On doom

This week we read "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm," in which the Fellowship realizes Moria is indeed a place of great danger, and they escape but not unscathed.  Near the beginning, while still at Balin's tomb, Gandalf finds a book of records.  The italicized are in the original.

‘It is grim reading,’ he said. ‘I fear their end was cruel. Listen!...´We cannot get out.
The end comes, and then drums, drums in the deep. I wonder what that means.
The last thing written is in a trailing scrawl of elf-letters:
they are coming. There is nothing more.’ Gandalf paused and stood in silent thought...
Then there came an echoing blast: a great horn was blown in the hall,
and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off.
There was a hurrying sound of many feet.

‘They are coming!’ cried Legolas. ‘We cannot get out,’ said Gimli.
‘Trapped!’ cried Gandalf. ‘Why did I delay? Here we are, caught,
just as they were before. But I was not here then.'

"Which is worse, that they are coming, or that they cannot get out?"
"A train hurtling towards you, or the ropes tying you down?"
"Put it that way: The train.  The train is what's going to kill you.  Without it you could enjoy an afternoon tied down."
"But if you are tied down the train can come at any time.  You are a victim of the wait - even if the train never comes.  Especially if the train never comes."
"So you would rather be confronted with evil than not?"
"If I know it lurks, I should confront it.  If I wait, it may grow stronger."
"The dwarves were trapped.  The drums increased their dread.  By the time the battle came to them their hope had already been defeated."
"What if what's coming is death.  We are alive.  Death is coming and we cannot get out.  Facing down death, always lurking, is impossible.  In any case, it is not evil."
"Dying early is not preferrable.  It is better, since we cannot get out, to decorate where we are doomed to wait."
"So sometimes we must confront, and sometimes we must enjoy the wait?"
"Evil we should confront.  But not everything inevitable need be dreaded or rushed."
"Why is the phrase flipped later?  Legolas says they are coming, and Gimli say they cannot get out."
"The realization is different.  The dwarves of Balin were sieged.  They were trapped long before their demise.  Here, the orcs attack before anyone realizes they are trapped.  Though it's worth pointing out they were not trapped."
"They had Gandalf, and Balin did not."
"Gandalf can hold off the enemy, but he does not undo a trap.  The orcs come from the West door, but the East door is available throughout the attack."
"So why does Gimli say they cannot get out?"
"He is so surprised by the turn of events he misses what is obvious."
"And he has heard the script.  They are coming, we cannot get out.  His mind fills in the rest, even though it is out of order.  Balin's dwarves say it because it is true.  But it is flipped after because it is false."
"When do we fail to see the script has been flipped, or at least does not fit?"
"Gimli would embrace a death in Moria, by Balin's tomb.  He does not dread death, but he does rush it, if it can give him glory."
"We fail to see the script has flipped when the outcome is one we desire.  So eager we are to have a predicted future we fail to see when the prediction is false."
"Or work to make it so.  Gimli is not trapped, but if he died then it is true that he cannot get out."
"If we seek truth and make it so, is that not laudable?  To make the world what we want?"
"Depends on what we want.  Gimli, we know, survives the whole War of the Ring.  It would not have been preferable for him to die in Moria."
"I find it interesting Legolas and Gandalf cry their responses, but Gimli merely says it.  What does this mean to you?"
"That Legolas and Gandalf are in a panic, and they are not sure what to do, or even what yet is happening, other than it is bad.  But Gimli, in this place of great death, has an agenda set.  He will die here."
"This would suggest we should worry about those who, in moments of panic, remain calm.  But should we embrace those who panic, who are likely to lead us astray?"
"Better to panic with the masses, who will soon see reason when it calms, than listen to the one who resists the panic; whose plans are helped along by a panicking event.  Gandalf's worries are soon put aside in favor of determination, and Legolas also does not remain panicked.  But Gimli shows no fear whatsoever.  We should fear the one who never hesitates.  The one who calmly proclaims doom, or who relishes it."

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