and steel, we propose a surprising change of course inspired by little people with hairy feet. Originally recorded on 5/21/25.Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.Sources/Links/Notes:The story of Gunther, the world's most moneyed canine.You can't make this stuff up: Gunther offers to buy Nicholas Cage's island.David Wessel, "Where do the estimates of a 'housing shortage' come from?," Brookings Institute, October 21, 2024.Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng, "Americans' average daily travel distance, mapped," Axios, March 24, 2024.Jon Gertner, "America Is on Fire, Says One Climate Writer. Should You Flee?," New York Times, March 22, 2024.U.S. News and World Report, "Fastest-Growing Places in the U.S. in 2025-2026."Good Ideas for Addressing the Housing Crisis:Jason Bradford, "Growing the Shire, Not the 'Burb: Facing the Housing Crisis with Ecological Sanity," Resilience, May 27, 2025.Global Ecovillage NetworkNate Hagens, "Alexis Zeigler —  Living Without Fossil Fuels: How Living Energy Farm Created a Comfortable Off-Grid Lifestyle," The Great Simplification, April 9, 2025.Energy-Blind Non-Solutions for the Housing Crisis:Conor Dougherty, "Why America Should Sprawl," New York Times, April 10, 2025.Binyamin Applebaum, "Build Homes on Federal Land," New York Times, April 15, 2025.Ezra Klein, "Abundance and the Left," The Ezra Klein Show, April 29, 2025.Samuel Moyn, "Can Democrats Learn to Dream Big Again?," New York Times, March 18, 2025.Tyler Cowen, "Ezra Klein on the Abundance Agenda (Ep. 236)" Conversations with Tyler, March 7, 2025.Related Episode(s) of Crazy Town:Episode 37. Discounting the Future and Climate Chaos, or… the Story of the Dueling EconomistsSupport the show

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2025 is: hobbit • HAH-bit • noun A hobbit is a member of a fictitious peaceful and friendly race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground. // The story was filled with all sorts of imaginary people, including hobbits. See the entry > Examples: "Hobbits were no part of Tolkien's original plan. They entered rather late and through a side door, as the unexpected central characters in a children's story, The Hobbit, which Tolkien invented for his own children but which found an immediate and lasting worldwide audience. And of which The Lord of the Rings was the commissioned, long-awaited and trebly successful sequel." — Verlyn Flieger, LitHub.com, 24 June 2025 Did you know? "What is a hobbit?" wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Bilbo Baggins. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. ... There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along ..." Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours"; they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word hobbit (and many other terms—in fact, a whole new language) for The Hobbit and for his enormously popular three-part novel The Lord of the Rings.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2025 is: hobbit • HAH-bit • noun A hobbit is a member of a fictitious peaceful and friendly race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground. // The story was filled with all sorts of imaginary people, including hobbits. See the entry > Examples: "Hobbits were no part of Tolkien's original plan. They entered rather late and through a side door, as the unexpected central characters in a children's story, The Hobbit, which Tolkien invented for his own children but which found an immediate and lasting worldwide audience. And of which The Lord of the Rings was the commissioned, long-awaited and trebly successful sequel." — Verlyn Flieger, LitHub.com, 24 June 2024 Did you know? "What is a hobbit?" wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Bilbo Baggins. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. ... There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along ..." Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours"; they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word hobbit (and many other terms—in fact, a whole new language) for The Hobbit and for his enormously popular three-part novel The Lord of the Rings.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2025 is: hobbit • HAH-bit • noun A hobbit is a member of a fictitious peaceful and friendly race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground. // The story was filled with all sorts of imaginary people, including hobbits. See the entry > Examples: "Hobbits were no part of Tolkien's original plan. They entered rather late and through a side door, as the unexpected central characters in a children's story, The Hobbit, which Tolkien invented for his own children but which found an immediate and lasting worldwide audience. And of which The Lord of the Rings was the commissioned, long-awaited and trebly successful sequel." — Verlyn Flieger, LitHub.com, 24 June 2024 Did you know? "What is a hobbit?" wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Bilbo Baggins. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. ... There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along ..." Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours"; they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word hobbit (and many other terms—in fact, a whole new language) for The Hobbit and for his enormously popular three-part novel The Lord of the Rings.

Morgan Harper Nichols is a songwriter, poet, artist, and musician who was diagnosed with autism as an adult. Growing up, she yearns to see the wider world outside her rural home, and to embark on adventures like Bilbo Baggins. When she spends a semester studying abroad, she finds herself surrounded by the unfamiliar — and feeling rejected and lonely sometimes. But by stepping into the unknown, she begins to discover what is most important to her — and finds a new path to belonging.Learn more about Morgan: https://morganharpernichols.comFind Morgan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganharpernichols/Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.