Wisdom and the Prickly Being

A tale by Laurie Stuart

There is a being that dwells behind and within whose wisdom and compassion is great. This being is an essence that is, perhaps, neither female or male and who is not connected to linear time.

There is another being, a prickly impatient one, who covers and bullies this essence when no one else is around. This being is like an uncontrolled she-lion, willing to stop at nothing to protect her cubs, and who never misses the opportunity to take aim at the one with wisdom and negate her. They are both housed in the body of a middle-aged woman, a human, who like Job, has been tested over and over again and who has never wavered from her belief that all would be well.

Still, the middle-aged woman is unsure what to do about this war that rages in the privacy of her own mind, heart and home. She does her best to keep it contained, although sometimes, oft times, she is weary and seeks release in impatient words, mostly with herself, and mechanisms to calm herself down.

The essence with wisdom was known and as well as unknown to her for a very long time until one day a bold younger woman called it out of her. The younger woman held the essence in front of the middle-aged one with words and penetrating truth. The middle-aged woman saw it, recognized it, but wasn’t quite sure how it would shine unencumbered through her, knowing of the Prickly Being that keeps it in check.
But the younger woman was bold and she went further to post an image and to name this essence, Wisdom, for all to see. A teacher of sacred texts and all things holy confirmed and testified that she, too, had experienced this essence, Wisdom, when around the middle-aged woman.

The unveiling, a virtual unmasking and naming, made an impression on the middle-aged woman who began to recognize that Wisdom shone through her deep brown eyes, those eyes that, even in her darkest moments, she knew to be her greatest gift and asset.
The named gift, now come into the light, begins to shine in places deep within and illuminates the caverns of the Prickly Being who, truth be known, was very much afraid of the dark. With the inward light, it may be that it is not nearly so scared.

The middle-aged woman is wondering, hoping really, whether Wisdom and the Prickly Being can live in peace, and maintain a certain balance between heart and mind, and she is relieved and grateful.

But mostly she understands that even when she is unsure of the inner Wisdom’s power and consistency, there will be those who are bold and faithful who will shelter her, recognize her, and guide her way home.