JOURNEYMAN

This was an ordinary day for most, but a little Indian boy was roaming the lands in search of himself. Who was he? Why was he lost? The answer lay in the stars, for they showed to all who could read them that this was a special day; a cycle was being closed above the head of the little boy; twelve more signs had in turn cast their influence on him. He had seen good and bad, but on this day he was overwhelmed by the bad. And thus he left the land of man seeking the meaning of his existence.

Born under the sign of wood, the little boy was instinctively drawn towards a forest. He ran like a buffalo to reach the heart of the woods, and when he was out of breath, he sat under a tree and couldn’t help himself ask out loud, “What do you want from me?” There was no one there to answer. But in the stillness of the woods, he could hear the voice of the Earth speak to him.

“Those who seek the truth must know how to ask for it. Not all mortals can hear it. Today you have completed a new cycle. You must bring together the elements that have marked your existence so far and your mind will be cleared. You will then know what to ask and I shall answer. Once this step has been taken, you will know what the Question is, and all other things will sink before it.”

The little boy couldn’t understand the meaning of those words, but a sudden chill climbed up his body, making him shiver. So he lit a fire and sat by it, gazing into the flames. And so, strange words came to his mind and he opened his lips to say, “What is my time, my present?”

“When the first intersection of Eternity and Time took place, there was a big bang and from it the universe was formed. As an echo of that big bang there were countless small bangs, countless new small intersections of eternity and time in which life began to thrive. And those are your “presents”. Eternity is but one, though times are numerous, some running parallel to eternity, never intersecting with it. Such dangers are what the legend calls “black knights”. Those, in fact, are places in the universe where eternity and time never intersect, thus forming barren times, in which there is no “golden intersection” of eternity and time, and so in them there can be no present and therefore no life either.”

The boy felt so small in the immensity of time and eternity, and sorrow of a coming ending to all this crept into his soul. Had he become old?

“Am I still young? What is youth?”

“To be young is to be spontaneous, it is to have remained close to the springs of life, it is to get up and unleash yourself from the chains of a society that is obsolete, to dare there where others lack the courage of action, namely, to immerse again into the elementary. The courage of youth is the spirit of "becoming through death", the idea of death and rebirth.”

And indeed the idea of death was there in his mind, sometimes like a shadow, other times like a palpable presence.

“What is death?”

“And death is a small part of our time that has lost the power to stop. Because the amount of time that stands still in the universe is permanent, the surplus leaves. That is why death must occur. Obeying this general imminence, each person's time ceases sooner or later to stand still and dies. When your part of time loses this power to stand still and you will be dead, because remember, as long as time is moving, there is not, there has not been and there will not be life. It has to wait for us so that we can disappear.”

With this, the voice of the Earth was silent. The promise of a new question troubled the boy. How difficult would it be? Would he be able to answer it before his time starts moving again? But the Question listened not to such worries. It ascended from the boy’s heart so clear, so bright, yet so disturbing:

“Are you really sure that you are not someone’s fantasy? Are you convinced that your life is not a mere invention?”

The little boy’s heart sank with sorrow. This was indeed a question he could not answer. And could he look at his life with the same eyes as before? Why did he need to trouble his soul with such thoughts? How could he envisage happiness again, once the doubt of his very existence had found place in his mind?

The voice of the Earth spoke again, “Despair not, for those who seek the truth are always young. Remember that there are no impossible dreams, you just have to dream them right. Love, happiness and health do not come to men together. You have to dream of the one that is right for you and you shall have it.”

The little boy got up. He knew he could not find an answer to his question, but he realised that it was the search that mattered. The search would keep him young at heart. And this search would make him dream for the rest of his still time. What would he choose to dream of? Love, happiness or health? Maybe the dream would come naturally to him. And perhaps dreaming of the right thing is happiness in itself.