Nameless, Ageless, Forever
Keith Nightingale
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
This is a picture of God’s messengers on earth. It is an image of brothers born from a different womb but of the same mother - products of sights, sounds and experiences they absorb so the remainder of us do not. They have nobility that only shared sacrifice and pursuit of a cause greater than themselves can bestow.
They are nameless and ageless but they are forever. They made us what are and they will determine what we will be. Their dress has changed over time as have their tools. But these are cosmetic compared to the common inner core that carries them into their tasks, bonds them forever and insures their collective and individual success for generations.
Unlike most similar apparitions assigned to many other Nation’s, these are unique. They carry a message of light to lands lost in darkness. Their demeanor and innate sense of goodness, generosity and grace effects the minds and wishes of the people’s within their range of influence and creates a lasting memory that a thousand years of bad history cannot erase.
They carry a sword but also a larger instrument of compassion-they carry themselves. In their simple world, one always leads to another. Complexity is for others not so directly engaged.
They may only vaguely understand the larger issues that brought them to a distant dismal place but that is not important. What is important is that they represent a hope and aspiration probably never-before experienced. Their image engenders a way of life and imagined ideals that are the residue of their momentary presence. The uniform, the flag and the honest personalities pass a message no amount of media can generate. They are us and what we stand for.
The land they take and may leave behind is small, not much larger than each of them but permanent in nature as what they stood for and their successors stand for now and as we all stand for the future. Look at this image. It is us and it is good. The greatest of gifts has no price other than that which is willingly offered.