erwin the enlightened
Erwin, dubbed the Enlightened and High Priest of the Wildan, had preached throughout his ministry of equality, and seemed to cherish the word “equilibrium”. His hair had turned white and beard long as he taught the similarities between people during an age where everyone would rather focus on differences. Despite the varied religions throughout the land, he argued they all ultimately pointed towards the same Being, “only different people have different ways of seeing or understanding Him”. If that be true, and this Entity were the place from which all life emanates, we are linked to each other through our connections to this creator. In Erwin’s writing, he described it as an “invisible web” joining the dreams, wishes and ambitions of individuals. Through happenstance or circumstance, this web was the infrastructure to create the situations we label “luck”.
His greatest challenge? The Enlightened had spent over fifty years trying to define “destiny”, the subject I am most interested in. His understanding lay in two fundamental notions; oaths of the soul and decisions of the flesh. At the conception of a soul, he believed it is created with a purpose: a goal, if you will. Under the watchful eye of a loving creator, the new-born soul must swear an oath, an unbreakable covenant to reach its destiny. No traps, ploys or pitfalls await the decision. During our childhood we remember this pledge, adults dubbing them juvenile fantasies. But slowly our ambitions become more like mirages under the stresses and strains of a world demanding financial safeguards. Eventually, we find ourselves demanding a purpose for our breath, while ironically continuing to disregard our childhood dreams. Destiny intercedes at this point. It provides moments through that “invisible web”, flashing stages where a choice is granted; the decision to see your future wife, start a new job or leave your home. Those turning points are destiny, but with the freedom to choose we shape our lives uniquely and voluntarily, and it is through these preferences that we approach or retreat from our goal.