Accept The Sword [Seer Crawl day 10]

Posted on August 28, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a slow read through THE SEER. day 10. [all material from the book will appear in italics]:

Parcival’s story is the Fisher King story. It is a Grail story. It leads through the wasteland. Guidance comes in strange clothing. What looks like a gift is actually a curse. What looks like a disaster is often, in the end, a blessing. What we hold as truth is revealed as deflection, a mask. A role. It’s why I love paradoxes. It’s why objective truth is hollow without intuitive knowing:

Parcival thanked the fisherman and, sure enough, about a mile up the road, was a magnificent castle. He was greeted at the castle gates by lords and ladies, almost as if they were expecting him. They excitedly whisked him into the great hall to meet their king, and much to Parcival’s surprise, the king was the fisherman! Only now, instead of wearing the clothes of a poor fisherman, he wore rich robes of the finest silk and luxurious furs. Parcival saw, too, that the king was crippled. The king was in great pain and lay on a couch before a warming fire.

Parcival’s mind raced with questions. He’d been taught that it was impolite for a knight to ask his host for explanations. A proper knight must always appear “to know.” As a new knight he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of this great king.

The king motioned Parcival to sit beside him, and then he presented Parcival with a beautiful sword. The king looked at Parcival and said, “This sword is destined for you.”

If you understood the patterns of story you’d shout at Parcival, “Watch out! Be careful! You do not know what you hold in your hands!” In a good story, when the main character thinks that he knows his destiny, especially when, like me, he has confused himself with a role, the lesson will come with great force, as it did to me. You think you are the recipient of a simple gift, this sword that you hold in your hands. You think you know how to use it. What you don’t know is that this gift will use you. What you don’t know is so much greater than what you think you know.

Don’t you love this about life: What you don’t know is so much greater than what you think you know. Accepting this little thought-gem is the key to opening to greater and richer life-experiences.