Sleeping Upon a Sword?

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How dare you! – My own ego talking

Sleeping Upon a Sword?

It seemed every morning held the same pain.  My shoulders, hips, neck and arms would begin to ache at about 3:30 am.  The discomfort would cause me to awaken.  Then, the hurt would continue throughout the day, until exhausted, I would collapse back into the bed at night, only to repeat the cycle again.

I tried many mattresses, thinking that there would be that one, the one that would break this painful, exasperating cycle.  None of them did!  Then, something unusual happened.  A story I’d known, taught to me by my parents at an early age, came brightly to mind.

It is the story of two peoples, who became so angry with each other that they fought voraciously.  At the tipping point of their conflict, they fought all day and when the night came their anger caused them to sleep “upon their swords.”

And, on the next day, they fought again until night came.

That night, it was as if they were drunk with anger, just as if they were in a drunken stupor. So, they slept again upon their swords.

The next day they fought once more; and when the night came, they had all been killed by the sword, except for fifty-two of one side, and sixty-nine of the other side.

That night, they slept upon their swords again.  The next day they fought again, and they contended with each other, with all of their strength, with their swords, all that day.

And, when the night finally arrived again, there were only thirty-two left in one group and twenty-seven left in the other!

That night, the survivors ate and slept, preparing for their own deaths on the next day. All of the women and children had already been killed in the conflict. Only the largest, strongest men were left.

As the sun rose, the combatants dragged weary bodies back to their mindless battle and fought during the final three hours of their lives.  Finally, they all fainted from the loss of blood!  They could no longer continue, so they rested.

When the men of the smaller band had revived enough that they could walk, they were about to flee for their lives; but the leader of the larger crew arose, with his men, and he swore in his anger that he would kill the opposing leader, or he would, himself, die by the sword.

So, he and his band chased their enemies as they ran.  The next day, the group with a greater number, overtook their foe; and they fought in desperation again. Finally, everyone had died except the two contending leaders. And, one of them lay, passed-out due to loss of blood.

When the one conscious leader had rested upon his sword a little, he finally cut off the head of his final enemy, whose body was so full of hate that, even without its head, pushed itself up on its hands, gasped for breath and died.

Finally, at that same moment, the last man, still consumed by hate and anger fell dead on the spot.

How did my parents know the outcome of this poignant tale?  One person made the decision not to sleep upon, or even lift a sword!  And, he related this story in writing to pass it on to my parents, you and me. 

His abstinence from the strife, abounding in his contemporary society, and willingness to share his internally absorbed lessons, reveal an alternative course, allowing you and me to choose to say, “I don’t want live such a life!” 

New understanding gleaned from this ageless teacher dawned upon my heart and mind as I rehearsed the story and its timeless principles in my mind.  Its dew nurtured new enlightenment which overwhelmed my heart.  That was the moment I knew I had to let my ego rest, so I could begin to live, filled with joy and hope again.  I could no longer let the feeling of “How dare you!” have space in my life.

It seemed every morning held the same pain, up until now, when I accepted this life changing realization!  As a result, my shoulders, hips, neck and arms stopped aching at about 3:30 am.  Discomfort ceased to awaken me, as soon as I let my ego rest, finally!  Only then did the perceived hurt, supposedly inflicted by my “assumed” enemies, become exhausted! My own vicious cycle finally collapsed, because I stopped “sleeping upon my sword.”  Funny how not sleeping on a huge chunk of metal can change one’s life!

I tried everything else I could think of to break the exasperating, and life sucking, cycle of being consumed by anger.  And, one day, something unusual happened.  A story I’d known, taught to me by my parents, beginning in my earliest years, came vividly to mind, to awaken me from my own comparable stupor.

Its remembrance and enlightening power caused me to stop!  Stop sleeping upon my own sword!