To review:
(1) Elsa is hearing a mysterious voice (a singing voice to be specific) and feels drawn to find where it's coming from and where it's calling her to. She has an insight that it has something to do with an enchanted forest their father told her and Anna about when they were little.
(2) Anna is enjoying the comforts of having those she loves surrounding her and does not want things to change. She is also concerned about and protective of Elsa, not wanting anything to happen to her. She's determined to stand by her sister, no matter what.
(3) Kristoff is waiting for the right moment to pop the question, while also supporting and helping Anna and Elsa.
(4) Olaf is providing comic relief, but also some significant insights here and there.
Journey of Discovery
On the way, Kristoff makes his second attempt to try to ask Anna to marry him. It...bombs. Badly. But I found myself laughing so hard at this (and a later) scene because you know where he means for it to go, and it just goes completely wrong each time. Poor Kristoff!
When they reach the enchanted forest, they are able to enter. But once they are in, they realize they cannot get out. This is going to take lifting the enchantment to be able to return to Arendelle.
Once inside, they also begin to encounter the 4 spirits: wind, fire, water, and earth. First they meet wind, in the shape of a tornado. But Elsa finds herself able to subdue it, and suddenly the wind spirit (Gail) becomes friendly to them and aids Elsa later on.
There's also a pattern here: Elsa, in her desire to know, goes charging ahead when something unknown comes across their path. Anna, worried for Elsa, goes charging after her sister. Kristoff, in concern for Anna's safety, comes to the rescue. Elsa usually thinks Anna's concern is unnecessary because she believes she can protect herself. But Anna is not so sure.
Soon after Elsa defeats the tornado, the characters meet a crowd - or two crowds. They encounter several of Arendelle's guards, who have been trapped in the forest since their grandfather was king and their father visited there. From their father's story, the sisters know that their grandfather built a dam as a peace offering to the Northaldra people - a tribal group who are more familiar with the 4 spirits and worked with them to supply their needs and live in peace. But, for an unknown reason, the meeting of the 2 peoples went sour and they ended up fighting each other. Their father (though he's to sure how) was able to escape, but their grandfather was not so fortunate.
Along with the Arendellians, they meat some of the Northaldra, who are (understandably) bristled by the arrival of the Queen of Arendelle and company. But Elsa makes it clear that she and her company are there to help - to lift the curse over the forest so that the people can live freely again.
During the encounter, another spirit appears - this time fire. Again, Elsa charges ahead to subdue fire. Anna follows, but finds herself quickly overwhelmed by the spreading fire and smoke. Kristoff to the rescue! Elsa succeeds in her quest,
(I almost forgot to mention - in between all of this there is quite a comical song by Olaf, where he sings about the belief that everything will make sense when he is older. As a young adult still navigating all the changes involved in going from being a student to holding down a job and paying bills, this one really made me chuckle.)
As night falls, the sisters and company join the Northaldra in their camp to rest until morning. While there, Elsa and one of the Northaldra (Honey Maren) have a conversation about the 4 spirits, and Honey Maren shares that there's a belief that there is actually a fifth spirit that holds the other 4 in balance. Elsa wonders where to find this spirit, thinking it must be what's calling her, and she recalls the words of her mother: "Only Ahtohallan [the river of memory] knows." Elsa determines that she must find Ahtohallan to find answers. The First Split
Meanwhile, the "earth giants"/earth spirits appear, wreaking havoc like the others. Elsa is about to charge in again, but Anna stops her this time cautioning her that she may find herself in over her head if she goes on alone. Anna and Elsa determine to set out together, with Olaf in tow, and embark for Ahtohallan.
While all of this was happening, Kristoff was trying to set up another proposal. But, with Anna gone, it obviously falls flat. Kristoff, disappointed, has a moment (and a musical number). He starts to wonder if he and Anna are meant to be, seeing as his efforts don't seem to be working out, and also since she seems to have taken off without him (which she also thinks Kristoff has done at this point, so...miscommunication!).
The Second Split
It's getting real. So Elsa and Anna head to Ahtohallan, and what do they find on the way? The ship that their parents were aboard when they died during a storm at sea! Except...the ship isn't anywhere near where their parents supposedly died. So the sisters go searching. They learn that their parents had been on their way to Ahtohallan in an attempt to learn more about Elsa's powers.
Elsa takes this information very personally, thinking this means it is her fault that their parents died. But Anna quickly dispels this lie, and makes a very beautiful statement here:
Anna: ...Yelena asked why would the spirits reward Arendelle with a magical queen? Because our mother saved our father. She saved her enemy. Her good deed was rewarded with you. You are a gift.
Elsa: For what?
Anna: If anyone can resolve the past, if anyone can save Arendelle, and free this forest, it’s you. I believe in you, Elsa, more than anyone, or anything.
This is another great instance of Anna seeing Elsa for who she really is, seeing her value even when Elsa can't seem to recognize it in herself. We all need people like this in our lives - people who can help us see the good in ourselves that we may overlook, ...and who also keep us from charging recklessly into fires or tornadoes. Haha. However, Elsa fails to see the importance of community here when she refuses to let Anna come with her:
Elsa: The Dark Sea is too dangerous for us both.
Anna: No. No! We do this together. Remember the song? Go too far and you’ll be drowned. Well, I will stop you from going too far!
Elsa: You said you believed in me, that this is what I was born to do.
Anna: And I don’t want to stop you from that. I don’t want to stop you from being whatever you need to be! I just don’t want you dying trying to be everything for everyone else too. Don’t do this alone. Let me help you, please! I can’t lose you, Elsa.
Despite Anna's determination to go with Elsa to Ahtohallan, Elsa is afraid of losing Anna and so she distances herself from Anna and Olaf by magically sending them away via iceboat. Anna is (legitimately) frustrated by this, since Elsa had promised that they were in this together. But she and Olaf have a more immediate problem - they are floating down a river filled with sleeping earth giants and they have to try not to wake them up!
Anna and Olaf succeed, but barely! Olaf remarks at the end of it that Elsa must be having a way easier time than they are.
As you've probably guessed, far from it!
Elsa is trying to cross the sea...by herself. It's not going super well so far. But once she's in the sea, she meets the water spirit. (Given that I love horses, I was a fan of this one.) The water spirit, like your typical mustang, is not thrilled to have Elsa in its realm, so it puts up quite the fight. As before, though, Elsa proves to be up to the challenge (which doesn't mean it's easy, but she does win out in the end). Elsa uses her powers to tame the water spirit, too, and rides it across the sea to Ahtohallan.
Show Yourself
As Elsa approaches Ahtohallan, she (naturally) breaks into song. This one's words also struck me as being quite profound. Here is Elsa, on her way to what she believes to be the place and person who have been calling out to her - maybe she's about to discover what she's been made for.
Every inch of me is trembling
But not from the cold
Something is familiar
Like a dream I can reach but not quite hold
I can sense you there
Like a friend I've always known
I'm arriving
And it feels like I am home
(Have you ever felt like a place you'd come to for the first time felt something like home? In my own experience, I've found that places that feel that way...somehow it's like you know right away that they're going to mean something to you....)
I have always been a fortress
Cold secrets deep inside
You have secrets, too
But you don't have to hide
Show yourself
I'm dying to meet you
Show yourself
It's your turn
Are you the one I've been looking for
All of my life?
Show yourself
I'm ready to learn
...
I've never felt so certain
All my life I've been torn
But I'm here for a reason
Could it be the reason I was born?
I have always been so different
Normal rules did not apply
Is this the day?
Are you the way
I finally find out why?
Show yourself
I'm no longer trembling
Here I am
I've come so far
You are the answer I've waited for
All of my life
Oh, show yourself
Let me see who you are
Come to me now
Open your door
Don't make me wait
One moment more
Oh, come to me now
Open your door
Don't make me wait
One moment more
The theme of vocation jumps out at me again here. How often have I found myself asking God to show me here and now who I am, what I'm supposed to do, what my gifts are for. But, ultimately, it never happens on my terms or in my timing...He always has something better in mind, and surprises me...like Elsa's about to be surprised!
Where the north wind meets the sea
Ah ah ah ah
There's a river
Ah ah ah ah
Full of memory
(Elsa's Mother: Come, my darling, homeward bound)
I am found
Show yourself
Step into your power
Grow yourself
Into something new
You are the one you've been waiting for
All of my life
(All of your life)
Oh, show yourself...
Elsa discovers that this fifth spirit that she's been seeking is herself. Again, vocation! I think so often we go looking for our purpose and our vocation outside of ourself. But God doesn't make us who we are, with our gifts and dreams and interests, for no reason. He wants us to use them, to look within ourselves at the way He has made us, and to discover within ourselves (as His creation, His sons and daughters) how best to give those gifts away in love to the rest of the world.
Now, with "grow yourself," if you're like me, you might be thinking - "But we don't grow ourselves, God grows us. God causes the growth, like St. Paul says." I agree! But...I also pause for a moment. God does not work in us without our cooperation. He does not set about growing us more into ourselves without our participation, without our "yes". Look at our Blessed Mother - she was Immaculately Conceived and had all of the gifts and grace within her to be the Mother of God...but God wouldn't make her be that Mother without her "yes" and cooperation. The same is true for each of us. God wants us to let Him work in us.
I think, also, that those who "find their calling" often discover that everything they longed for has found some level of fulfillment in their state in life. :) At least, that's the theme I've seen in a lot of witness talks on vocation. Can't say that I've personally got all of that figured out yet, but I'm just trying to say "yes" every day, knowing that this is what matters most and will make me more able to say "yes" to the "big V" vocation when He makes it known.
Not Done Yet
Well, believe it or not, we are still not finished! But again, I've found myself going a bit longer than I'd anticipated. So...I'm going to pause here for the time-being. Next post, we'll explore the challenges that Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff all face as things take unexpected turns for each of them.
Until then,
The Itinerant Catechist
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