on Healing

He looked into the eyes of the wounded soldier, and said, " I shall tell you now my true identity. Forgive me if I withheld the truth from you before. But, trust takes time to establish. My real name is Faithful John. I am a lowly creature. Long ago, I made a mistake. I chose wrongly, and it cost me everything, including even my life. I died. I am dead now, and have been ever since that fateful error in judgment. But, even in death, I can still serve.


This is the Old Forest. Sometimes, there are those that wander in by accident, perhaps lost, or hurt. As I live in the Old Forest, I know where to find the deep, dark pond. Whenever I come across those that have wandered into the Old Forest, I reach into the deep, dark pond and bring out the gift, specially meant for that person. I have no foreknowledge of the nature of the gift. The pond knows. I only know that I am meant to wipe away the mud, and the reeds, and present the gift to its rightful heir.


For you, the gift turned out to be the Mirror of Truth. Perhaps due to the very real wounds and scars you received in battle, you have forgotten that you are not only the sum of your hurts. This Mirror of Truth may remind you that you possess a Golden Mane that, the light of which, will lead you out of the Old Forest, and back out into the One Light. It is the One Light from which we were all born, and to which we all ultimately long to return.


Though, I of course, must remain here, in the Old Forest."


The wounded war veteran smiled, and with a tear-filled eye said, " I had not realized this room was a forest. This room seems rather ordinary and plain."


He who is called, Faithful John, replied, " You are mistaken, Kind Person, if you think the Old Forest a place. The Old Forest is an enchanted moment in Time. The enchantment may last a minute, day, few weeks, months, or years. For others still, the enchantment, may last a lifetime. 


The goal is to use the Gift one has received from the deep, dark pond to break through the enchantment, and to leave the darkness of the Old Forest."


"And, what of you?" The Wounded Warrior asked.


"We must each fulfill the purpose for which we have been Chosen. I am Faithful John. This story is meant for you, and for all others who shall hear it. But, they, who may be comforted by the telling of this tale, will certainly never hear it, unless you, Kind Person, share it, having once returned to the Light."


The wounded war veteran gazed into the Mirror of Truth, and once again recalled the innate power of the Golden Mane, and understood the futility and unbearable weight of a lifetime of loss and darkness. 


Upon understanding this ancient Wisdom, the enchantment broken, the Warrior-Within regained the strength needed to re-emerge, as one newly awakened from a Nightmare; half-forgotten, half-remembered.


Arise! Arise! Dear reader, arise! Truth, once known, can always be remembered. Awakened, we heal. And, having healed, we live. Perhaps, not as before, but it is life-in-light, nevertheless.


To Life!