Thursday, December 28, 2017

Christmas Treasures (excerpt)


11   Rite of Passage

 

 

 

 

     The old man looked at his grandson, then, and their eyes met, at last.

     “Do you remember what I told you that day, Z. Tyler?” Bapa asked.

     The boy did not hesitate; he had always been a good listener.

     “Sure, Bapa. You said that it had been the most magnificent animal that you had ever seen, a great trophy, and that you could have shot it, too. You said that you didn’t because that was my deer, for the taking. But, because I had elected to allow it to live, you couldn’t bag it, either.”

     “That’s right, Son. That was your deer, and it was your right to let it go.”

     “But, I thought you just said that to make me feel better because I was weak and had disappointed you. That’s why I felt so bad---and…why I had cried.”

     With that confession, twelve years after the fact, he looked like a little boy finally relieved of a heavy burden which had secretly haunted him for too long.

     Bapa pulled the boy close and hugged him tightly.

     “You are not weak, but strong! You became your own man that day, and I was well aware of that rite of passage. Not many people have the integrity, the mental capacity, the intestinal fortitude to live their beliefs. That takes a deep conviction born of virtue, a pure, distinct under-standing of your beliefs steeled by challenge of, and strict adherence to, your worthy values. It requires shear courage to stand tall against all odds when you feel that your conclusions are pure and right and true. That’s what you accomplished that day. You made me so very proud of you.”

     A look of understanding came over the young man, along with a peaceful solitude.

     “It’s easy to talk the talk, Son, as your generation might put it; it is quite another matter altogether to walk the walk.” Bapa paused, letting that assessment sink in.

     “I wanted you to know that it is always alright to say ‘No!’ at any time, to anyone, in any situation. Decisions based on beliefs that are tried and true, Christian values, those that will stand the test of time, that can be scrutinized and analyzed and challenged for their purity, for their rightness, conclusions which make you proud, those judgments can never be wrong, not in any way---ever. They don’t bend with the way the social or cultural wind blows; they are solid.

     “You will have to make choices all through life. Others will try to influence you to join their opinion; it is up to you to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Once you capitulate, once you ‘do’ the deed, any deed, then, you can never, again, in honesty, deny the committing of your performed action.”

     Bapa paused. Then, with a sincere look into his grandson’s eyes, he added, “All of this, you already know; I think, you always have, since little on.

     “But, for our little girls, it seems, ever more so important that they understand their right to make decisions based on decency and honesty, upon their own values and their virtues. I told you, long ago, that should an occasion arise in which you were uncomfortable, uneasy, that you could call me and I would come and get you, no questions asked.”

     Z. Tyler nodded his recollection of that offer; he had kept it in his mind.

     “We need to impress that truth on our girls. It is of utmost importance that they know, without a doubt, that they can say ‘No’ and that we will support and protect them in that decision,” Bapa stated. “That’s what you did that day of the ‘Albino’ and I was so very proud of you.

     “Hypocrisy is just one more form of lying, the plague of modern man, his culture and our society. If a man cannot honor his principles at all times by standing tall in light of their truth, impervious to the repercussions, whatever they may be and from whomever they may come, then, that individual is not a man and cannot, in good conscience, hold his head high…ever.

“‘Courage of conviction’ isn’t just some fancy catch phrase; it’s a way of life, something outside the natural realm. It is a noble endeavor. Doing what you believe to be the right thing, even when you thought it would please me to behave differently…well, you proved yourself that day. A man is recognizable not by the length of his shadow, but by the strength of his stance.”

     They sat in silence then, the reverie forging even stronger the steel bond between them; two men together, yet alone in common qualities of independence and individualism. No human eyes could see the camaraderie; yet, the sense permeated their very being that, this was meant to be.

No comments:

Post a Comment