We had a very nice meal. A few drinks. Too many drinks.
Ended up at PCH&N. The recent appointee is still in her office.
We should have left at that moment. Turned around. Walked out the door.
That would have been the wise thing to do.
We chose to laugh (giggle) in a childlike fashion and crack open a nice bottle of claret.
A couple of smokes and soon we were seeing things with perfect clarety. Only possible at three am.
Before long.
Can you come out here for a moment, Love?
She’s there in a flash,
Tell him, what you told me.
My Nature?
What you told me.
With, or without the flowery language?
Laughter and a smile.
Leave it all in – he’ll love all that.
I’ll try. Let me see:
“I have heard thy voice of glad surprise, of new-found happiness in the knowledge of my existence. Thou, the child of man, hast awoken to the revelation of the Heaven-born.
Thou hast tasted my delights, and wouldst fain make me thine irrevocably and for ever. Wise art thou; for in my hands are rarest gifts and treasures.
I can, if I will, crown the true lover with priceless jewels; I can reveal joys undreamed of. No matter if thy birth be humble; for where I take possession I bring my own patent of nobility. No matter if they’ll be not among the wise of the earth; I have keys to unlock the most secret stores of wisdom. I have all comma and it is all for such as can build me a shrine where I may abide.
But what dost thou know of me – of me the Heaven-born? Thou art but on the threshold, much is yet to learn. My Kingdom lies stretched out before thee, and thou wouldst forthwith take possession. Nay, already thou art in error—‘tis I must take possession of thee.
What! Shall I – the Limitless – narrow my nature till thou canst contain it? Shall I, who am of Heaven, permit that thou drag me down to earth? Shall I, the Mystery of Mysteries, be fathomed by thy scanty plumb-line?
Nay! If indeed I be desired, I, the Infinite, must absorb the finite. I must by slow degrees enlarge the narrowness of ignorance and deepen the shallowness of self-satisfaction, that I may expand uncircumscribed. I must lift up the earth-born nature to mine, which is of Heaven; I must unfold my mysteries one by one as thou art able to understand.
And thou must yield all to me. Thy dull ear must be trained to catch my low tones, for my voice is raised in clamour for none – it will be heard even as the whisper of thine own soul. Thine eye must be swift to mark my lightest gesture, for I guide by touches so subtle that in comparison the flutter of the butterfly’s wing is rough.
My nature is changeless. ‘Tis for thee to choose whether I abide or depart. If thou strive against me, I am gone, and in place of the beauteous form and glowing colouring thou thoughtest to clasp, in thy hand will be left but a heap of dust.
Yet know that here is the great, the glorious opportunity, for if thou comprehend me, I will dower thee with Eternal Bliss.”
Is that it? Finished?
Yes.
Now, whilst you were – not prattling – that’s the wrong word, whilst you were talking earlier you said you were running short of the basics.
The Essentials?
Love’s essentials, that’s the one. Listen to this. Go on, Love.
You are extremely demanding.
Ooooh! Get you… Please.
“The choice is made, and thou wilt in very deed that I abide with thee; forthwith shall a shrine be built for my sojourn, the fellow-worker is assured, and together ye would lay the foundations and raise a home for me.
Show me then the plan ye have formed and the materials ye bring to execute it, that each block may be set in its fitting place.
What is the ground-work? For unless this be well and truly laid, how shall the dwelling resist the buffets of adverse fortune? – A passionate devotion to the life of another is to be the basis of all? – So far, well; none other will stand. But see to it that thy marble be perfect, neither flawed with desire for self-advancement or self-interest, nor veined with dark and dubious shades which mar its perfection of purity.
Rest content with nothing that lacks completeness. Sincerity alone can lay a sure foundation. Let thy tools be well-tempered; thy cement in due proportions. Heed not those who scoff at thy providence; they do but seek to beguile thee from thy lofty purpose. With faulty tools no lasting monuments are reared. Reck not of their scorn; these are Love’s murderers; for a pure environment is Love’s very life.
But more. To the task must be brought loving service and infinite patience – meet cornerstones of the fane. To these add large-hearted discernment, that thy materials may serve to carry out thy first design. Unwise are they who squander on the earlier stages all that should have been husbanded till the last coping-stone was duly set.
A fine balance is essential in thy dispositions, that the co-operation of they help-meet may not be at one time over-taxed, at another discouraged by thy wavering enthusiasm. Above all, for the perfecting of the fabric, ye must both bring fearlessness, the keystone of the whole – the crown of your endeavour.
So shall the Temple of Love rise fair and stately, secure on stable foundations against the tempests of misfortune – a retreat no whit less needful, in the fevered noonday of prosperity!”
Finished?
Yes.
Thank you, Love.
She returns to her office.
Whad’ya think?
What do you mean?
What she said.
Mate, I didn’t understand half of what she said.
Nor did I. But it sounded good, din nit.
Mate, keep it under your hat. You get twice what she gets.
Don’t be silly.
Wow! well that’s a mix of a man, for sure… good thing I’m not averse to uniforms, isn’t it…
