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Eagle
And The Wind
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Oliver Mbamara
Once in a continuous time, men, animals, birds, and fish all lived together in one kingdom as one family, sharing the benefits of the land, jungle, sea, and the sky amongst themselves. Happiness reigned and there was hardly any hardship or violence in the family.
As time went on, the population of the kingdom got lazy, and with that they became selfish also. Almost everyone was interested in receiving, enjoying, and gaining the pleasures that abounded in the kingdom. Only a few cared to give service or engage in some labor and productivity. In the process, most of the population started forgetting that their existed a King over the kingdom. They even forgot His name, and paid Him little or no attention.
This continued until the elements of the earth, jungle, sea, and the sky could no longer take the abuse and neglect by the population of the kingdom. Consequently, the elements started revolting. A wild storm came, tearing the body of the kingdom apart. The king would have saved the situation but He decided to allow the revolt of the elements as a lesson to the subjects of the kingdom. Perhaps, that might wake them up from their slumber and dormant consciousness.
The sea tumbled furiously and overflowed its banks, several volcanoes erupted simultaneously, a good amount of the air was polluted, and some parts of the earth gave in to earthquakes and submerged under the sea and the ocean. As the havoc went on, the king calmly watched from His resting place at the peak of the mountain where none of the subjects of the kingdom could reach without calling on the name of the King. He was sympathetic to the plight of his subjects and the once beautiful kingdom, but he allowed events to unfold since he knew it was a good chance for the subjects to wake up from their slumber. Besides, he had given them the sacred word, His name, to call upon if they needed His help or redemption from any seeming perils. He could only wait should any subject call upon His name.
The land swallowed many men and structures, the sea threw up most of the sea animals and fish, and the raging fire of the jungle chased some animals out of the jungle and consumed some that could not escape, and the sky was the only safe place, although most of the air was polluted from the destruction of the fire below. In the pandemonium that ensued, men and animal climbed upon the trees, while the fish turned their fins into wings and joined the birds to either perch on trees or fly further up into the sky where there was no tree.
Some of the surviving subjects that saw the King resting comfortably on the mountaintop, lashed out either in anger or ignorance. “The King never cared for us, he never loved us,” argued some. “He actually enjoys seeing us perish,” said others. In the ensuing state of skepticism, the Serpent organized a rebellion against the King and was made the new ruler of the surviving subjects. The Serpent then outlawed the King and His ways. Also, the Serpent was able to convince the others that the pleasures of the destroying kingdom were still preferable to the peace of the mountain-land where the King rested. However, there was a second group, though very few, who still loved the King and tried to remind themselves of what they could do to get his help. Led by the Eagle, the second group lifted their perception, which in turn lifted their consciousness, and they were able to remember the sacred name, which the King had given the subjects as a gift of love. Glad and elated, the Eagle and his company proceeded with an open heart to share the sacred name with all the other subjects of the perishing kingdom. However, the Eagle and his company were accused of heresy against the kingdom of the Serpent.
“This heresy shall not go unpunished,” announced the Serpent in reference to the Eagle’s attempt to reveal the sacred word to the population. “Arrest the Eagle, and bring instant death to him by execution,” decreed the Serpent. Upon learning of the Serpent’s decree, the Eagle flew higher off the land and the trees to avoid being captured, or falling to the traps of the Serpent and the Serpent’s servants. Then, the Serpent set up a team led by the bat and the Vulture, to go after the Eagle. Some of the followers of the Eagle gave in to the pressures of the Serpent, and some even betrayed the Eagle in order to gain the favor of the Serpent and the population of the kingdom. Yet, some of the followers simply went into hiding and secretly continued to practice and call on the name of the King.
At first, despite the call of the king’s name by the Eagle and his team of followers, help seemed not to come, and some of the followers of the Eagle began doubting the efficacy of the King’s name and the practice of the King’s ways, especially as they witnessed no immediate and/or dramatic miracle. Consequently, some of the doubting followers fell by the wayside and joined the Kingdom of the Serpent. Yet, a few more remained steadfast and like the Eagle, they continued trusting and believing in the King and His ways.
Then a wild storm began. The Eagle immediately remembered the words of the King. “After the thunder and fury of the storm comes the calmness of the wind, and after the harshness of the pouring shower comes the exposure of the shining surface.” The Eagle then advised all the subjects stubbornly gripping the trees, to let go of the trees so the wind would carry them forth. He also advised those flying, to simply follow the course of the wind, rather than fight it with their feeble wings. “Have faith in the King, trust in the wind, and believe in your resolve,” suggested the Eagle. Those who cared to listen to the Eagle, decided to surrender. The current of the wind flew them to the safety of the mountain-lands by the King.
Even then, the storm became more vicious and intensified into such a wild frenzy that drastically completed the destructive cycle. When it was all over, the sky, the trees, the jungle, and the land have all been washed clean of all impurities, and readied for a fresh cycle of habitation.
Eagle and the wind
Like an eagle,
I shall tour the skies,
Riding the current
Of the seeming wild wind.
I shall swing my wings
To stay afloat,
But I shall leave my course
To be swayed by the wind.
I shall swing my wings,
But I shall trust the wind
To carry me forth
On its path along the way.
At tender age,
When I struggled to fly,
I sometimes flew against the wind
And ended up in unguarded places.
But now I’ve learnt
To ride the course
Of the guiding wind
That always leads to glory-land.
©Oliver
O. Mbamara, 2003
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Oliver Mbamara is an Administrative Law Judge
with the State of New York. He is also a filmmaker and a Published Poet
and playwright. For more on Oliver, please visit www.olivermbamara.com
For
background/research reference on this piece, click on this link
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