Building Your Shire

In a final "Building Our Shire" episode, Stacy and Ross put a final flourish on this project with some reflections, sharing memories, and a look to the future. A sincere thank-you to those who shared this project with us as we created it, and to those who might pick it up in the future. -Lifting the brush from the canvas -The future of family and our creative projects -"I've thought of an ending for my book- 'and [they] lived happily ever after...to the end of [their] days.'" Music by Gregory S.

The exploding of Spring upon the world brings about reflections on our relationship to nature, and nature's relationship to God. -It's finals week. What did you expect? -The sneeze/riot/explosion of Spring brings life and power to bear. -Matthew 5:24-35 is what we were talking about.

Tom Bombadil is one of the most enigmatic characters in all of Middle Earth. What was Tolkien trying to teach us by including this character? What does he have to tell us about ourselves? -A (probably poor) retelling of the story of Bombadil -Mystery is just fine -Who does Tom Bombadil point to for you?

Reflections on the sanctifying nature of parenthood, how its joys and sorrows draw us toward salvation, and what it has to do with Frodo's vision of the Undying Lands. -Redemptive suffering as a parent -When God enters into our lives, we also enter into His -Love in this life is a glimpse of Heaven, a reading of Tolkien's vision of the Hereafter And all will turn to silver glass A light on the water all souls pass Into the West Music by Gregory S.

Ross and Stacy are starting to look at how to bring some of the concepts of Building Your Shire to life in the parish. This is where the rubber meets the road (which goes ever on and on). -What the heck has this podcast taught us? -Pizza Hut longs for community -Why, How, and What to do to build community Music by Gregory S.

Take a trip down memory lane with us as we take a look back at our first set of Building Your Shire episodes! -Ross & Stacy give a short overview of each episode's main ideas, plus any new insights we might have stumbled across. Music by Gregory S.

Reflecting back on this Lenten season, we close in on how our fasting, prayer, and almsgiving affected us, and how we can better approach suffering in our own lives. -The rise, fall, and hopeful return of "Lenten MSG" -What is fasting for? -A sword, a stone, and suffering Music by Gregory S.

The crisis-upon-crisis pace of LOTR mirrors the everyday experience of life's tough moments. The Fellowship of the Nine shows us how to handle it with companions. We also cover a medley of other shorter, related topics. -The trap of "just getting through" the difficult stuff and living between delusion and despair -Reflections on the Agony in the Garden -Lent just keeps on coming Music by Gregory S.

Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are the foundations of reality. What does Beauty actually have to do with anything, and why is it just as important as the others? -How much cod fish is too much? -Beauty leads us towards Truth and Goodness -Spirit made visible in LOTR Music by Gregory S.

It's a tall order to distill any of St. Thomas Aquinas's ideas down into a 30 minute podcast, but that doesn't mean we won't give it a try! We discuss the Four Human Goods put forth by great scholar, and of course, how it tracks with Tolkien's Middle Earth. -A Homily Revisited -Natural Law and the good things we can access through it -Augustinian evil in The Lord of the Rings Music by Gregory S.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." -The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien Taking a break from the strictly theological, we take a look at what it means to host like a Hobbit! -What hospitality really is -Home-brewing the "best beer in the East Farthing" -An outline on how to start elevating your hosting experience Music by Gregory S.

JRR Tolkien wrote a myth, in part, so that we would recognize the value of myths. "Myth" doesn't necessarily mean "falsehood." What if a myth were actually true? -Check in on our Lenten Booster Project -The myth of Middle Earth vs. the Antediluvian (pre-flood) world -We don't have to deconstruct history in order to understand it

Once again, we check in with each other to see how we're putting these ideas into practice. -Our Lenten fasting, prayer, and almsgiving routines -Oops, Bilbo! -Building a new "Lenten Enhancer" system (patent pending)

The preparation for Lent can be a time for reflecting on why we need a savior in the first place. Why did the crowd choose Barabbas, and how do we see ourselves in that? -Just as the Hobbits are the ones fit to bear the ring, Jesus is fit to bear the cross. -We become Barabbas when we rely upon ourselves for our own salvation. -When we force our will upon the world, we become a member of the crowd choosing the revolutionary.

Merry and Pippin- the youngest Hobbits in the Fellowship- have a great deal to teach us about stopping to find joy in everyday things. Let's learn from their youth, and find ourselves acting a "fool of a Took" once in a while. -Take time to do things that are contrary to the day-to-day efficiency of our lives. -Curiosity makes us open to opportunities. -How to become more curious by "lifting our eyes." Music by Gregory S.

The Hobbits are known for writing and telling stories. Why do we find that so endearing? We look at finding ways to tell the story of your life and your family. -Stories connect us to each other. -Preserving our past makes the value of life known. -How long are these people going to be sick?? Music by Gregory S.

The early months of the year can be a difficult time: The gatherings slow down, the days are short, and the cold seems to stifle all activity. How can we grow in holiness and even happiness during this time? -The desolation of Frodo and Sam -Nerdy ramblings on deep(er) Middle Earth lore -Let the cold & quiet just be cold & quiet Music by Gregory S.

Exploring the difference between an Adventure and a Quest in both Middle Earth and our own lives. Quests choose the heroes, and leave them permanently changed. -Parenting, a Quest -Quests change our identity -The reality of the human condition: Crisis as the forge of heroes

Turning our gaze back to our own lives, we look at how to approach the new year through good resolutions, one-word mission statements, and emulating the saints. -Finding ways to apply "Shine" to various parts of life -Sharpening our own edge to be who we're made to be -Random Saint Name Generator Music by Gregory S.

Sometimes we're called to be Frodo- carrying the Ring to its destination. Other times we become Sam and carry the Ring-bearer. Special guests- Stacy's Parents- discuss the major health journey they've been on, how they suffered in hard times, and carried each other through it all. -Christ unites Himself to us through His Passion -There and Back Again: A Journey Towards Health -Closeness to God in the Darkness of the World

A quick word about celebrating the holidays like our Shire-Folk Friends.

The human heart desires culture and community- how do we create that in an era of atomization? By hosting a party (sort of)! We cannot build those things by only being against evil- we must live for the good. We become who we are meant to be when we embrace tradition for the sake of building meaningful communities. -"A Long Expected Party" -Aragorn becomes king, and Gondor recovers its identity -Being for something

Our adult world is so full of problems and concerns, how can we find a way to become childlike in our love for God? The submission of the Hobbits to good authority is part of what makes them the absolute opposite of Sauron, and what makes Frodo an ideal Ring-Bearer. We can probably learn that and a lot more from their example. -The proper use of authority -The growth of the adult mind & the challenge of love -The life of sainthood is a life of struggle- not a destination at which we arrive Music by Gregory S.

The will-bending power of Sauron's ring is the shortcut to the thing he never had the patience for: Love. When we allow the Liturgy to work on us, we become what God means for us to be, rather than what we fashion for ourselves. -A river and a ring -Hell beneath a flooded house -Walking away from the dumpster

We check in with each other and reveal the things that are pulling us away from the Shire. Most of them will probably sound familiar! Wishing all well in their own worthy pursuits.

If you've ever wondered if all this *stuff* in our lives is necessary, you're not alone! What do the Hobbits have to teach us about saintly living, giving up some worldly pursuits, and committing ourselves to an idea?

As we move through the Month of Souls, we discuss what it means to live alongside death and how to celebrate a good "Fourth Birthday." What does The Lord of the Rings have to teach us about death, redemption, forgiveness, and hope?

A "good peace" spans generations. We discuss what the Hobbits of Brandy Hall prioritize in order to accomplish that, how it benefits us in our own lives, and how to be the Brandybuck.

We continue with an examination of "good peace" and why we're looking specifically at the Shire as a model for life, rather than the world of Men.

The Lord of the Rings isn't just a foundational fantasy novel, but it also contains a blueprint for the best form of human life. We'll start here by looking at what Truth means in the Lord of the Rings. "I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size)." - J.R.R. Tolkien Special thank you to Gregory for recording the intro music.