Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:44:28 -0600
From: Pete McDonald <bajabudfan@hotmail.com>
Subject: TIME-TO-SEE-73-

TIME-TO-SEE-73

One might have thought that the QE-III was about to set out on it's maiden
voyage, to see the gathering of people and the scurrying about at Dromoland
lake dock.

Artie's mum and dad were standing on the bank not far from the dock.

"Now you be careful, Artie, and do every thing Mr. Burns says... and be
sure to buckle your life jacket, Sweetie..." Artie's mum instructed.

"Oh! Mum! Please!... I'm just going on a boat trip on the lake. I'm not
crossing the North Sea!" Artie said with just the appropriate amount of
exasperation to indicate that in every respect, save for the burn-injury,
he was perfectly in order with a typical young adolescent of his age...

"Here Artie, here's your life jacket," Ian said as he passed out a jacket
to each of the boys.

"The rest of you ought to know how to fasten these life jackets. You did it
before.  Artie, just check with Jilder; then I'll inspect each of you
myself to make sure we're all safe," Ian said.

"Here, Nicky, will you pull my strap. It's caught up in the back someway,"
Jilder said.

Murph put his jacket on quickly and then went over to Artie. "Can you get
it on?" he asked.

Artie said, "Yeah. It's not hard.  Does it look alright to you?"

"Uh? Yeah! But make sure it's sort-a tight, because you don't want it to
slip off if you happen to fall in the water," Murph said.

"Arthur, you be sure to make your life jacket tight enough," Artie's mom
called out.

Artie looked at Murph and said under his breath to Murph, "She's been a
real pest since I had to go in the hospital.  I didn't realize it at first
'cause I was so sick, but now that I'm feelin better, it sort of drives me
nuts!" Artie confided to Murph.

"Oh! That's okay. Just listen to her, and then do what you know is
best... ALL mum's are like that, not just yours,... Mine sure is." Murph
counseled.

With life jackets donned and picnic basket with snacks stowed in the boat
already, the boys started climbing aboard.

"Now be very careful, Mr. Burns," Artie's mum called out...

"Yes, Mama.  We'll be just fine..." Ian replied, doing his best to show
confidence and assurance to put these two super sensitive parents at ease.

Then Ian turned to the boys who all seemed to be in place, and he said,
"Murph, pull in the rope that ties us to the dock and push the boat away
from the pilings"

Murph took his duties seriously and in no time the boat was floating freely
toward the middle of the lake.  Ian fired up a tiny little motor mounted on
the back of the boat, and with a hum and a whish, the boat backed further
away from the dock, reversed directions, and sped away toward points
unknown at the somewhat sub-sonic speed of 2 knots/hour...

"Good-by, Sweetie," Artie's mom called out, waving her lace handkerchief.

Artie wanted to crawl under a seat but settled for saying "Good Grief!" for
the benefit of all of his new friends...

Jilder and Sean laughed.  Sean said, "Oh, Artie.  You're going to go
bonkers if you don't start ignoring your mom... She's just worried about
you like all mums are... Don't stress yourself..."

"Well, alright... I guess you're right..." Artie replied to Sean. If Sean
suggested something, Artie tended to take it more seriously.

"Now, we need look outs to find the Silver Swan," Ian announced.  "Everyone
will have to take turns looking around until we find her," Ian said.

Privately, Ian assumed that this would be an easy and uneventful outing:
once around the lake looking for that skuzzy swan, maybe find her, maybe
not, and she hustles out of the lake in exasperation at being chased... The
boys will be satisfied that there was no ghost after all; and everyone will
live happily ever after... And Ian will be twenty pounds wealthier...

"I'll look in front." Jilder volunteered. "Somebody needs to turn around
and sit looking backward; so we can watch everywhere at once."

Nicky volunteered to turn around and keep watch behind the boat.

The afternoon was bright, and the winds were calm.  The lake was silent
except for the humm of the little boat motor, and all of the boys sat
expectantly.  Artie put his hand in the cool water and let it cut little
ripples in the surface as the boat moved along.  Murph saw what Artie was
doing and tried the same thing on his side of the boat.  And the happy
travelers were off on their ghost hunt.

*****

An hour or so later there was still no sign of the Silver Swan. Ian was not
surprised, but he would never betray his commitment to the boy's search for
their Holy Grail: that lovely Silver Swan, and the ghost. Ian thought,
"Boys have no end of ambition for their enterprises." And he continued to
play his role perfectly.

"I told you we ought to go out early this morning when I first saw her out
here on the lake... Now she's hiding, I bet," Jilder opined to the group,
his remark sounding not far from whining, actually.

"Oh, Jilder.  You gotta have more patience. She's bound to be out here, we
just have to look for her," Nicky replied.

Murph asked, "Does anybody want a snack?  I'll look in the picnic basket
and see what the Castle gave us."

He stepped caretully to the forward most point in the boat to the picnic
basket, stooped down, opened it up, and surveyed its contents.  There were
six little cakes wrapped in clear plastic, and six covered cups bearing
labels that read Blueberry Custard, and there was a thermos of hot tea
sufficient for everyone.

"It's not bad," Murph decided out loud.  "Everybody gets one cup of
blueberry custard, some kind of cake, and a cup of hot tea... Humm? Not
bad... I'm going to eat mine now."

"Can I pass something to anybody else?" Murph asked.

"Sure. I'm hungry," Artie said.  "I'd like something to eat too."

"Okay," Murph replied.  He bent down and poured Artie some hot tea and took
it over to him.  Then he passed Artie a cake and a cup of custard with a
spoon.

"Mummmm. Looks good," Artie said.

"Yeah. It does look pretty good," Jilder said. "Can you pass me some?"

"Sure."  And Murph went through the same routine for Jilder, delivering
everything to Jilder where he sat.

Nicky had his back to everyone, but he realized Murph was passing out food;
so he abandoned his watch for the time it took to take on his rations from
Murph's supplies.

Sean got up and stumbled to the front of the boat with Murph and looked
into the basket for himself.  "Mummm. I didn't realize I was so hungry.
Look, Murph, there's an extra cake..."

"No it's not extra, Sean," Murph replied.  "We have to have something for
Ian... That's Ian's cake and see, there's a cup of custard for him too..."

"Oh!" Sean replied, "You're right... Well, I think I'll be ready for dinner
when we get back to the Castle. That's for sure."

Nicky was back in place at his lookout post when between gulps of tea he
shouted to the others in the boat, "Look! There she is! The Swan... Look!
Way over there near where the lake curves around."

"Well, you're absolutely right, Nicky."  Let me turn the ship about; so we
can be headin in her direction."  Ian said

Then he thought to himself: "Okay, here we go... I can't wait to see how
they handle finding out that this swan is just your run-o-the-mill
white-feathered over-grown duck!"

BUT!  THIS Swan exhibited an extraordinary sheen, a shiny patina, a
burnished stainless steel or sterling silver surface that seemed impossible
if she were a real swan.  Ian noticed how DIFFERENT this creature was... He
had no explanation for what they were discovering about the swan; she is,
indeed, gleaming Silver and exquisite in her every motion!

The Swan began to circle gracefully, a dazzling sight to behold in the late
afternoon sunlight.  Ian adjusted his course slightly, and the boat headed
directly toward the slowly circling Swan.

The boat could not travel very fast, but as it drew closer to the Swan, she
seemed to understand that the party it conveyed was attempting to follow
her.  She twisted her long, graceful neck about, bent down to the surface
of the lake and drank, it would seem; then she departed her circular
holding pattern and headed out beyond the curve in the lake, to a part that
would not be visible from Castle Dromoland.  Shortly, Ian would be
operating in the moment. Everything familiar to him would be gone.

Artie said, "I didn't believe you, Jilder, but NOW I'm thinking maybe you
are right.  Maybe there is a ghost out here?..."

That thought sent chills through all of the boys.  It's one thing to TALK
about ghosts, and quite another to go in pursuit of one! And FIND
one... well, that was as yet, UNSPEAKABLE.... But there was no turning back
now. And Ian knew that better than anyone; he truly had to go through with
whatever happened.

Ian piloted the boat as fast as the motor would carry it, but he could
never quite catch up with the Silver Swan.  She always remained just a
comfortable and enticing distance away, aloof, always moving farther and
farther from the part of the lake that was well-known to Ian.

The sun turned to a blazing auburn, and shed golden rays that played over
the peaceful, sparkling surface of the water.  Looking back, Nicky realized
that a gentle but persistent layer of fog was beginning to settle over the
rest of the lake with waning daylight.

On and on the persistent troops rode.  Only the humm of their little motor
could be heard...

"Look! Jilder exclaimed. "There. Across the lake.  See there's a small
mountain that comes down to the water, with an opening in it right onto the
lake!"

And, indeed, Jilder was describing the sight accurately.  Trees that
covered the mountain on the edge of the lake cast long shadows over the
water in the sun's dying rays. Yet there remained a radiant path of
brilliant light that illuminated the path along the surface of the lake to
the opening in the mountain.

The Silver Swan sailed along that very path of bright light, stopping
occasionally, lingering and swimming in circles, making sure that the boat
and its cargo of boys was still in pursuit.

An imposing outcrop of granite provided an ominous-looking countenance
which the mountain presented to those approaching from the lake.

"LOOK - AT - THAT - MOUNTAIN!" Jilder exclaimed, speaking each word
slowly... "And there's the cave..." he yelled. "Right there! Can you see
it?" he asked everyone.

"Ohhhh! Yeaah!" Murph replied, although it seemed incredible to him and
more than a little foreboding as well.

"What are you going to do, Ian?" Sean asked with a bit of tension in his
voice. "Are you going to take the boat into that opening?"

Ian looked up at the looming mountain and suddenly felt that things here
were, somehow, not quite like everywhere else at Castle Dromoland... There
was something about this place that seemed.... well... "DIFFERENT." But he,
too, was now interested to see what was going on... Where had that
extraordinary swan come from?  And how did she know where to lead them?
And WHY would she lead them at all?  Ian decided that NOTHING here was
working according to the ways things worked back at the Castle...

"I don't know?" Ian replied, genuinely concerned himself.  This was indeed
more than he thought he'd be dealing with.

"We'll have to see whether the lake water is deep enough for the boat to
float."

As the boat drew closer and closer to the opening of the cave, Ian asked
for assistance, "Sean, take the oar and put it down in the water until it
touches the bottom of the lake, then bring it up so we can see how deep the
water is right here."

Sean quickly went to the front of the boat which was moving very slowly and
inserted the oar, that measured perhaps 8 feet in length, down into the
lake water.

To everyone's surprise, Sean's oar never touched bottom!

"Try it again, Sean..." Ian instructed.  "That hardly seems possible..."

And once again Sean punctured the surface of the lake with his oar only to
find that it would not reach a bottom.

"Well, then there's no danger that we'll get stuck in the mud.  I'd say we
can safely go up to the mouth of the cave and possibly inside, depending on
what's there..." Ian said.

The attention of all of the boys was riveted on the Silver Swan who glided
gently up to the mouth of the cave, paused swimming in a tight circle while
the boat closed on her, and then, just as the craft was about to reach her,
she slipped silently into the darkness of the cave.

Jilder looked at Nicky.  Sean looked at Murph and Artie... Nobody said a
word... And the boat floated quietly from the bright, sun-lit path over the
lake into the dimly lit cave.

"Jilder! What did you read about where the ghost stays?" Nicky asked.

"He stays in a grotto, a cave, just like THIS one," Jilder replied.

And the boat floated quietly into the enticing dimness of the cave at which
point Ian cut off the motor entirely.  The lake's depth inside of the cave
seemed to sustain the boat's needs; so the boat continued to drift ahead
slowly.

All at once the boat rounded a bend and appeared in a brightly, sun-lit
lagoon, illuminated by the waning reddish sun through a vast hole in the
top of the mountain. It was altogether like an ancient volcano that had
acquired a lake right at its core upon which the boys now navigated.

The evening sun changed to a dazzling, brilliant orange by now, and to the
shock and surprise of everyone watching, the Silver Swan rose up out of the
water and flew!  Her wings were forty feet from tip to tip, and she flew as
a huge raptor, gracefully, no longer confined to the water as a swan-- to a
perch high above the water.

The boys all gasped. "Did you see THAT?" Murph asked the others.

"How did she do THAT?" Jilder asked in a barely audible voice.

"This is giving me the creeps," Artie added...

"Alright, everybody, we're here; we can't run; we're goin to find out if
King Boru is here or if Jilder is full of crap!" Sean said.

"I am NOT full of crap!" Jilder replied, not being particularly careful to
speak quietly on that point.

When the Swan spread her wings, remarkably broad, she betrayed that,
indeed, she was no longer a swan. She WAS a Phoenix!

Ian watched speechless.  His mouth hung open, and he waited incredulous,
like the small boys he chaperoned... "This can't be happening," he
thought...  ("But it was...!")

A Voice from everywhere and at the same time, from nowhere, engulfed the
travelers in a deep, resonant, male Voice that sounded as if it emanated
from an giant echo chamber. And the Voice spoke with an accent unfamiliar
to everyone in the group except Ian: he had studied Ancient Gaelic at the
University in Dublin and knew who must be speaking-- Boru Himself!.

"What brings these travelers to My grotto?" the Voice inquired
inquisitively but graciously.

The Phoenix moved about on its perch and fluttered its huge wings, creating
a wind that blew as a cool breeze over the travelers in their boat.

A gentle, low-pitched female voice came from the direction of the perch
high over the lagoon, "I brought these travelers to visit You, Sire,
because they have been most seriously interested in discovering the abode
of His Highness, King Brian Boru, to understand His history, to understand
this Castle, and to learn His wisdom, ever since they arrived at Castle
Dromoland."

The Phoenix continued her reply to the Voice, "On their first day out on
the lake, they sought my help, but could not follow; today they were
successful, allowing me to assuage their hunger for the Truth."

"Please consider their youth and their innocence," the Phoenix entreated.

"I see....," the Voice answered.  "Thank you for your help, Phoenix."



*****


And then the Voice addressed the travelers: "Gentlemen, I am the Brian Boru
whom you seek.  I am gratified to learn that you are sufficiently wise, at
your tender ages, to charge yourselves with the task of searching for the
Truth.  It is much to be desired and of great value at all ages."

"Do you bring a particular question?" the Voice inquired.

Jilder stood up and said, "I know how hard you worked for your people.  I
read about you on the Internet.  And I know that somebody killed you when
you were praying. I'm really sorry about that, King Boru, I hope you're
alright now... What happened?"

"You are referring to a moment in the Infinite Reality that I sorely
misunderstood.  I did indeed try to help my fellow countrymen, but I was
misguided in what I did.  There was another way that would have
accomplished my end, and would not have concluded disastrously for me..."

Jilder, still standing, spoke, "What do you mean, Mr. Boru, Uh... I mean
KING Boru?"

The Voice then spoke: "May I rephrase your question in a way that will
bring more meaning for you young men now?  The questions is:

"WHAT SHOULD I DO FOR 'MY BROTHER?'

The Voice continued: "I wanted to give what would meet the need. I wanted
to give my countrymen what actually constituted a blessing, and yet I did
not know what that was-- and my not-knowing, dear travelers, got me
killed."

Jilder, being completely unselfconscious by now, spoke comfortably with
King Boru genuinely interested in understanding what the King was telling
them.  "I don't understand, Sir..."  Jilder confessed.

The Voice said, "One does not KNOW what he should BE or DO, UNTIL he asks
God what that is by saying, 'Father, fill me with whatever You would have
me be or do, in spite of WHAT I THINK I WANT to do, in spite of WHAT I
THINK MY BROTHER or SISTER needs.

"One must say out loud: 'I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I don't want to
interfere with being the perfect expression of You, Father, because I want
to Wake up from the limitation and the suffering that I'm experiencing as a
result of my faith in and devotion to the idea that I am an INDEPENDENT
ENTITY... a separate person."

Jilder interrupted, "But weren't you praying to God when you were killed?
I don't understand..."

"Aye! I was, but that was not the time for prayer-- the decision was
already made, the battle was concluded.  I was too late..."

The Voice spoke slowly and carefully, "You must STOP right when you don't
know what to do, when are ABOUT TO DECIDE what must be done... STOP, step
back in your mind... Acknowledge your ignorance and AT THAT MOMENT-- you
could perhaps call it a Holy Instant-- ASK TO KNOW...AT THAT POINT... 'What
am I to do?"



A deafening silence filled the great chamber of the grotto, then the Voice
called out booming:




"SEAN!"  (The Voice addressed Sean by name.)




"Yes, Sir..." Sean replied, with some visible degree of trepidation...

The Voice continued. "YOU, Sean, didn't realize it, but YOU found yourself
in a Holy Instant when you first saw Arthur."

Sean looked around at the others in the boat and his gaze settled on Artie.
Their eyes met, and they remained connected.

The Voice said, "Sean, you didn't know what to do! You did not know how to
act. You did not know what Artie needed.  BUT! You did NOTHING for an
instant. You stepped back in your mind and waited to be filled with what
God called for."

"DURING the moment you hesitated, suddenly you knew what to do. Your words
were halting at first, and difficult to say, allowing Arthur to think that
you found his appearance distasteful, but you knew to step in his path when
he turned to leave, correct your message by giving the love that he needed.
And you knew just how to give your love, in such a way that Arthur
understood and accepted it.  And so, on that occasion you learned how to
engage a Holy Instant," the Voice explained...

Everyone was silent.  However, Jilder realized at that moment that he
actually grasped the example King Boru had just explained.

"Do you wish for me to continue?" King Boru queried.

Jilder answered instantly, "Yes, Sir. Please, if you will..."

And the Voice spoke once again, "EACH ONE OF YOU can practice the mechanics
of the Holy Instant, and you will learn much from doing so."

And It continued: "Yet THE EXPERIENCE THAT OCCURS IN YOU will radiate a
shining and glittering brilliance, which will literally BLIND you to the
WORLD AS YOU MISPERCEIVE IT! And you will see the Real world."

King Boru continued, "You may ask in horror, will this Holy Instant so
experienced blind me to the world?  To this world and universe that's an
illusion?  No.  It will blind you to THE CONCEPTS AND BELIEFS AND IDEAS
THAT YOU HAVE MADE UP ABOUT the world and each other, that IS Real-- about
the ONLY world there is-- which could be called 'Kingdom of Heaven,' except
that YOU HAVE FLAWED it by your private misperceptions. "

"The world is flawed by the fact that you chose to give its vast
manifestations definitions that are DIFFERENT from what the Father was
Being WHEN HE CREATED the Kingdom of Heaven. You and your ego interpret
everything incorrectly!"

Murph sat staring up at nothing, at the fading sunlight, at the magnificent
Phoenix perched on high, concentrating on the meaning of what King Boru was
telling them as it lodged in his mind.

A rumbling could be heard inside of the mountain where King Boru held His
audience.  The sun was indeed fading fast, and the travelers would need to
begin their journey back to the Castle soon, because they didn't bring
artificial lights to light their return...

The Voice concluded with a quite intricate recapitulation of its message:

"The holy instant supplies the actual meaning and the true reality of what
is going on.  It supplies it when you stop trying to supply it by means of
your own vision, your own envisioning, your own imagining. (As Sean did
before Arthur...) DON'T YOU SEE THAT YOU CANNOT SUPPLY IT? Humans have been
trying to supply it, and, thus, they've been missing Reality."

"And if abandoning YOUR attempts to supply the meaning to everything, even
though that means giving up CONTROL that YOU THINK YOU HAVE—- control
that your ego thinks you ought to have, and control that you think your
sanity depends upon—- if giving that up ACTUALLY means returning you to
your sanity and experiencing what you might call the Kingdom of Heaven, in
which there is no sin, sickness or death, in which there is no conflict,
then "Why in Heaven's name not abandon YOUR meanings!  (Sean spoke to
Lliam: 'Go home and tell everyone to stop the killing...') "



And reverberations of the Voice around the grotto faded to silence...




Ian spoke up, "King Boru, I must start our return to the castle.  The light
is fading fast, and we do not have any artificial light.  Please do not
think me impolite, Sire, but we must leave right now, in order to return
the boys safely to Castle Dromoland."

"Yes.  You must leave at once.  Thank you, Ian, for bringing your young
travelers to visit King Boru. I have enjoyed it immensely.  And my love
goes with each of you..."

Jilder spoke up, "King Boru, thank you for talking to us. I don't
understand a lot in my life, but you told us how to find the Truth we don't
know. Thank you, Sir...." And Jilder paused... "Would you mind if we came
back some other time, now that we know where you are?  Maybe we'll need to
talk with you some more?"

The Voice replied, "You are always welcome, My Son..."

"Good-by, Sir," Jilder said... The other boys joined in with their own
thank you's and Good-by's.

Ian turned the boat around, and at once the Phoenix returned to the water
as the Silver Swan, but she became a glowing beacon shining light upon the
waters, a beacon that floated ahead of the boat as it exited the grotto and
made its way across the dark, lake waters.

In a moment, as the boat followed the Silver Swan closely, the fog over the
lake separated and a bright, round, golden moon shed its light on the lake
making it seem almost like daylight.


*****


It required quite a long time to reach the vicinity of the Castle dock, and
assembled there were a cadre of Castle Staff, as well as Max, and Brandy,
Kevin and Hugo, and Mr. and Mrs. Donnally, all waiting for their sons to
return.

"I think that's them," someone said.  "Yes.  Thank goodness they're
alright."

The boat's little motor sputtered and died only feet from the dock, but the
momentum of the craft carried it all the way in until it struck the dock
with a squeak and a gentle thud.

The glow of the Silver Swan seemed to grow dim as she turned abruptly,
seeing that the travelers were safely home, and retreated into the black
emptiness of Dromoland lake.

"Throw them the rope," Ian yelled to Murph.

One of the Castle staff reached out with a hook at the end of a very long
pole and brought the boat right up along side the dock.

"Arthur! We were so worried about all of you," Artie's mum was the first to
speak.

"We were okay, mum.  It was awesome!... But we couldn't leave any sooner
because King Boru was talking to us, and he told us lots of important
things..."

"I'm sure he did, Dear," Artie's mum said quite patronizing... "No, REALLY,
Mum. He DID!" Artie insisted

Each boy leapt from the boat to the dock and into the arms of a grateful
and loving parent.

Jilder yelled back at Ian who was still in the boat, tidying it up, and
preparing to tie it to the dock for the night, "Thanks, Ian, for taking us
to the grotto. You are the best Castle Guide in the world!..."

And the happy throng made its way up the narrow footpath to the castle, by
now lit with dazzling flood lights and special torches carefully placed
among the foliage. The night was young and everyone had so much to think
about.

Ian replied, "Oh, my pleasure, Jilder!"

Actually, Ian was a bit troubled, but the boys were all elated.
Truthfully, Ian's Ego was far more invested in it's point of view of the
world and was far more disturbed by what King Buru shared than he would
allow the others to surmise. ALL of them would spend a lifetime learning to
use what King Boru had told them that day.

*****

King Brian Boru's shared wisdom is conveyed elsewhere as follows: "Excerpt
from ACIM Study Group with Raj/Jesus 1/17/2009" See website NWFFACIM.org.