Mitch opened his sermon at NorthHaven on Christ the King Sunday recounting the scene at the end of The Return of the King in which Aragorn, the newly crowned king, bows down to the hobbits. That brought to mind their first meeting in The Fellowship of the Ring where Frodo is trying to decide if Aragorn should be trusted:
At last Frodo spoke with hesitation. “I believed that you were a friend before the letter came,” he said, “or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way the servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would - well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.”
What does a king look like?
Is he haughty,
unapproachable,
controlling,
and cold?
Regal and magnificent,
to be respected and admired,
but only from afar?
Majestic and powerful,
a conquering hero
who rides into the city
astride a warhorse?
Surely the king
would not appear
as the son of
a poor family,
a laborer with
calloused hands?
Homeless,
who owns nothing,
and rides into the city
on a shabby, borrowed donkey?
One who suffered injustice,
and was executed by
the forces of the state?
Father,
Teach me to
embrace the King
as he is,
and not the King
as I want him to be.
Amen