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| The Watchers - Lord of the Rings |
The Two Watchers were two three-headed phantom-statues located on the southeastern side of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, guarding the "gate".
They served as guardians of the tower, creating an invisible barrier between them through the force of their will alone, which prevented any enemy from passing the gate. The statues seemed to be somewhat sentient, being able to sense enemies whether visible or invisible. The statues, seated unmoving upon thrones, one on either side of the archway, had three joined bodies- one that faced inward, one that faced outward, and one that faced the other. The heads were like vultures with glittering black eyes, and they had clawlike hands which lay upon their great knees. They seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone. Some evil spirit of vigilance lived within them and created what Sam felt to be, "some web like Shelob's, only invisible".
The Lord of the Rings is an allegory.
The strange thing about this is - the leaders are all cowards, face to face. Walk up to one and challenge him about anything and he will:
- Cringe and try to run away - as Valleskey did when I walked toward him after his "spoiling the Egyptians" rave about the wonders of Church Growth.
- Become pale, stammer, and deny the obvious, as many have done when I brought up the facts.
- Engage in flattery.
- Offer a bribe, such as a call to a new location.
- Rage and bluster, completely out of control.
The Lutheran leaders go on full alert when their citadel, Mordor, is threatened. They do not want to work for living. Teach confirmation class again? Horrors. They do not want to give up all their Thrivent loot and Thrivent funded luxury vacations. When Lutherans are freezing in winter in the upper Midwest, their District Presidents are in the Caribbean - "having a meeting."
The Lutheran leaders do not want to write their own sermons. They understand that ecclesiastical wheels are greased with cover-ups and defenestrations. They have no use for the efficacy of the Word. When they hear key terms, the ones they hate from the Confessions, the Thing-Wraiths are sent out to protect what these cloven hoofed leaders love the most - their Things.
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| "Who is taking away our Things? Destroy him." |
