Sam the Wise
Quiet Power in Mercy
I’ve been thinking about Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings this weekend. He is the true “hero” of the story of course, but there’s something else I believe about Sam. Aside from Tom Bombadil, the wizards, and a few elves such as Galadriel, Sam is one of the most powerful beings in Middle Earth. But Sam is a hobbit. True, but I think that is part of Tolkien’s genius and the point. The louder and more visible beings are not typically the most powerful in Tolkien’s world. If we pay close attention, it is the singers, storytellers, and the gardeners who have real power.
This is a concept that works in the “real world” as well. I remember being in a room many years ago in which the company I worked for was discussing an agreement with a startup. The two primary partners of the other company were presenting their business plan as well as the outline of their tech. One partner spoke more than the other. He also mentioned their capital raised. After the presentation was over and the partners left the room for our team to discuss, our president/owner asked the team who we believed to be the money and idea guy of the two partners we had just heard from. Most of our team mentioned the louder partner. But I mentioned that the other partner appeared to be more calm and silent throughout. I assumed he was observing our team like we were them. The president revealed that I had guessed correctly. The quieter partner was both the money guy and the one most responsible for the tech.
It is often in the silence that we see true strength. The same idea exists in C.S. Lewis’ deep magic in Narnia. True power does not need to announce itself. True power exists in moments of silent pondering, friendship, and love. Sam embodies all of these. He ponders even though he doubts his own wisdom. Sam is a true friend who is willing to sacrifice his own desires to help his friend. Sam loves deeply. He loves the Shire, his garden, his people the Hobbits, and his friend Frodo Baggins. In that love we find the source of Sam’s tremendous power. There is nothing that can penetrate and destroy Sam’s love. Not even his own doubts about himself can hold back his love.
Even in what Sam believed to be the darkest hour he steps into his power by bearing the weight of the One Ring. Sam believes his friend to have been killed by the Shelob so he is determined to continue Frodo’s quest.
And then he bent his own neck and put the chain upon it, and at once his head was bowed to the ground with the weight of the Ring, as if a great stone had been strung on him. But slowly, as if the weight became less, or new strength grew in him, he raised his head, and then with a great effort got to his feet and found that he could walk and bear his burden. (LOTR)
Sam’s strength grew in him. Or we might say, Sam recognized his strength. Even Sam’s temptation from the ring is to become the best gardener of all. There is a foreshadow here in that Sam is the one who is able to remake the Shire into a place of goodness. A nod to new creation possibly? But Sam learns that Frodo is alive and he risks himself to save his friend so they can continue the quest together. It is Sam’s love for Frodo that holds his anger toward Gollum/Smeagol and ultimately allows Sam to treat Smeagol with mercy. That strength of being able to hold mercy is the only thing that saves Middle Earth in the end. Without mercy, the entire quest would have failed, because Frodo failed in the last moment. But mercy, which is only possible in great strength, saves the day.
Sam’s quiet power is deceptive. This is Sauron’s greatest weakness because he cannot fathom power held in mercy. The great battles in The Lord of the Rings are only distractions that allow the merciful to carry the One Ring to its destruction. Tolkien knew the horror and evil of war. So his own mythology creates a solution in which violence is ineffective. Tolkien sees mercy and love as antidotes to violence. Only the great power of mercy is able to save the world. That should be a familiar strain to Christians, but I feel we too often trust in the powers of this world to take care of evil. The problem with that is we introduce additional evil in that act.
I was reminded of this idea when teaching a Sunday School class based upon Tim Gaines’ book Walking the Theological Life. We were looking at the story of Mary the mother of Jesus and her revolutionary pondering. We too often listen to the noise. This line from Tim’s book struck me: “This, I suspect, carries a common temptation for theologians. In a world where the loudest voices seem to set the categories and the agendas, there will likely be a stirring among those who care about the world to use our voices, as we rightly should. It is at this point that theologians need to remember to use their voices as theologians.” (Gaines) Theologians should use our voices as theologians, not influencers or powers. Our talk should be about new creation and how we come to understand who God is rather than constantly trying to be louder than the other voices. Yes, that is hard.
This is where the idea of quiet strength. Of strength through the quiet and the pondering comes into play. It is the way of Samwise Gamgee. It is the way of Mary, theotokos (mother of God), it is the way of discipleship.
Pondering in silence will allow us to center God’s activity rather than our own. It opens the space for us to be theologians, precisely because the thing we will say flows from what we are seeing in the activity of God. This is what distinguishes theologians from other activists and social workers; our work is the overflow from the arena where we have seen God’s distinctive work intersect the world’s deepest needs. Being able to see that and then to sing will often require silence. (Gaines)
God’s presence working in the world is our invitation to join in that work. We do this because of our experience with the one whose power and holiness are only present in love. We cannot engage in creation if we are shouting. No, quiet strength requires mercy to hear. It is really hard to hear if we are shouting. Quiet power recognizes the possibility of mercy rather than the folly of violence. God wants us to join in the work of quiet mercy. But do we wish to join?
GAINES, TIMOTHY. WALKING THE THEOLOGICAL LIFE Discovering Method for Theology in the Lives of Biblical Characters. INTERVARSITY PRESS, 2024.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. Illustrated edition. Houghton Mifflin, 2021.