Once upon a time there was a great and humbled man who lived in a fine apartment on the edge of the city of life. One sunny day this proud and noble man looked in the mirror and realized he was a Knight of Virtue.
"Yo!" he exclaimed. "I am the guardian of virtue and thus I must take a stand for good throughout the city. I proclaim I am the guardian of all that is good and a true Knight of Virtue and champion of honor and justice, and therefore I must drive into the city to seek out and slay that old possessor of evil; the fallen Knight that brings Misfortune to all the people."
So the Knight of Virtue boarded his sparkling clean SUV and drove into the city to search out the Knight of Misfortune and slay him in single combat. He sang a song of happiness and cheer as he started off on his journey to liberate the people of injustice.
He drove up and down many streets the first day, without so much as a glimpse of the daunting Knight of Misfortune. The second day he drove even farther, still without uncovering the merchant of dismay. Day after day he continued to drive up and down streets in his desperate hunt, deeper and deeper into the city of life, searching alleys and doorways and even roof-tops. The Knight of Misfortune was nowhere to be seen.
He found many signs of the sought after Knight's presence. Again and again he drove through neighborhoods where the ravaging Knight had struck, a convenience store robbed, a car stolen, a young woman ravaged,. But always he just missed catching the doer of evil.
Where does injustice live?
Many weeks passed and when the Knight of Virtue had spent all his money in his cause; he was forced to take some bread from a stop-and-shop. His SUV broke down, so he was forced to replace it, silently and by darkness, with another SUV from a parking lot. And when he became weak and stumbled, faint and exhausted, into a bar, the barmaid offered him her bed, and because he was so gallant in his pursuit for justice, she gave him her love, and when he regained his strength, she was broken hearted when he said he must leave to find the Knight of Misfortune and slay him.
Many month's passed, under hot sun, over dusty streets, as he pressed on in his desperate search, Yet everyone he met was like himself, grayed from time and searching. They were fairly white knights who were of varying shades of whiteness, depending on how long they, too, had been in hunt of the Black Knight
There were those who where new to the hunt and were sparkling white. They had just started looking and they annoyed the White Knight by naively asking information to the nearest Knight of Misfortune.
There were also some who had become tattle-tale gray, while SUV and driver had become so grubby, that their mirror back in their apartment would never have recognized them.
Who is the true knight of Justice?
Yet the Knight of Virtue was shocked the day a gleaming newbie knight challenged him suddenly on a busy street corner and with a wild shout charged towards him with guns blazing. The old tired and worn Knight of Virtue barely had time to draw his pistol and, ducking behind a street sign, fired a deadly shot into the attacker's chest.
The dismayed Knight of Virtue walked up to the young newbie and kneeled beside him. His mortally wounded assailant lie in a pool of blood, his youthful face twisted in pain. He heard the youth speak in anguish: "has evil succeeded?' And as he held the dead knight in his arms he realized his own clothing had become drab by his long mission, as it now appeared darkened in the shadow of the buildings.
His heart felt heavy with horror and grief, the has-been Knight of Virtue who was no longer sparkling clean attended to the youth's burial, then slowly stripped off his own drab, soiled clothing, abandon his grimy ill-gotten SUV, and stood naked and alone in the shadow of darkness.
Is there no place for righteousness?
He silently made his way back to his old neighborhood on the edge of the city and upon entering his apartment he closed the door behind himself. He went to the mirror and saw that it no longer reflected the magnificently clean
Knight of Virtue, but only a drawn, tired middle-aged, naked man and the truths that he had also stolen and ravished and killed in search of evil.
From then on when he walked in his neighborhood wearing a simple coat of cheerful colors, he never sought more than he could see. As his hair and full beard slowly turned to silver, the people all around remembered and called him "The Good Old Silver headed Knight".
Be truthful in all you do
In order to be a
Knight of Virtue one must also be a
Knight of Misfortune for the one must come with the other. It is in the misfortunes of life that we learn that goodness is a virtue. Misfortune is not a learning tool as much as a justification for seeking all that is righteous.
Happy Trails
Donald Yates, Former Director of Business and Leadership Development for Imperial Research, is now retired but continues to assist young people in engaging life through self discovery, Life course planning, intuitiveness and fulfillment. Learn how you can build a powerful organization of your own. To learn more, visit [
http://my-modifiedcar.tk]
