"all that is gold does not glitter..."

alright I know I've quoted Lord of the Rings before but come on the spiritual depth of those books (and movies ;)) is astounding. and I believe that it can be attributed to the fact that Tolkien used to meet and write with C.S. Lewis. That has got to be one of the coolest literary friendships of all time. But in the Fellowship of the Ring, this poem is written:

"All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost."

This poem is insanely cool, the spiritual meaning behind it blows me away. I think the line "all that is gold does not glitter" is extremely poignant and can also be reversed as "all that glitters is not gold". One of the major lessons I'm learning right now is to not lose perspective. To not place value on things that hold little value in my life and to not devalue the most valuable things in my life. I can so often be blinded by the "glitter" of the world and the appeal of it and it can make me see less value in living a life for God. The last two lines amaze me. I feel like it would be difficult to interpret this as anything besides staying strong in the spiritual battle long into old age. Also, the connection between the first line and the last astounds me. "Deep roots are not touched by the frost" is the solution to keeping perspective in my walk with God. Having roots deep in God's word and deep in my relationship with him is what is going to allow me to not whither in old age. I want to be strong. I want to have wisdom that sees what is truly gold in my life. I don't ever want to be tempted by the pyrite of the world that satan puts in my path. I know where I'm going and I won't change my path for something that just shines in a moment of sunlight. God's gold shines continuously. It shines whether my path is sunny and bright or even if it's gloomy. He is the true gold and the gold that I would give up everything for. 

I also found this super cool image of the quote: 

hello new phone background :)

All my LOTR love,

~haley grace