6 4 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 5 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 9 Chapter One Those who long to see the stars let them their sun set – even if they knew well that the stars are there by day. After the knight had managed to know the sun, a long rest awaited him in the kingdom of heaven. He reached out, put his hands behind his head, blissfully stretched his body tired with a long struggle, and then just enjoyed the immense grace he had received. It warmed him somewhere deep inside, and it was the only wealth he was allowed to keep. For a long time, it seemed that he was lacking nothing, and that it would remain forever. He had also forgotten about his horse that might go to graze in heavenly pastures. And in fact, the knight did not lack anything for a long time. But as celestial time passed inexorably, something began to dwell on him. “What’s the matter with me?” It was an unfamiliar feeling for him, for as a poor knight, he was more used to distress than surplus. But now it was all the other way around! What was extra, that was a mysterious glow he hadn’t noticed before. It was now pouring in the whole world – far below and far away, up to immense distances. But where did that strange glow come from? The knight had been searching for its source for a long time, and was surprised to find that it was coming from himself. “Yes,” he understood, “when the sun is in my heart, it must also shine. The joy and glory of me now shine all over the world. All this here is my shining day!” But when there is something extra in heaven, there must also be something missing. After some time, the knight was amazed, how it is possible, that the glow came only from him and from nothing else. “Can I be such alone in the world? There must be someone else who also radiates joy and happiness! Down below, the world is shrouded in a thick blanket of clouds, but here in heaven – why can’t I see anyone here? What a heaven is this!” he could rise even a little above the other. vast space, as if there wasn’t a single place in heaven where And he was so light and fleeting as if he had spread to the just one of countless others.” for I am but a tiny, nameless star here in this vast heaven, “I, too, must be a mere star, in fact! nothing more, what a sun, “Is that me?” he wondered. And then he realized it fully: instead of the sun. looked back into his heart, he saw only a tiny, nameless star The knight’s glow had already faded enough that when he into the last sunken star. in the distance it has changed As he left the beloved sun, What did the knight fight in heaven? Chapter Two ing night in the whole heaven. ten, and now there was ruling the only dark, silent and freez- The shining day of the knight’s soul was thus utterly forgot- flickering brightness. darkness and covered the entire celestial vault with a distant second, third, thousand…The stars leapt from the depths of in all directions, gradually revealing its deepest secrets: First, surrendered to the darkness, this began to open before him thing happened: As his own light ceased to dazzle him and and his glow thus faded faster and faster. Yet an unexpected had been cursed. More and more sadness fell on the knight, And indeed, the stars, these were not to be seen, as if they where, but where? I don’t see any around here!” tiny islands of someone’s presence, they must be here some- it has always been! Sure, the stars, at least those, at least ly. He recalled that stars also belonged to the sky. “That’s how “Is there anyone else?” He called again, this time more quiet- ness crumble, as quickly as he had found it. into the unfathomable abyss, but in vain. He felt his happi- “Is there anyone else?” He shouted from the top of his lungs
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