A Wedding…Dialogue I

In a grand story, there is always a quest, a journey towards a goal where the main players travel many miles into wild and dangerous territory, overcoming significant difficulties along the way to reach their final destination.   I have lived through two or three remakes of Jason and the Argonauts seeking the Golden Fleece, not to mention Odysseus’s long and torturous voyage home.    Even more famous is the quest for the Holy Grail of the Arthurian legend.  My personal favourite, “Lord of the Rings”, is always a source of inspiration.

Just last week, I attended my niece’s wedding.   Luminous and beautiful… she walked down the aisle, slowly, confidently, fearlessly. She was ready to let go of a past time, eager to embrace a new beginning.   And that was when I realized, with singular clarity, she was on a quest.

Remember Bilbo’s warning?

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” 

When you accept a quest, you have no idea how the undertaking will unfold.  You have opened up the unknown and have accepted the terms of “quest” protocol.  Quests have rules, one of them being that the mission demands your full participation. It is expected that “questors” have copious amounts of valour, optimism, determination and honour to sustain them on the path.  And when the horizon seems far in the distance, “questors” need to have a kindred spirit to share the joys and sorrows that are waiting around the corner.

Quests give meaning to the human experience.  It is our way of moving forward…together…