Knight Exemplar

Alarmed by what con­di­tion my con­di­tion is in, I wan­der off, one after­noon, into an imag­i­nary meadow where I catch sight of the most beau­ti­ful white horse I have ever seen. As I pur­sue this fan­tasy fur­ther, I sud­denly find my self fly­ing across the meadow on the back of the white horse. I’m in heaven. Exhausted, I flop off the back of the horse to catch my breath. As it saun­ters off, I lay down in the grass to rest. When I spy the horse again, I see, rid­ing upon its back, a white knight who strikes such fear into my heart that I am effec­tively jet­ti­soned from this visual expe­ri­ence before I can get a closer look at him.

When, three days later, I find myself alone again, I man­age to slip back into the vision where I’d left it. Only this time, I’m not so afraid of the white knight when I see him, for I real­ize that he and I are some­how con­nected. Called to appear before a very old man whose form, with the excep­tion of his head, remains hid­den from me, like the Wiz­ard of Oz, within a thick swirling mass of wind and cloud, I am over­come by an incred­i­ble fear as I look beyond the long white hair and beard blow­ing wildly about the angry fea­tures of his face.

“Hum­ble your­self before the Lord,” com­mands a voice that per­me­ates my whole being ere I can flee.

With that, I fall face down onto the floor, where I feel the Old Man’s pres­ence pass before me, over me, and through me, all in one breath.

“Who’re you?” I ask out of a need to hear it from the horse’s own mouth.

“I Am Who Am,” He responds in a way that only seems to fur­ther fuel the fear fill­ing my frame.

“What do you want with me?” I inquire as my curios­ity finally gets the best of me.

“As I have need of a good knight,” He replies, “I have called you into my service.”

“But Sir,” I respond, “I am not a knight; besides I’d be of lit­tle use to One so pow­er­ful as You.”

Hav­ing touched me upon the shoul­der with the point of a red-​​hot sword, just fresh from the forge, He says to me as the fire He has ignited within my heart con­sumes me, “I dub thee Sir Eodor, Knight Exem­plar. Rise! And go forth as thy heart shall lead thee.”