Familiar with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings? This master Catholic storyteller opens that Trilogy with Bilbo Baggin’s birthday bash. Recently, a group of homeschool children and moms recreated Bilbo’s bash and this incredible eatable birthday cake. The master baker shared this wonderful reflection; The whole project reminded me of going downtown to see the Christmas window displays. I wanted to shrink myself and enter those enchanted worlds. There was a sense of wonder of what it would be like to be in a place like that. That peace and joy gave us a window into heaven. You see, Hobbiton for Tolkien, represents the Garden of Eden, filled with youthful cheer. As so many people exclaimed, “Is that a real cake?” I realized that we were getting a 3-dimensional bird’s eye view of what God sees when He looks down at us. God created an incredibly gorgeous world. He watches us, His children with great passion. There was a “tragic-beauty” (if that is a word) to the fact that all present were about to eat, that is destroy this masterpiece that took over 100 hours of about 40 people. Johnny would soon sink his teeth into the gelatin river, Mary would take a bite out of the chocolate tree stump, Shea could finally try the fondant carrot and cabbage she made for the garden. Peter would taste the thatched roofs made by Nora and Lilly. And above all, someone would walk away with THE RING hidden in the riverbed, without getting it stuck in their throat. All could share in this beautiful creation, but only if it was destroyed. Like Jesus teaches us, this cake had to die, like the grain of wheat. As Kara and Kevin greeted the hungry spectators and filled their plates with a slice of the “great sacrifice” the message was lost on no one. Inspired by this labor of love, they would witness God’s love and go home to recreate what they had witnessed. Everyone would remember that great feast in the midst of that most magical evening, made possible by their own contribution, their own sacrifice, big or small. It is indeed our participation, our sharing in God’s work of both creation AND redemption that makes this world a better place. Thank you J.R. Tolkien, thank you Riverside.