You Have Found Favor with God (Luke 1:26-38)

There is nowhere we can go, no place on earth, no situation whatsoever that is beyond God’s ability, reach, and power to effect the divine will.

The Annunciation, by Liviu Dumitrescu Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.” She was startled by what…

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Revealed in a Reply

This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent. In the previous post, after hearing the announcement from the angle Mary asks a question reminiscent of Zechariah’s query, “How can this be?” 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.  Continue…

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I love the conversation between Frodo and Boromir so much. So much. It's dripping with overarching themes and character work and the tension is electric the way it builds, the physical environment-as-cue, the parallels between Boromir and Bilbo, and Gollum, Boromir saying "so much depends on you" Boromir the first son of the steward of Gondor saying those words... thinking to sway Frodo with this conversation, yes, and it gets out of hand yes, but what does he say first he says 'may I sit with you' and 'none of us should be alone' and I just think of the mountain of responsibility heaped upon Boromir and how kind he is anyway, and it only twists the knife further that were this Ring not between them things would be different. Yet without the ring they would probably never have met.

And Frodo is so measured, so gracious, so strong in his resolve even though he is so scared, I love him, I love both of them, they are both so good, and that this is how they part...

That Frodo is forced to flee, that even if he heard Boromir calling after him and came back, how long until the madness that passed would return? That this desperate escape, not friendly counsel, is what pushed him to set off alone. That he must witness those around him fall to powerlust and violence, no matter how grand or valiant their hearts it may be no one can withstand the ring's influence. And the one thing Frodo cannot do is cast it away. He has to keep it, whatever it may do to him, and to protect those around him he must isolate himself?? Using his body and soul as a shield in the hopes of containing this dreadful, evil thing long enough to save everyone else from it for ever!!! Excuse me??

And that Boromir, if he could just understand what the ring is, would recognize Frodo's bravery and his wisdom. But he can't see it. He is in need, and the ring uses that. His crazed ramblings about how he would overthrow Sauron are all the more tragic for how hopeless they are. If he could he would 1v1 Sauron himself, this is the man that toot tooted at a Balrog. I think of Fingolfin in his last despair pounding on Morgoth's door with a fey light in his eyes, a tiny star under an engulfing cloud, blazing his challenge, and dying there in blood and dust. Because that is the real story, Boromir. That is how this ends.

The little hobbit, who looks younger but is actually older, who has raised a blade against an enemy only a handful of times, has the right of it. And maybe this gets missed sometimes but it says so much about Frodo that he fled. He could have used the ring to stab Boromir in the back. He has been carrying the thing on his body for longer than Boromir has even been in proximity to it, and has owned it for nearly twenty years on top of living in the same home as it for even longer. Boromir's direct threat to take it could have twisted his mind to possessive fury, but it doesn't. Frodo just runs, puts as much distance between them as possible, and that is such a significant act.

Not only that, but the minute he takes the ring off he puts the blame of Boromir's madness on it. He does not decide that Boromir has secretly been false this whole time, he does not even think of getting back at him, or ruminate in anger over what happened.

And Boromir dying, saying "I am sorry. I have paid." ??? Breaking of the fellowship more like breaking of my heart

It just kills me that anyone could possibly think either of them cowardly or unheroic.

Frodo and Boromir are both so incredibly brave and good and this is the hill I will not die on but live on because I will win!! I love them

Having fun redesigning characters of mine from Headless Bliss :)

Happy Feast Day

 The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary “Mary showed complete trust in God by agreeing to be used as an instrument in His plan of salvation. She trusted him in spite of her nothingness …”  St Teresa of Calcutta

Prints, holy cards & plaques are available for purchase here: {website}

*clears throat n taps mic* as many of you know, today is a very special day. it's sasuke uchiha's birthday! yay! 🥳 and every year on this day... well, another special day happens. 😮 that's right! just like last year and the year before x11 today is also alana's and my anniversary!🎊

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ALANA!!!

and happy birthday sasuke!

I went with the Ashenglades Green :3 it's very much Imryth's color at this point, it suits her

(featuring Annun again because he's a ham)

also ran Woe of the Willow and Imryth found herself unexpectedly reliving some trauma

it's fine, it's totally fine. she has the shards of it hanging on her wall now out of spite, she's coping just fine she can't go near that part of the house now because it makes her morgul-wound hurt oof

also shout out to the constable outside Forsaken Inn for looking at a woman older than the curvature of the planet and calling her "young lady"

it genuinely made her day XD

Frodo woke to find Faramir bending over him.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - J.R.R. Tolkien

31 Days of Sonic Day 28: Snack

Treat your workaholic friend.

They stood on a wet floor of polished stone, the doorstep, as it were, of a rough-hewn gate of rock opening dark behind them. But in front a thin veil of water was hung, so near that Frodo could have put an outstretched arm into it. It faced westward. The level shafts of the setting sun behind beat upon it, and the red light was broken into many flickering beams of ever-changing colour. It was as if they stood at the window of some elven-tower, curtained with threaded jewels of silver and gold, and ruby, sapphire and amethyst, all kindled with an unconsuming fire.

'At least by good chance we came at the right hour to reward you for your patience,' said Faramir. 'This is the Window of the Sunset, Henneth Annûn, fairest of all the falls of Ithilien, land of many fountains. Few strangers have ever seen it.

🙋‍♀️ raise your hand if you tried to draw this when you were 13

Luke 1:26-38 – The Holy Spirit Will Come on You

"God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us." (Romans 5:5)

Pentecost by Jen Norton In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of…

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They turned and passed under the low forbidding arch.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" - J.R.R. Tolkien

i know ransom is a ✨️murderer✨️ but we could have been tolkien fanfic besties if he was nurtured a lil more growing up 🥺

Priority #ONE protect Yourself and Them. #wholelifeinsurance #termlifeinsurance #finalexpense #life #annunities https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci2deiaOLSe/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Some resources for Silmarillion fic writers, artists, and general enthusiasts, 2023 version

I made a new version of this post since the old one now has some dead links .

The Silmarillion, full text by chapters - the thing itself.

Laws and Customs of the Eldar, full text from The History of Middle-earth: Morgoth's Ring. This essay written by J.R.R. Tolkien, with commentary by Christopher Tolkien, includes information on the elven life cycle and marriage, roles of men and women, Noldor naming customs, the fëa and hröa, death and rebirth, and the complex matter of Finwë & Míriel & Indis. Whether you want to write ‘LaCE’-compliant fic or not, it’s interesting reading.

The Silmarillion Writers' Guild Biographies are great, comprehensive summaries of what Tolkien wrote about a particular character, complete with quotations and references, with some commentary. They’re written by many different contributors so they differ from one another but all are useful when you want to learn about a character. (Older version, characters listed alphabetically)

Henneth Annun character bios contain less commentary but there are lots of them, including for minor characters, from the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Hobbit and LotR. Bios include facts and quotes about the characters.

Heraldic devices of Silmarillion (and LotR) characters, including heraldic rules among Elves etc. Some are copied from Tolkien’s original drawings while others have been drawn based on descriptions in the books.

Timelines for the events of the Silmarillion on Tolkien Gateway which cannot possibly be accurate for all of Tolkien’s conflicting versions, but they are still a very useful resource

Arms and Armours of the Eldar is a comprehensive list of quotations from Tolkien’s works concerning all things physically offensive and defensive.

Parf Edhellen Dictionary of Tolkien’s languages gathers definitions from multiple other sites. Easy to use.

RealElvish.net Name lists are an excellent resource for finding a name for your OC.

Please note that I cannot guarantee the security or accuracy of any of these websites.

This day in Middle Earth history: March 7, TA 3019

Frodo taken by Faramir to Henneth Annun. Aragorn comes to Dunharrow at nightfall.