Sunday, May 07, 2006
This is the story of a Princess who lived in a cottage in a red forest. It was a different sort of forest where trees were few and rainstorms even fewer, but, after it
did rain, the forest had some of the most beautiful flowers the Princess could ever imagine.
The Princess loved her forest and loved living in her cottage. She liked to lie outside on the ground at night staring up at the stars. But, most of all, the Princess loved to be free, to dance in the wind, sing with the birds, and play with the wild animals that treated her as if she was one of their own. The Princess was happy, but she remembered tears and sadness and hurt.
One day our Princess met a Knight. The Knight told the Princess about the World outside; he taught her about walls that few can break, he taught her of trust and becoming tame. Above all, he promised he'd always be there if she needed him.
There came a morning not long after when the Princess awoke to find that the Knight was nowhere to be seen and she became afraid because she knew what lurked out in the Darkness. To fill her time, the Princess began to build a Castle. It was strong and tall, yet not built for comfort but for safety. The Princess left a space for a window facing the North where her Knight had always talked of going. As she built her Castle, the Princess prayed for the Knight to return to her soon because she didn't like to be alone anymore and all the birds and animals had left with the Knight's first arrival. When the Knight returned a few days later, he came baring tales of a distant land, full of exotic greens and blues and interesting people. For weeks this was all the Knight could talk about, as well as his dream to go back. The Princess began to feel threatened by the land in the Knight's tales.
It didn't take long for the Knight to decide it was time to travel again. As he left, the Princess felt even more afraid and vulnerable than she ever had in her life. She planted beneath her window a plant of thorns and briars. It was an ugly thing, but it made her feel protected- from what, she didn't know.
Soon the Knight returned hand-in-hand with a beautiful Lady, bearing the news that they were to live together in a new land with Meadows and Rivers, full of green and everything the Red Forest didn't have. The Princess was deeply hurt by this news; the Knight had broken his promise.
Trapped more than ever, the Princess discovered that her wall of thorns and briars kept not only the Knight out, but her in. She began to long for the days when she could lie outside on the ground at night staring up at the stars, dance in the wind, and sing with the birds. She wondered if she'd ever sing or dance again. She wondered if she even knew how.
In due time the Knight and his Lady left to the new land of Meadows, Rivers, and all that the World had to offer. The Princess had never known such feelings of loneliness and captivity. She started to push through the thorns and briars, but only caused herself more pain and more hurt.
One night the Princess had a dream about a White Dragon in the clouds. The Dragon looked at her with pity and tears in His eyes.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" the Dragon said to her.
The princess looked down at her arms and the scabs from the thorns. "Yes," she said, "and I don't know how to make it stop. I only want my freedom!"
"Freedom comes at a price," said the Dragon. "What will you give to regain yours?"
"I have nothing to offer," said the Princess, "only my briars and thorns and my castle."
"That is enough," replied the Dragon, and the dream ended.
As the Princess awoke the next morning, she heard the voice of the White Dragon from her dream.
"I am here," said the Dragon. "Will you pay the price for your freedom?"
"Yes!" the Princess exclaimed.
"Then cover your eyes," the Dragon told her, "For My Glory is too great for you to bear."
As the Princess buried her head in her arms, the Dragon breathed a great ball of fire upon the Princess' barriers. The Princess lifted her head once the Flames had gone to look around her.
"When you look at the sky," said the Dragon, "look for Me in the stars. When you dance with the wind, remember My voice. When you sing with the birds, sing praises to Me, and when you play with the wild animals, remember that once you were tame, engulfed by flames, and Born again as the phoenix. And when you become afraid of the World and want for protection, call to Me, and I will come."
With His last words, the Dragon flew off into the sky. Free at last, the Princess looked around: where once her castle and briars and thorns had stood, the ground was bare save for one Red rose.
Behold, the MuseLabels: Religion, Svithe
