{"id":28768,"date":"2022-09-08T19:03:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T02:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28768"},"modified":"2022-09-08T19:03:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T02:03:11","slug":"what-might-come-of-elves-and-dwarfs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-might-come-of-elves-and-dwarfs\/","title":{"rendered":"What might come of Elves and Dwarfs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

My family is among those who have waited for the prequel to <\/span>The Lord of the Rings<\/span><\/i> by J.R.R. Tolkien. <\/span>Rings of Power<\/span><\/i> premiered this past week on Amazon prime and we watched with eagerness and excitement.\u00a0 It was interesting to note how the characters, almost too many to keep track of, imbued good and evil.\u00a0 This interplay of characters revealed how cultural differences impacted the unfolding fantasy story. Some of the cultural differences were easy to take note of (Elves are tall and stately in appearance, dwarfs are short and rugged looking) and others were less noticeable (relationship expectations, and historical implications in the relationship). I made connections with this episode and my current reading of <\/span>Culture Map <\/span><\/i>by Erin Meyers and watching Karen Tremper\u2019s presentation on Intercultural Competencies<\/span><\/p>\n

Two cultures brought together in the <\/span>Rings of Power<\/span><\/i> are the Elves and the Dwarfs.\u00a0 The meeting of two characters might be better described as a collision.\u00a0 Elrond, an Elf, visits the underground kingdom of Khazad-Dum, with the objective of recruiting workers to forge a new Middle Earth.\u00a0 Elrond is an old friend of Durin, a great leader among the dwarfs. It is curious how these two might align when the ethos among them might be summed up in the words from the trailer: \u201cThere can be no trust between hammer and rock.\u00a0 Eventually, one or the other must break.\u201d\u00a0 Elrond, who had offended Durin many years prior to this meeting knew that he would need to regain the trust of his hurt friend and agreed to a competitive game of splitting rocks with hammers.\u00a0 This began to soften Durin\u2019s hardened heart.\u00a0 With reluctance, Durin agrees to have Elrond meet his wife, and this greeting opens an invitation for Elrond to stay for dinner.\u00a0 Elrond masterfully waited to gain trust and by the end of their meeting, Durin was willing to hear his old friends\u2019 plan to employ the dwarfs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Applying Karen Tremper\u2019s <\/span>Intercultural Competencies<\/span><\/i>, I find that Elrond was wise to consider the context and environment he entered when visiting his dwarf friend.\u00a0 Elrond had a growth mindset and was willing to live dangerously by traveling to where his friend lived to seek consultation. As an Elf ambassador, he was able to tolerate the risk of rejection and humbly asked for forgiveness and congratulated his friend for the accomplishments he had achieved.\u00a0 Elrond had the goal of proposing an allegiance with the dwarfs and this drove him to be persistent in spending time with Durin. Elrond thought ahead by gaining an invitation to dinner by first asking to meet Durin\u2019s wife (the elf intended to win the wifes favor). Befriending Durin\u2019s wife became the bridge for Elrond to share freely why he had traveled to see his friend.\u00a0 Elrond did well to navigate the cultural differences that were not visibly noticeable.\u00a0 His thoughtful and non-judgmental manner smoothed the rigid and unyielding dwarf.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Communication among elves and dwarfs have unique intercultural indicators as does the communication found with Jesus who, on the road to Emmaus engaged two disciples.\u00a0 Jesus, being Semitic in his cultural background (33 years of life), would know how to approach two fellow Jewish men but it is worth noting that Jesus came from a Kingdom which He was establishing on earth. Jesus, recently resurrected from the dead, brought His own unique approach to communication outlined in Luke 24.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him. He asked them, \u201cWhat are you discussing together as you walk along?\u201d\u00a0 Luke 24: 15-17\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus personally<\/span> joined the two disciples in the conversation that they were pursuing by asking a question. Dave Kerpen, in his book <\/span>The Art of People<\/span><\/i>, discusses this approach in chapter four: Be interested Instead of Interesting.\u00a0 As humans we are egocentric and are interested more in ourselves than others.\u00a0 If we \u201cshut up and listen\u201d then our relationships will be strengthened. Jesus, in his cultural competency,\u201d knew that revealing Himself in his glorified body would not be what the two disciples needed but rather, they needed a listening ear.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus asked the disciples questions with an ear to hear their explanation of the events taking place in Jerusalem. Erin Meyers in her book <\/span>The Culture Map<\/span><\/i> shares a story about a Chinese businessman who did not speak but listened during a business meeting with British colleagues. This resulted in a lackluster relationship with his British contemporaries. As a Chinese businessman, he wanted to pay due respect to those in the business meeting and waited to be invited to speak; waiting for questions that did not come. The British businessmen wanted to hear the input of the Chinese businessman.\u00a0 It had been their loss to not gain his perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus knows when to listen and when to speak.\u00a0 Fortunately, Jesus joined the conversation with the disciples and after they talked about who Jesus of Nazareth was, Jesus explained who He was in His own words.\u00a0 Luke 24:27 \u201cAnd beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.\u201d\u00a0 Whether Jesus chooses to join a conversation with a question or speaks about Scripture and His true identity, Jesus intercultural competency is a role model for all to follow.\u00a0 Luke 24:29 finds the disciples strongly asking Jesus to stay with them.\u00a0 Jesus had clearly communicated well with a hospitable invitation extended from the disciples.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Intercultural competency is a necessity in a fantasy land of elves and dwarfs, in modern day cultures, and in communicating Christ\u2019s Kingdom.\u00a0 What may come from the various attempts to communicate well?\u00a0 When everyone feels valued and respected, relationships and adventures begin.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My family is among those who have waited for the prequel to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Rings of Power premiered this past week on Amazon prime and we watched with eagerness and excitement.\u00a0 It was interesting to note how the characters, almost too many to keep track of, imbued good and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2309],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28769,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28768\/revisions\/28769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}