Kill That Child! Your Life Depends On It!

When I was young I went to a Jesuit school. We began each day

with the Lord’s Prayer and the first class was “Morals.”

 

There was an illustrated book for that class and it was full of stories.

I vividly remember one that had some pictures I found somewhat

frightening as a child.

 

The tale was one about a king who used to ride alone to clear his

head. One day a small child accosted him and tried to stab him

with its play sword.

 

The king laughingly brushed aside the weapon and kissed the child.

 

The next day, the child appeared again and it was a little bigger

and stronger but the scenario repeated itself. The king laughed.

 

Each day the boy grew in size and his sword in heft.

The king protected himself easily and spared his opponent.

He quite enjoyed this diversion during his solitary rides.

 

The boy became a young man and wielded a tempered blade.

There came a day when the king had to expend all his skill and

strength to parry his strokes and he was wounded when he

finally subdued his adversary.

 

He was angry now but the other cried piteously so he sheathed

his sword and spared his life.

 

The following day the muscular man jumped from a tree and

knocked the king from his horse. In a flash he disarmed him and

bound his hands.

 

The king was bemused and complacent. “Okay, you finally won,”

he said. “Tomorrow will be a different story.”

 

“There will be no tomorrow,” the man said sourly as he lopped

off the king’s head.

 

A somewhat gruesome story for a seven year old but the lesson

it conveyed was powerful.

 

We have many destructive tendencies and addictions. They all begin

with a vague and comforting desire like the tendrils of some tropical

plant. Let’s have one more cigarette because it feels so good and I

need it to calm my nerves. One more drink to relax after this horrible day.

 

Surely one cigarette, or one drink, or one serving of junk food or

one whatever can’t hurt?

 

And that is where you are wrong. ‘One’ will not hurt. But many ‘ones’

piled on top of each other will be devastating.

 

The tendril becomes a thick cord that can strangle you. The small

child becomes a man and decapitates you.

 

You did not become fat with a single bite or a single meal. Your life

did not stagnate because of a single ill-spent day.

 

Recognize the child that, when grown up, can raze your dreams.

 

Odds are that your foe is not a child anymore. But he is still

weaker than you.

 

Kill him right now.

 

The language is horrific but the message is not. It will bring you

 

Peace!

The post Kill That Child! Your Life Depends On It! appeared first on The Rao Institute.