High up in a cave, after an arduous journey, I was finally face to face with The Last Incorruptible Man.
I had heard rumors that there was such a one, legends they were, almost, for all around me men were corrupted by some bent desire or another. In such an environment, everybody has a price and no one can be trusted.
My situation begged relief for I could not rest wher'er I was, thinking that the rug of reality would be pulled away from me again at any moment, this happening lately more than a dozen times in short succession. Fearing that I was about to lose my mind, I sought refuge- but where? Where to go? All around me lurked they of corruptible nature, and if not corrupted already they could likely be. Times were so dire that even those supposedly the noblest and most exalted among men, like the great orange one and his kind, presented a steady twisted version of reality in hopes that the passage of time would get the ones immune to lower their guard, but I was not to be one so turned. I sensed a near overwhelming and unprecidented level of danger.
Thus, my trek to this hidden cave.
Paying off this agent and that, I plied my way through forest and jungle, over precipitous waterfalls and through muddy passages. So difficult was my trek, and so full of peril, that I was sure I was being misled and thought many times of reversing my course only to remember the world I had left behind.
So, continuing my journey, I eventually made my way to The Last Incorruptible Man's abode. Coming upon him, I was startled to find him not in serene composure, but in an agitated state.
"How now, my good fellow" called I. "It is with great difficulty I have accessed your whereabouts. I have come to sit at your side"
"No! No! You must turn back!" he cried, immediately rising and pushing me back towards the entrance of the cave.
I was aghast. This was not the greeting or behavior I had expected. Not in the least! I struggled against his push, clamoring to be heard.
"You must allow me to enter! It is too dangerous out there! I fear for my safety and sanity daily!"
He paused, and stayed his hand. Turning thoughtful for a second, he released his push upon me and allowed me to gain entrance.
"Just testing you" he confided. "I had to be sure"
Peace- at last!
Andrea Sonda- Unsplash.com
We fell into conversation around a fire he had going, which I had spied burning in the far reaches of the cave on the way in.
"The world of men" he said, I by then secretly giving him the name Ben, for he would take no name and claimed to have none, "is rife with trouble. They have desires. Desires must be fulfilled. In the fulfillment of desire oft comes treachery. That is the short version. Would you like more of an explanation or does that suffice?"
"I concur" said I. "The world of men and women"....
"That's what I meant" he interrupted.
"....is a shadowy stage filled with politics and intrigue!".
"Quite!" Ben agreed. "False representations, shifting loyalties, power plays, betrayal, and all the rest. You were wise to come here for here you will find none of that. I have no desires"
"None whatsoever?!"
"None that can't be overridden by choice. Always there will be thoughts and with those thoughts, choices. The corrupt act on their thoughts. The inviolate act on their ability to choose. I simply choose not to go in what I know to be a dishonorable direction"
"You're one of a kind, then!"
"Not really. There are many like me. They just don't make the news. Oh, and by the way, this conversation is over. I'm kicking you out"
What?!! I just got here! I don't want to leave!"
"You don't need me, this cave, or to keep yourself separate from society. That's escapism"
"But you’ve escaped!"
"No, I want to live this way. You don't. Isn't that true?" he asked, staring deep into my eyes.
I could not withstand his gaze. Ben had caught me. He knew that I didn't really want to live in a cave. I just wanted a vacation.
"Go back, back to The World. Live amongst the people, with all their faults. Watch them make and then experience their choices. It’s really the only way they are able to learn. God could have put all of this into a book, and he did, tons of books, but not many choose to read them. Life for most has to be lived"
"Okay" I sighed. "I'll go back. It was foolhardy of me...."
"Not at all!" Ben snapped. As well as being lighting-fast perceptive, he could be very direct. "You're not the first visitor to this place"
"Really?"
"There have been millions”
"Nah!"
"This place or something like it, I meant to say. Let me tell you a little about me. I represent an energy and can appear in many places simultaneously. I know that's a little out of your believability range so don't try and go there- either! Just understand that when help is needed, when it's truly called for, angels appear"
"Are you an angel? (‘cuz you don't look like one!)"
"Yeah. I'm that. And a guide. And a mentor. And, how would you put it? 'A light in the darkness'. Go back to The World with the knowledge that I, and others like me, are always around. You don't have to make any physical journey to find us. Just ask us for help, mentally, in your mind. Out loud is good too. That really lets us know you're sincere".
I guess I'll end my story there for Ben was right. I made my way back into The World, which, once I got there, hadn't changed much far as I could tell, and lived amongst people again. I never failed this time though to call upon guidance when times got rough and exposure to the coarser denizens of society hurt my brain and my heart.
And while I have never again seen any ‘angels’, I have had 'weird'- in a good way- things happen every now and again, which makes me believe......
….makes me know….
....that they're always around.