--------------------------------------------------------

Once upon a time their was a town of Swordsville, And in this town everyone was a swordmaker, some were great swordmakers, and some were mediocre swordmakers, some were retired swordmakers, and some were students of swordmaking.  They had their own Army and their soldiers carried marvelous swords made of beautiful metals and inset gems and stones.

In this village lived a father and his son. And of course like everyone else in the village they crafted swords. And the soldiers would come into the shop day after day to have their swords sharpened and recast. And The young boy would look to the soldiers and think,"Gee One day I hope I can walk like them carrying Mighty Swords such as father makes."

As the years passed the young boy learned from his father how to make swords and got even a bit better than his father and his swords became more marvelous with each creation.  Sometimes the soldiers would even request that the young boy make their swords for them which made his father very proud.

The boy became friendly with the soldiers and one day a soldier invited him to come see a ceremony.  At this ceremony, the young boy witness a young man take his oath into the sword army. What a grand celebration it was! A speech was given and the young man was handed the most marvelous sword he had ever seen, rubies, gems, and when he held it up to the suns like, beautiful rainbow appeared, and when he swung it in the air flames seemed to dance off of it.

The boy went home that night and told his father about this sword he had seen, and said, "Our swords do not compare to this one I saw! It was amazing!"

He also told his dad he no longer wished to make swords, and instead he wanted to join the Sword Army, (after all they just give you a sword, and you don't have to make it, and in fact they give you a beautiful one!)

The father agreed and said, "Yes I think thats a great idea, howabout we go see the Sword Leader tommorrow!"

The next day excited the boy woke up, and they went down to see the Leader of the Sword Army.  The boy told him how he wanted to be just like them, and how he looked up to them, and what marvelous swords they carried.

The Wise Sword Leader laughed and said ,"You are aware of the indoctrination process?, I assume your father told you?"

The boy looked to his old father who had a look of confusion on his face and said,"Whats the Process Dad?"

And his father said,"I do not know? All I know is I make the swords for the soldiers and it serves a purpose and it puts bread on the table."

The Leader smiled and said , "Yes it does, you are a fine swordmaker, not the best, but consistent."

The boy shocked said father ,"He is insulting you!"

The father said ,"No he is right, I am just your average swordmaker and I have no shame in that. But you son you are better at it then me and learn faster! Someday you shall be the finest swordmaker in all the village!"

The leader and smiled and said ,"And when you are the finest swordmaker in this village we will come to you, but not to make swords for us, but to carry one alongside us."

He added,"Remeber that sword you saw us give to the young man. The one with fire that danced and glittering rainbows?"

The boy smiled and said,"Yes I remember it, how could I forget?"

The Leader said, "Well that young man made that sword himself, he worked on it for years, and that was his indoctrination process. Now if he chooses he can purchase swords from the village, get his swords' serviced, or even have you make him a new one! But he has earned that privilege of choice, while you have not."

The boy nodded and sadly left with his father to return home.

On the way back he said,"Why did you not tell me that and let me look like a fool?"

His father said,"Son, I honestly did not know, and if I had known that at your age I tell you what! I would have made better swords!"


My Analysis:
-------------------
The meaning to this story is a simple one (I am guessing even though I wrote it). I think the sword represents the soul- which grows from work, service, love, and understanding.  Its easy to look over the fence of your own understanding and wish you were in someone elses yard; but there is a purpose for every person, place, task, and time.  And as long as we try our best to be of service and perform our tasks "whatever" they may be, remember that no task is too small to go unnoticed in gods eyes or the greater scheme of things. Also, there is just no simple path to enlightenment! And to get there it begins with us all accepting who we are NOW and where we are NOW and not where we are going!

Each lesson is a step. Enjoying the learning process and doing any job the best you can is key. The learning never ends and if we followed this story further I bet we'd see that the Sword Soldiers look to the Sword Leaders marvelous shields and secretly wish to carry ones like theirs. And the Sword Leaders Look Onwards even further to even greater goals of Acheivement. But each progression is a stepping stone and at each level it is important to do your best even if some levels take 100 years to get through!
A lot of people are looking for the quick fix in this world presently, and its just not available or even possible in a human body in my opinion.  SO focus on the moment whether it be banging a piece of metal, writing a novel, delivering a piece of mail, or even caring for a child, and in essence you will be strengthening your own sword for the future (And you will look back someday, sometime, someplace, somewhere and be very glad you did not take the easy way or waste too much time trying to make leaps and skip certain crucial steps in the soul-building process!)  The next stop requires a stronger soul (sword) then the one you carry and when your soul or my soul is ready we need not seek admittance or search for this magic door.  The door and all the answers will find their way to us.


The Moral: Get back to Work and Stop Dreaming! -ha ha