Passage Twenty-three: In The Company Of Angels
I was first taught
We are accompanied by angels
And to call on them for help
More than thirty years ago.
It took me ten years to begin
To get a sense of why they are there.
At first, I thought they were there
To answer my questions.
Gradually I learned
That asking questions
I wanted answers to
Did not lead to anything.
I now ask of my angels,
But I do not ask for answers.
I call on them for help.
I ask for help becoming.
How one can help
Another to become
Is still a mystery to me.
I know it has to do
With being an example,
With showing, more than telling,
And that is how they answer me.
They show me things.
I was born in 1953.
I was named after the character
In Rudyard Kipling's Kim.
As a boy, I disliked the name.
As an adult, I read the book
And liked the character.
Kim was an Irish boy who,
By strange circumstances,
Ended up on his own in India.
Kim was accustomed to living by his wits,
Alone in a strange land,
But he always believed his life
Would one day be transformed
By some magical means.
Kim's life was transformed,
But the magic was of a different kind
Than he had ever imagined.
My life has not been so exotic,
But there are some parallels
Between Kim's story and mine.
Words are magical.
They can conjure and dispel
Impossibilities.
They can be used to tie you up
Or to set you free.
Words that reveal truth
Will be less like a picture
And more like a window or a mirror.
They will be a starting point, not an ending.
Many clever deceptions
Are nine-tenths truth.
There is no deception in any of this,
But there is bound to be
At least one-tenth error.
I have not asked you
To believe me.
I do not want you to.
I want you to test
And try these words,
Even to a proof
That they are wrong.
Leaders who want followers
Are not real leaders.
Real leaders will encourage you
To think and feel for yourself.
Real leaders will want for, not from you.
