A war sword, powerful and bold, forged in fire. Hardened in fierce battle, it has conquered kingdoms, defended cities, avenged aggressive wrongs and maintained the nation. The nation, now drunk with safety and comfort, sheathed the sword in its scabbard, held it high, and declared, “Remember the victories of this sword.” The victories became stories, and passed down into legends of the great acts of the sword, that even the children could tell. Meanwhile, the sword sat rusting in its scabbard, stored away. Until a curious child investigates the store room and finds the rusty metal stick. Fixated, the child takes it, seeking to enhance the game of war. The sword, still trapped inside the scabbard, is forced to enact the legend of its own great deeds in the hands of a child in a play game of war.
I wrote this story recently during the sessions of a conference on the Church and the arts. The story popped into my head at the start of sessions one morning, and that day happened to be focused on the obstacles that hinder the application of the arts in their full power within the context of the Church. The story wasn't in response to the sessions, but came before them - I just understood the story better afterward.
