Gandalf and the Holy Spirit's Silence

 When the Spirit is Silent

My husband has embarked upon the wonderful adventure of listening to Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in audiobook form, narrated by Andy Serkis. He has always loved the movies (which are played nigh-constantly in his family's house), but his listening experience has been just about as fun for me as it has been for him. One of our most in-depth conversations about the story focused on The Fellowship of the Ring. While The Two Towers is his favorite movie, he found that there was so much depth to the first novel that wasn't depicted in Peter Jackson's film, and that depth led to some fascinating insights about Gandalf's role in the fellowship and, in my interpretation, tie-ins with the spiritual life.

Tolkien's work is one of the finest adventure stories of all time, and I'll start with examining the parts relevant to this discussion. In the mines of Moria (one of my husband's favorite scenes in the audiobooks to date), Gandalf falls during his battle with the Balrog and is lost to the fellowship. The remaining members of the group make their way to Lothlorien, one of the realms of the elves, and recuperate there. After some time there - and some interesting interactions with the ruling lady, Galadriel - the fellowship continues on its way down the river. At some point, the members of the group will have to decide where they are going to go - to give succor to Gondor, with Boromir, or towards Mordor and Mount Doom, to destroy the Ring as soon as possible. This is the basic frame of the story after Moria, up to a point.

Now, I'll take a look at what was going on within the company. My husband noticed that once Gandalf is gone, it's almost as if the fellowship has lost its guiding compass. Gandalf, always the summoner to adventure and mentor figure and marshaler of men, leaves the fellowship devoid of his guiding presence. As my husband put it, the fellowship was happy to follow Gandalf's lead, much like a child trusts that everything will turn out well, as long as his parents are with him. But, once that dynamic problem solver - the biggest adult in the room, as it were - is gone, the decision making falls primarily on the next "most mature" person in the group, which, in this case, is Aragorn. 

Aragorn, however, seems not too keen to take complete control of the reins, and this dynamic is lost in the translation of the novel into movie format. He has some ideas about how the members of the fellowship should divide, posing the idea that he travel with Frodo and the Ring, Samwise, and Gimli towards Mordor, and the others should perhaps accompany Boromir on his homeward journey to Gondor. However, even with this idea, he is loth to make the decision himself and defers to Frodo. Frodo asks for some time to consider the options, and this is the point at which the train jumps the tracks and everything spirals out of control.

One of the reasons things go awry is that Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo. With his analysis, I'm going to start bringing in some of the more spiritual tie-ins.

Boromir is an interesting character regarding decision-making and virtue. As regards the making of decisions, the reader knows from the outset that Boromir plans to accompany the fellowship as long as it's heading in the direction of his homeland, and he intends to part ways once the group's path lies in a different direction. He argues that the Ring should go to Gondor, but accepts that his path will split at some point from others. There is some tension present regarding Boromir and his ideas about what should happen to the Ring, but there is no question there of doing other than what Gandalf deems best. But, this is the situation before Gandalf's loss.

Once Gandalf - our proverbial decision-making parent - is out of the picture, it seems that alternatives suggest themselves more strongly to Boromir. Even Lady Galadriel picks up on this when the fellowship presents itself in Lothlorien. What had once been a distant possibility - the taking of the Ring to Gondor before Mordor - was suddenly an option that was back on the table. Yet, it was not an option that anyone in the fellowship seriously considered. Aragorn mulled over splitting the fellowship, and Frodo knew the Ring had to continue to Mordor and its destruction. So, once Boromir determined that the Ring's journey to Gondor was a real possibility, he had to figure out how to make that possibility happen.

As said previously, the change in Boromir from contented fellow-adventurer to ambitious strategist seems to take place after the group loses Gandalf. Think of him, in a way, as a high schooler - one who is content to live by his parents' rules so long as he lives in his parents' house, but who goes off to college and lives by a different set of values once he's on his own. The change wasn't that he was suddenly a different person altogether - the change came from the sudden falling away of a structure that gave something its form. Once the structure was gone, the inner substance wasn't hard enough to retain the shape and stand on its own.

But the structure fell away for everyone in the fellowship, not just Boromir. Gandalf wasn't watching over or guiding any of them anymore, so why was Boromir the only one who "went bad"? I think the answer lies in virtue and discernment, and the difference can best be seen in a comparison with Aragorn.

Aragorn hesitated to push Frodo to take the Ring in a specific direction. He knew what he thought would be the best course of action, but without Gandalf there, he wasn't confident to decide for the company. Aragorn did recognize that his loyalty lay most with Frodo's mission, but he didn't feel he had the knowledge or wisdom to make a decision regarding what path that mission would take. He spends a long time reflecting upon the options, but ultimately, he hands the decision over to the person who has the most responsibility for the fate of the Ring. Aragorn discerned as well as he could in the circumstances, but in the end, lacking clear insight, he submitted the right to decide to another. He could yield this power to someone else, showing both humility and a determination to be obedient

In contrast, Boromir desired the power of the Ring and sought to force Frodo's decision into the path he wanted to take. Rather than giving up power, he attempts to exert his will upon a weaker person. In this, he exhibits pride in the conviction that his way is the best way. He seemingly spent time listening to the voice that tempted him to take the Ring, if necessary; but he didn't appear to consider whether there might be a better path for him or for the Ring. There was no need to consider voices so long as the voice of Gandalf was the one directing the fellowship. Gandalf's voice was one of power, which accomplished much and was a source of strength. But in the vacuum left by Gandalf's loss, Boromir didn't have the virtue necessary to consider that some alternative might be better than the one suggested by his desires.

And what of Gandalf? Why was so much confusion visited upon the fellowship once he dropped out of the story? In Gandalf, I see something of an allegory for the voice of the Holy Spirit. It is easy to follow God's lead when His makes the plan obvious. Similarly, it was easy to travel in the fellowship when Gandalf took the lead. No one really knew what his plan was - which was why Aragorn's discernment was so difficult - but they were confident that he had a plan and would lead them where they needed to go. But, any Christian can tell you that, sometimes, the Holy Spirit doesn't seem to speak - at least, if He does, it seems to be something we don't catch. So how is Aragorn to decide where the Ring is to go if Gandalf doesn't divulge his plans before disappearing? How is one to make a decision when it's not clear what God desires? 

This is something that Fr. Jacques Philippe discusses in his beautiful work, Searching for and Maintaining Peace. After considering that decisions must not be made with too much haste, or with the help of a spiritual director, he continues on to say that, even with all the right steps, a clear direction isn't always forthcoming. "Sometimes, He [God] simply leaves us free and sometimes, for reasons of His own, He does not manifest Himself" (72). He goes on to say that in these situations, "Frequently, the will of the Lord is that we do decide for ourselves, even if we are not absolutely sure that this decision would be the best." (74).

With this in mind, it seems that both Aragorn and Boromir failed in the realm of discernment. Aragorn could not reach a decision on his own, or even when open to guidance, but Boromir did decide alone - and tried to force events to match his ideas. However, Aragorn did better in the end. He couldn't decide for the group, but for himself, he submitted his own personal desires to the authority of the Ringbearer. Aragorn could not be the ultimate authority for the group, but he recognized his role was to accompany Frodo.

And yet, even this decision of Aragorn's was turned to naught. Events occur which rendered moot his determination to abide by Frodo's choice. He was presented with another situation to discern - should he follow Frodo and Sam, or the captured Merry and Pippin? In this case, his duty was clear - to help those who were immediately in need of help, the captured Hobbits. Here, Aragorn made up his mind speedily, but not in haste. The voice of Gandalf was absent, but the needs of his fellow travelers made clear what was required of him. The Holy Spirit may speak in different ways, and in this story, the experience was true for Aragorn. Even though Gandalf was still gone, Aragorn could see what he needed to do.

Think back to Fr. Philippe - "Frequently, the will of the Lord is that we do decide for ourselves..." Aragorn did make that decision for himself, and notice how things suddenly changed at that point. All his uncertainty vanished once he chose a course of action and committed himself to it. He had purpose, and the purpose gave fruit to action. That action carried him and his companions across lands and into encounters with people who would change the outcome of the war with Sauron. And, eventually, his choice led him back into contact with Gandalf. Aragorn would not have found Gandalf again had he sat at the crossroads and forever pondered whether he should follow Frodo and Sam or the captured Hobbits. No, it was fulfilling the duty that presented itself that brought him back to sensible relationship with Gandalf. 

And this, I think, is what we all hope for when we feel like God isn't making the path clear to us. We pray that, if we try to follow his statutes with goodwill and fulfill our duties in life, then, in His good timing, we shall eventually understand the plan that shapes this particular aspect of our lives. Or, if that is not how God manifests Himself, then we hope that we may someday - perhaps in Heaven - look back and see that, indeed, God's providence had been bringing us to Him all along.