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Often the final chapters in a book can actually double as the first chapters in a sequel. The final chapters of the Lord of the Rings are no less multitalented. With Sauron defeated and the Shire cleansed, the Hobbits realize that their homes are no longer the peaceful, happy countryside they once left behind. War has come and gone from the Shire, leaving the land a scarred ruin in its wake. Where grass once grew on hillsides, now only ash and soil remains. Like those returning to a house that has been destroyed in a fire, at first the Hobbits find only despair. They realize the work it will take to make things right again.

But Samwise has a gift, given to him by Galadriel, that can help heal his home—a small box with soil inside from Galadriel's garden. Despite his doubts, he opens the box to find inside a single seed, along with the soil from Lorien. Galadriel's words to Sam at their parting return to him read, "Though you should find all barren and laid waste there will be few gardens in Middle Earth that will bloom like your garden, if you sprinkle this earth there." So Sam plants saplings in every spot where "specially beautiful or beloved trees had been destroyed," making sure to put a single grain of Galadriel's soil in with evey tree. He plants the single seed from Lorien where the party tree had once stood and then sits back to await the coming of spring. Although winter seems to last ages, that little box seems a kind of monument representing Sam's hope while the season passes.

When spring comes, new life arrives in the Shire. The trees Sam planted sprout and grow, "as if time was in a hurry and wished to make one year do for twenty." Although it takes time, Sam, ever the patient gardener, helps tend the newly-planted Shire with diligence and care. Soon every leaf and blade of grass grows back greener than before. Where once death reigned, new life arrives in the form of Sam's gift. Certainly this mirrors our lives. Where once we were slaves to sin, in Christ we are born anew. Like the Shire, our world has been laid to waste by sin and corruption since the Fall. Despite all our searching, no Eden exists on this earth, but the hope of restoration through Christ's return remains. And like that little box that Galdriel gave to Sam, we have the Bible to give us hope until spring.

 

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