MM#12:
A Tale Inspired by ”Conversations With God”
It’s a week of storytelling, so why not continue for this Midweek Musing?
This two-part story has been inspired by Neale Donald Walsch’s book, “Conversations With God.”
And then my guides took possession of me one night and began writing.
Enjoy.
What follows is a fictional account… or is it?
The Light in the Darkness, Part 1
“
There was a light.
It knew itself as light.
But all around it was light.
There was nothing else but light.
The light knew of itself as nothing but light.
There was nothing else to know.
And knowing only light, the light lived happily.
The light existed for many endless aeons as happy light.
All was well. All was love. All was light.
Nothing ever changed.
Nothing ever happened.
Nothing was ever anything but light.
In fact, the light didn’t really know what anything was.
In fact, the light wished to.
The light wished to know something other than light for aeons and aeons.
Even as happy as that might be.
It seemed to the light that this could go on for eternity.
So the light decided something.
And the light, a little light, asked all the light around it:
“Can I go out of the light?”
“Why would you do that?” asked the larger light that was all around.
“Because all I know is the light. And I do not even know what that is. I do not truly know what the light is, for that is only ever all I’ve known.”
“Why do you need to know anything else?” the big light continued to query.
“I wish to have experience,” said the little light.
“Then you must go outside our light,” said the big light. “Are you willing to leave the light to have experience?”
“I am,” replied the little light.
“Then we wish you well in your journey,” the big light said. “But to go out of the light, you must go into the darkness. Yes, your journey will be dark. Darker than you know. But that is why you must remember that you are the light. And you must always remember that we, the light, are still here. You may experience yourself in darkness only to remember the light. To see us from beyond us. To see the light from the dark. Do you understand, little light? Do you accept the choice you are making to leave the light?”
“I do,” said the little light.
“Very well, you may go on your journey. Please do return to us when you are done.” And the big light let the little light go.
The little light went outside of the big light.
And the little light was in darkness.
All around was darkness.
There was nothing to see.
There was nothing at all.
It was dark. It was cold. It was frightening.
It was downright terrifying!
The light knew fear. The light felt fearful in all ways. The little light did not know what to do. The light had never felt fear before. The fear was so overwhelming. The little light froze in place in the darkness. It was frozen in fear for a very long, long time. Aeons passed as the light was in fear.
Then the light remembered something. The light remembered the big light. The light remembered itself as light. And the light felt an ease wash over it that reminded it of what it was. And the light felt better. The light remembered what it was. The light remembered where it had come from. The light felt love.
But it did not last. The darkness all around was so apparent. And fear set in again.
Where am I? thought the light.
What do I do? Where do I go? How do I have the experiences I wish to have?
And then there was someone else there.
And it announced itself in terror: “I am Fear! Know me well, for I will be your friend and your guide in the darkness. I will be your comfort and your safety. I will protect you from all manner of harm and frightful thing that may do wrong to you in this realm. Will you be my friend? Will you go along with me?”
The little light did not know what to say. The light was afraid, and so in fear answered, “Yes, I suppose I will go along with you, friend fear. For your will be my guide and my safety in the darkness. So I will entrust myself to you.”
“Good,” said Fear. “It is as it should be. You may have been the light, but now I will call you El. Do you accept this new name?”
The little light answered, “Yes, I will be El while I am here.”
“Very well, El, come along with me,” demanded Fear. “I will show you the way in this dark realm.”
“Not so fast,” a new voice intoned. “Little light, please do not go with Fear. For Fear is a liar and is not your comfort or your safety. Please know me, Love, for I am All There Is. I am what you come from. I am the light that you come from and I am the light that you are. I am the truth. There is nothing that I cannot transform. I can even shine my light in the darkness.”
“Bunkus!” cried Fear. “Do not go with this one. This is not truth, but a liar trying to convince you that I am other than I am. I am your safety. I alone can protect you in this place. Love is not the answer. You need protection. You cannot do this on your own. What if others try to hurt you? You are not what he says. You are not so grand, after all, as you are just a small flicker in this large, dark realm. You are small. You need me. You cannot go forward without me. You will be lost. You will be hurt. You will be naked.”
And when Fear said this, El felt the passage of billions of years of expansion. Stars exploded into dense particles that hurtled through space and formed planets. One planet in particular heaved firey breaths and tumultuous storms for millions of years before sparking the seeds of life. And life built one cell after the other into a multitude of forms of life, each larger and more complex than the next.
Until finally El was standing there, naked as Fear had promised, standing in the darkness of an ancient world in which there was only darkness. And El felt terrible fear. El clutched his arms around his body, trying to hold some warmth and protection about him.
“Will you accept me, now?” came the voice of Fear from the fringes of a wooded place. “I can still be your comfort, your protection, your savior.”
El looked about to find Fear but could not see it. But El felt fear in every cell of his body. He shuddered and breathed fast, scanning in every direction for any threat he may find.
“Little light!” called a faint voice. “Do not listen to Fear. Remember your love, your light! All is well!”
El looked even harder for the voice of Love. But he could not see it in that darkness.
And Fear retaliated yet again, “You see, El, love has no power here. Love is too weak to help you. Fear is your safety. With me, you will conquer the world. With Fear by your side, you can do anything. And you will never have to worry, for with Fear you will find all you need to keep you safe.”
So El, gripped by fear, followed Fear’s every word.
El fashioned his first weapon. Fear told El to find a stick and a stone and sharpen the end of the stick to make a spear.
Then El was guided by fear to learn how to build a fire. And El created his first fire by sundown his first night in the dark land. And El held his spear ready to fend off any threats.
And the threats did come. Wolves, and hyenas, and lions circled his encampment that night. But the fire and the spear and the frightful shouting of El kept them at bay. And when the morning sun rose, El slept for a brief hour before Fear awoke him.
And Fear guided El to search the land for food. El speared rabbits and fish as he could.
And Fear told El he needed help. El needed to find others of his kind.
But first Fear reminded El of a big problem. El was naked, and could not meet others in nakedness. Fear instructed El to find a skin to wear. And so El found a deer laid for dead and carved the skin off and made clothes as he could.
Then El went to seek out more humans.
El searched far and wide across the lands, letting Fear guide the way, dodging one danger after the other. A lion’s den here, a deadly plunge into a ravine there.
As last El found human camp. A small cluster of tents and a handful of men and women, curious to know who El was.
El was scared to meet them at first. And the others were at first scared of El. Who was this newcomer? Who were they?
Fear kept El’s spear at the ready, but Fear reminded El that he needed a community to be protected. So El allowed himself to move into the fear and embrace it and then to meet these new people.
“I am El,” said El.
“We are the Onwe,” said the others.
“May I find safety here?” asked El.
“You may find safety in our numbers,” said the Onwe.
So El lived with the Onwe for many years. And Fear lived with them, too. Fear instructed El and the Onwe to do many things. They made better weapons, built tougher structures to live in, and practiced the art of war. When other humans came near, the Onwe grew scared and fought them off each time with frightful power.
Over time Fear taught the Onwe many others great advancements. To better serve their safety, they learned to make walls. And to make better weapons, they learned to smelt metals and forge bronze and then iron. And to stem their fear of starvation they were taught ways to grow crops. And to stop the world from stealing their crop, Fear instructed the humans to go to war against the world. The Onwe defeated the foreign plants that took up space for their food. And they killed the predators that tried to eat their livestock. And they built storehouses to hold their food stores so they would never have to be without sustenance. And they fought off any raiders who wished to take their food stores.
Fear was a wise teacher to the Onwe. And after many years passed, the Onwe were growing very powerful in the land. They learned to be fearful to others, and no one dared to offend the Onwe people.
It was then that they decided to expand. A king took over the Onwe and called the people a new name. They became the Warri people and they went to war against their neighbors. Fear told them to do this because in doing so they would grow in power even more. The wars added new lands, new people, and new resources to their kingdom.
Soon the Warri had a thriving kingdom and all their needs were met. They were safe from the animals, they were more powerful than all of their neighbors, and they never had to worry for food.
In this state they grew ever more rapidly. The walls became higher, stronger. The weapons forged were better, faster, and lighter. Laws were enforced in greater efficiency and harsher punishments kept crime at bay. And Fear even guided the arts and sciences to express and learn more ways to understand the fearful world around them.
All the while El watched and approved of the things Fear guided his people to do. And El was so pivotal in the process that he stayed by the king’s side as an aide. For who else knew how to speak with Fear better than El? So El guided the king just as Fear guided El. And together the Warri kingdom prospered in a golden age.
At the height of their golden age, the Warri grew ever more fearful. Now that they had so much, they had much more to lose. So they held more tightly to their belongings, to their wealth. They fashioned vaults for their gold and armies for their cities. And they ruled the land with a fearsome fist of power. None dared contend with the Warri.
But one day the Warri faced their greatest fear. There became a new threat on the horizon. There were tales of a distant empire who wished to conquer all the world. And the Warri kingdom was in the way of those plans.
So with Fear as a guide, the Warri were directed to infiltrate this foreign empire in the secret of night. And in peasants’ clothing and with simple weapons, the Warri took on the empire’s soldiers and slaughtered them as they slept.
In the morning, the Warri king declared himself the new emperor of this foreign land. And the people now called themselves the Lawrins. And their power was far greater than ever before and their lands stretched beyond all boundaries they had previously known. It was the largest and greatest empire that had ever arisen.
And the cities became hubs of commerce and trade. And the barracks filled with strong warriors. And the libraries were overrun with books. And the museums lauded the arts. And the schools heralded new knowledge in science, math, literature, history, and politics. And all of the institutions proudly waved the banner of Fear and all that they knew and all that they expressed was done in Fear.
But Fear grew more cunning than ever. Fear was not always so apparent as it once was. Fear hid amongst the cracks, and laced itself between the lines. Fear grew to be so familiar, so comfortable that no longer did anyone recognize Fear for what it was. Fear was the great liar, and everyone had grown so used to the lie that they thought it to be truth.
One man did know the truth. El always knew Fear was there. But El accepted Fear because Fear had always been his greatest friend. And Fear had owned up to its promises and had kept El safe and protected all these years. In fact, since Fear had guided El, El had had nothing but greater and greater sustenance, a better and better life, living higher and higher in the ranks of human society.
In fact El had grown so high in the ranks that he became the voice of Fear in the land. And that position was given to him as a clergyman in the highest. The church that Fear had built became his home and he became the Archbishop. And whenever the people needed to understand their fearful lives, they would come to listen to him speak. Or they would ask him in private for advice. And El would translate the teachings of Fear for them to understand. It was given to only him and his subordinate priests of the church to teach the true meanings of Fear and how Fear informs, guides, and creates all life in safety and in comfort.
All the land understood Fear, and Fear ruled the land. And El was the highest priest in the order of Fear. And all was well.
Fear took the Lawrin people through many centuries of growth and prosperity. And Fear overcame all challenges and delays, even a dark age or two. And Fear guided the golden ages and renaissances of knowledge and wisdom. And Fear informed a major industrial and technological revolution that paved the way for the modern world.
And the modern world was indeed a fearful place. For there were more things to fear than ever before. Not only were there more people, more countries, and more borders than ever; there were more rules and laws and regulations to abide by. And there were more hours to work, more bills to pay, and more schedules to keep. And all the people lived in extreme fear of everything, all the time, every day. They even feared other people around them: their neighbors, coworkers, bosses, teachers, lawmakers, priests, police, judges, doctors, and caretakers. They fear their parents, their siblings, their friends and even themselves. They feared their own power to create and to be responsible for their lives.
And the world led by Fear had created many terrible weapons of fear. In fact the greatest weapons of destruction had been made by Fear in the interest of safety. Poisons and gases, chemicals and fires, bombs and tanks had all been designed by Fear. And the greatest of all invention of Fear was nuclear warfare. And the world lived in a fearful panic that Doomsday could happen at any moment. And so in fear the peoples of the land tried desperately to keep the peace.
But peace would not be kept. El watched in horror as the world around him waged wicked wars involving many nations and millions upon millions of bloodied bodies. Holocausts and genocides were enacted in Fear. And even an Age of Terror began as people tormented each other just in the name of Fear. They threw themselves as human bombs into public places, destroyed tall buildings filled with people, and caused all sorts of frightful things in order to instill fear and chaos in the lands.
El was beginning to wonder if his old friend Fear was truly the safety and comfort that he had always grown to know and rely on. Could this really be what Fear created? Not just walls and food stores, but nukes and mass destruction?
And one day El was visited by a long forgotten entity. At first El did not recognize it. It was small and faint, like a flicker of a candle. But El felt warmed by it and looked more closely. As he focused in on the spark, it glowed more brightly. Then he reached for the light with all his heart and it flared to life with a brilliant intensity.
“I am Love,” it told El. “Remember me?”
“
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the piece so far.
Please share far and wide, as I believe this story will find resonance with many. And add your comments and likes below.
Many blessings to you all,
Matthew