Touchstone
by Arrow
"
The old order changeth, yielding place to the new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways,
Lest one good custom should corrupt this world"
Idylls of the King
Lord Alfred Tennyson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the midst
of all that had been revealed to the initiate, and that grew to form
a vast new knowledge and vision of creation, even still the shadow
remained engulfing. The night seemed to be endless, and the initiate
suffered under it. But there, in that darkness, the reflection of
that miraculous light that the Angel had unveiled glimmered in the
mind and heart of the initiate. This only compounded the longing.
In the depths of that dark night the initiate felt the heavy presence
of the shadow and now saw it to be the manifestation of it's own unfulfilled
desire. That desire was to seize the Light, to make it it's own, and
it's curse was it's selfish need.
The initiate had come to realize that shadow had always been in consort,
the dark twin. It's endless want for succor had become a matter of
course, even a means of comfort when it's needs were met but, a battleground
of frustrations when not placated. It was ever resisting the process
of change when that was not under it's own directive. That loss of
control was the shadow-self's greatest fear, and that fear was what
bound and shackled the initiate to darkness.
The initiate wept in realizing this shadow to have been the source
of an antithesis to Love, and that this was in fact the initiate's
own darkness. Born out of sorrow, and by the light that yet glimmered
in the mind and heart of the initiate, these words were uttered and
welled upwards to heaven where they resounded:
"As
I came forth into this world through my parent's act of love, and
for the sake of love, so must it be that humankind was wrought by
an act of Divine Love, and for the sake of Love. I know now that there
is no greater gift than that Love. Why should it be bound by this
shadow where it cannot stretch it's wings?
That Love is borne forth to it's own accord, and to no other reason.
It seeks nothing else, and nothing else is it's delight. All other
designs and intents are a corruption of that Love; that is the thorny
crown of this shadow.
This Truth my heart of Hearts reflects back to You, and more. For
now I see Your own longing; that desire to be Loved as You are Love,
and I can think of nothing more that is worthy of my Love. Till the
end of my days may I be the bearer of that Love. By that Light alone
I wish to serve, and to that service I am surrendered."
~~~~~~
The poignant
prayer rent the darkness, and in a flash of brilliance, as lightning
travels from the ground upwards, the initiate was vaulted to heights
untold. The old man that had been king fell away, and from that drose
the Noble Mars emerged. The harlot on the beast's back that had been
queen fell away, and from that drose the Glorious Venus emerged. Where
the shadow lay still betweem them they Loved in the Pure Light of
Love and, to the amazement of the initiate, a most beautiful whiteness
rose forth from that shadow. Like a swan it emerged and floated on
what had been the source of sorrows.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The initiate had found the key,
and in the finding of it
became it.
