Eucatastrophe

Strange word, huh?

It's a word that was invented by J. R. R. Tolkien, while he was creating the fantasy world of Middle Earth. Tolkien noted that the English language had the word "catastrophe," which Webster defines as "the final event of a tragedy" or "a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow and ruin." As a Christian, however, he felt the need for an antonym to catastrophe, and so he got out his old Greek lexicon and found the prefix eu- ("good" or "well"). A "eucatastrophe" is a good catastrophe...or "a momentous joyous event ranging from extreme good fortune to utter victory.

There are many illustrations of eucatastrophe in Tolkien's books (and the movies), but two particularly stand out in my mind (and you can see the photos above):

1. At the end of the movie version of The Two Towers, defeat is at hand for the King of Rohan as he failed to defend Helm's Deep. Yet right when the small band of heroes seem totally overrun, they look up to the mountain and see Gandalf, the White Rider, bringing an army of soldiers (not to mention a great Sunrise!!!) and they totally annihilate the forces of evil.

2. When Frodo and Sam finally reach Mount Doom, Frodo is unable to part with the One Ring. When Gollum wrestles Frodo and finally gets his "precious" all to himself, it looks as though evil has triumphed. Yet at that very moment, the unexpected happens, when Gollum himself falls into the fires of doom, unwittingly dealing the final death blow to evil.

So why am I writing a whole blog about one invented word? Because as Christians, we need to believe in the "eucatastrophe." It is so easy to get caught up in the negativity, fatalism, cynicism and despair of the culture around us. Rather than standing FOR something, the majority of people in the world are content merely to be perpetual critics, finding something wrong with everything but offering no positive solutions.

But we Christians believe that a eucatastrophe actually happened in history! Just when it seemed as though the forces of evil had triumphed, on that Good Friday afternoon, it was at that very moment that they were being defeated by the foolishnees and weakness of a God Who can not be defeated even by human wisdom and strength. We Christians have a resurrection faith! We Christians have GOOD NEWS to preach!

And you know what? I still see eucatastrophes happening all the time! In my own life, there were times when I thought things were going pretty bad, and all of a sudden an unexpected blessing would come in, reminding me that God is still sovereign and that Christ is victor over all the powers of the Enemy. God is always surprising me with joy, even in the midst of a culture of despair and death.

What are some eucatastrophes in your life? How has God brought unexpected joy and victory into your life?

"The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of human history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy." - J. R. R. Tolkien

Amen!