Zion

The woman sat on the bank beside her Guide as they floated upon the water; the waves drove them peacefully forward.

"You know, I would have never made it this far without you," she told him.

"I know. That's why I'm here," the Guide replied in a humble manner that caused the woman to stop looking at the ocean and look up at him, inquisitively.

"I truly believe you want me to make it," she whispered softly.

"Have you just recognized that 

Your joy,

Your interests, 

Your desires 

Your cares, 

Your worries, 

Your hurts, 

Your pain, 

Your thoughts 

Have always been foremost in my heart?  There has never been a day that I have not wanted you to make it,

To be all you can be, 

To reach that unreachable star, 

To conquer all those poisonous pits within you that try to hold you back."

"I see," said the woman.

"Do you see really? Tell me, what do you see?" The Guide asked.

"I see a young girl starting out with only a tiny funk of awareness. She wasn't sure what it was but deep within her that small wave of awareness took root and began to grow. Somehow or another that one small funk had the strength needed to make the fearful girl brave enough to step out and discover what that awareness meant. Bravery pushed her to confront herself, which enabled her to hear her calling."

"You think so?" The Guide asked.

"Yes, I think so," replied the woman.

"What do you think would have happened if she hadn't heard the calling."

The woman let out a hearty shout of laughter before saying, "She wouldn't be sitting here on a small bank in the middle of the ocean, daring the storms to try and stop her, listening to echoes and using new found  courage to hold on as she grooves, grooves grooves with the beat of the waves, seeking solace when lonely as she takes to higher plains, and making the incredible possible as she jumps from one wave to the other." 

"Oh, my dear friend, looks as if the young girl has changed," said the Guide. Where would the young girl be then?

"I don't know, but I can honestly say she wouldn't be turning knobs, looking at the other side of love, or  looking over yonder where she can't see a thing, or letting a Guide that disappears every now and then predominate her life, or going after a quest that she doesn't know whether or not she will achieve, or regenerating on a block of sand in the middle of the ocean......"

"With a Palm tree," interrupted the Guide. "Don't forget you had a Palm tree."

"No, I won't  forget the Palm tree. It was beautiful and green."

"Do you think the young girl who started out is happy?" Asked the Guide.

"As she sat forth to sever and sail, she was sad. Something changed in the young girl, and she was no longer the girl, but the woman who has learned to be tactful, who has grasped that mankind is unique and that she is a part of the Vine, who is the giver of life that causes her to walk on water as she practices the gifts she has been given and learn such things as playing the xylophone with you."

"Are you saying that the young girl turned woman is happy?

"Yes, that's what I'm saying. Over the years,  the woman has learned to treasure the life that has been given to  her while she's on her path."

"What do you think the young girl would be doing if she had chosen to remain where she was?"

"She'd probably be drifting along somewhere, content to a certain extent but never really fully satisfied.  Am I right?" She asked.

"Can't tell you that." The Guide replied.

"There you go again with your can't tell me that. What can you tell me?" The woman asked, hurt, because of his refusal to confirm her answer. His lack of agreement gave her the feeling that maybe she should have buried those desires and become like the others.

"Do you think you would understand if I told you what you wanted to know?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"Would you have continued, would you have discovered

The strength, 

The tenacity, 

The faith, 

The patience, 

The endurance 

Within you if I had told you what you wanted to know."

"No, I probably wouldn't have," the woman answered,  and she looked out at the ocean floor.

"The time will come when answers to your unanswered questions will come," the Guide said.

"When will that time come?

The Guide lifted his hand and touched her eyes, and for a  split second, she could see what the Guide could see.

"Oh how marvelous, beautiful and extravagant!" She exclaimed.  "Where is that place? I want to go there."

"That where you're headed."

"It is beautiful. I've never seen a place as magnificent as that. It is indescribable. When will we reach it?"

"You have some more years to go if you continue on your path."

"And if I don't, what happens then? Will I still reach that place?" The woman asked.

"Can't tell you that."

"What's it called? At least tell me, that and  don't say you can't tell me that.

"Zion. The city of your King.  Are you ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready," she said, and she jumped up from the bank and began to twirl and twirl as she sang the music that flowed out of her heart.

"Happy, you're happy," the Guide said and began to dance with her. They twirled and twirled, and the ocean roared beneath them.

"Yes, I am, the woman shouted. I may have some years to go, but I know where I am headed. I'm on my way to Zion."

I'm on my way to Zion,

To Zion,

To  Zion.

I'm on my way to Zion,

To the city of our great King. 

Ciao,

Pat Garcia