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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity


 

Soulmate, Myself:
Omega Point

Why can’t Twin Souls be together sooner? Why does it have to take so long?

 


 

return to "contents" page

 

 

restoring cars, for the very best result, requires stripping the old paint down to the bare metal

If you try to paint over old paint, it’ll just peel off pretty quickly and will look terrible. You have to get down to the rivets.

 

As a young person, I had one of these – a ’63 Chevy. I loaned it to a friend who immediately took it out and totaled it. (sigh)

 

Maybe my all-time favorite classic car is this 1968 Chevelle. The early Corvettes and T-Birds were pretty sweet, too, but this Chevelle – wow – what a work of art on four wheels. Some of these go for nearly 100k these days.

 

'operators are standing by' to help you find your Twin

In the “cheap literature” concerning Twin Souls, you’ll find promotions of the order, “You can find your soulmate soon, here’s how,” or “Twin Flames were meant to be together, so find yours today,” and many similar carnival-barking presentations. Usually they want to sell you something, some book or plan or scheme “for $29.95 with operators standing by.” But it doesn’t work that way.

exactly where are these Twin Souls anyway

On “The Wedding Song: Prologue” page, I offer a long list of sources which speak of Twin Souls. Much of this information is from the other side. I take all of these sources to be fairly accurate.

And they say things like, everyone will eventually find his eternal mate; or, Twin Souls were given to each other to reach the heights of spiritual evolution; or, Twin-Soul unions will form the nucleus of a perfected society in the next life.

Ok, then; however, when we read accounts of life in Summerland – and there are a great many – we don’t find an overabundance of actual examples of Twins living together over there.

Where are they?

some restoration required

In the article “Sensibility: 1-Minute” we looked at evidence – a great many testimonies from the other side – indicating that 75% of those crossing over will spend at least a short time in a dark place. Do not worry about this as you can leave the darkness the same day. Read more about it in the article.

However, this 75% indicates that a vast majority of those passing on do so in a not-so-perfect spiritual condition. And even among the more healthy 25%, many of these require a good period of adjustment to the new reality of Summerland. The reports say that only a very few “hit the ground running” over there with sensibilities in pretty good working order.

This information is valuable to anyone; but, for our purposes at hand, it also means that the average person, the average potential authentic couple entering Summerland, will, by no means, be ready for what it takes to enter the eternal romance and marriage.

before Twins will be allowed to come together, they’ll need to go through a period of 'restoration' with all 'paint stripped to the bare metal'

Just what is this “paint" to be "stripped to the bare metal”?

It’s an existential cleansing.

The vast majority of those crossing over, even those able to enter Summerland right away, will suffer the lingering effects of the materialism, and the cultism, of the Earth.

Think of what Herodotus said concerning “nomos,” custom and convention. Virtually everybody crosses over with pet ideas that need to be “stripped to the bare metal.” Some believe in a political party, or Mohammed, or Mother Mary, or Buddha, or reincarnation, or some other philosophy. And many of the citizens of Summerland, for a long time, will retain these unrealistic and harmful beliefs. They’re harmful because each represents an external source of life and happiness, whereas true spirituality involves finding the life and riches within. We’ve discussed this on a thousand pages in Word Gems.

And, as we say, people can go right on clinging to the old beliefs in Summerland - nobody is forced to do anything; however, in this recalcitrance, this refusal to move ahead spiritually – you can just forget about finding your Twin Soul.

Why is this so? – because our spiritual sensibilities will be offline. We will not have accessed the life within. And so even if one meets the eternal mate, she won’t be recognized as such.

where are the Twin Souls 

Most of the Twin couples are not in Summerland proper. The people in Summerland, generally speaking, are friendly, they will help you if they can, but many of them are still led, somewhat, by the Ego; they're not that mature yet. There are better, more refined, worlds beyond Summerland to which people may migrate – but only after they’ve gained a measure of maturity, have “stripped the paint to the bare metal” concerning the ego.

For example, I like referencing Elizabeth Fry as she’s so wise. But Elizabeth doesn’t live in Summerland. She’s in a more advanced world.

For myself, while I hope to mature and advance, I’m thinking of hanging around Summerland to help the new arrivals. Many do this. It’s up to you where you live. Of course, once you’ve “grown up” a bit, distance is no longer a factor or hindrance, as you can be anywhere in the universe in a flash.

But as our eyes open to what we’re missing out on by not developing ourselves; as the soul begins to yearn for the companionship we were meant to have; your eternal mate, even though she might not yet be with you, will already be exerting an influence on you, prompting you, to better yourself, so that you can be with her.

 

hold each other close the whole night through

 

Beach Boys

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" (1966)

wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long, and wouldn't it be nice to live together, in the kind of world where we belong, you know it's gonna make it that much better, when we can say goodnight and stay together, wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up, in the morning when the day is new, and after having spent the day together, hold each other close the whole night through

 


 

Kairissi. These lyrics make me smile. Notice how it’s round-the-clock togetherness and holding each other. It goes from waking up in the morning, and then, having spent the day together, they hold each other close the whole night through.

Elenchus. (small smile) Nice work if you can get it.

K. Funny thing is, it doesn’t seem too much to me.

E. (small smile) Are you in love or something?

K. (sighing) There is something incredibly sweet about being with the one you love. It’s like, you can’t get filled up or feel satisfied, and you just want to be with him all the time. Are feelings like this only infatuation or, even with real love, could this be the way it really is?

E. I think… we’ll want to come up for air now and again, but… yes… I think this is pretty much the way it’s supposed to be.

K. I want to live that way. I want to be so in love, all the time, that I’ll want to spend every day with you, and then hold you close the whole night through.

E. (silence)

K. Elenchus… why did we waste so much time? You and I both know that, even as children, down deep, we loved each other. Why did we have to take the long road home? Why did we have to miss out on so many nights together?

E. Kriss, you know that we’ve been over this and over this… you know the answers now.

K. I know but… sometimes it just hurts me so much… why don’t you tell me again, one more time.

E. There are many channeled testimonies from Guides on the other side who address this question; but maybe there’s one you haven’t seen. The trance-medium William W. Aber brought through this teaching:

“The law of repulsion oftentimes works so strongly in the elementary conditions of mortals [i.e. the early years of youth] that much of their success in life is denied them until they ascend to advancing years. The action of this same law is responsible for holding apart soul mates upon the Earth plane. While the law of repulsion is sometimes a great trouble to [lovers] in taking away from us what we most desire, yet, without it, the great law of attraction would be almost powerless, for the objects which are repulsed, very often, and at last, come into a vibration with the law of attraction. This law becomes, under such circumstances, very much stimulated, and taking up these adverse vibrations feeds upon them, and becomes mighty, and traveling with the velocity of lightning brings together the objects desired…

K. There’s a lot to this - the language is very formal - but I think I understand… and I feel that every word applies to our situation. It seems that what they call “the law of repulsion" is the flip side of “the law of attraction.”

E. I don't think you can have one without the other.

K. And the measure of the early-years repulsion becomes the reciprocal extreme delight of the later-years attraction.

E. It reminds me of the old movies where you could tell who would get married at the end by how much they didn’t like each other in the beginning.

K. Yes, I get it. And, Dear, notice that the natural forces of the immature soul are “responsible for holding apart soul mates” during their early years.

E. Natural forces, true - their own churlishness and immaturity; but I think this "holding apart" is also the Guides pulling our strings and making sure that things don’t work out too early for destined Twins.

K. It’s similar to the author's saying, "like a farcical dream in which nothing could be made to go right."

E. Even before I read the testimony of trance-medium Aber, I felt or sensed that we had been forcibly held apart during those early years. Nobody can be that unlucky over a long period of time.

K. I suppose it’s correct to say that the Guides did keep us apart; although, it wasn't so hard - all they had to do was hit our hot-buttons, and then we’d get angry about something – so we were easy to control and lead around with a halter.

E. The Guides don’t make mistakes. They know what they're doing and how to arrange things for Twins' long-term best outcome. From our point of view, it can seem like manipulation or unfair practice, but, from their higher perspective, they’re preparing a proto-Twin couple to be able to live together – and not just live together like some jaded John-and-Mary couple “down here in hell, but – to live together in great happiness and profound delight; and not just for a while, but unendingly!

K. (sighing) “The Guides don’t make mistakes.” And so I suppose all that happened to us, and all that didn’t, had a grand purpose to it - and that it was, and is, all worth it.

E. What do you really think about this?

K. Well, it’s playing for keeps, I guess, and the Guides superintending these formative Twin relationships won’t let you come together until you're truly ready, until the ego is well subdued, until one’s character has been purged and tested in the fires of great trial and many sorrows.

E. There's a separate channeled testimony via Aber that asserts that not only do few-to-no Twins come together while on Earth, but even in Summerland this is relatively rare. For most destined couples, it happens in the later worlds. This whole process of Twins getting ready spiritually to be together is far harder than most people know.

K. But... at the end of that long ordeal…

E. (silence)

K. (softly) … “then, we wouldn't have to wait so long”

E. “then, wouldn't it be nice to live together, in the kind of world where we belong”

K. “wouldn’t it be nice to be married, then we could be happy”

E. “wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up, in the morning when the day is new"

K. “and after having spent the day together"

E. “then to hold each other close the whole night through”

K. (sighing) Oh, Ellus... “wouldn’t it be nice... to say goodnight and stay together?”

 

 

why we need to get down to the rivets

Like barnacles covering the hull of a ship, our lives are festooned with the effects of the ego, the false self. And the false self is the root cause of all evil in the world. Why should this be a surprise? - this is what selfishness does.

Living with a romantic partner, not just for years, or even a mortal lifetime, but an eternity! – is a pretty tall order.

Even with a good degree of spirituality, we ourselves, living alone in Summerland, would not be able to endure the terrors of existing forever. We discussed this earlier.

But it’s all the more complicated when we add another person to the equation. Now we have someone else to consider. And if the selfish ego were running our lives during a time of Twins coming together, it would never work. Not a hope of it working. It might work for a time, but a time doesn’t cut it for us. We’re immortal beings, and the love affair meant for us is an eternal romance.

we can't 'paint over old paint', not if you want to be unendingly happy with your Twin mate

We need to “strip the paint” of the ego’s influence in our spirits, right down to the “metal,” the soul-core of who we are. No more egoic game-playing, no more schmoozing to manipulate, no more role-playing, no more giving to get, no more schemes to win the advantage, no more posturing as a "good person." Everything has to be authentic and real and true now - just "bare metal" - that is, if you want to be happy, eternally happy, with the one God made specifically for you.

 

darling be home soon...

In “The Wedding Song” we find discussion of John Sebastian’s “Darling Be Home Soon.” Kairissi and Elenchus are led to suspect that the lovers of this song are kept apart because of disagreement concerning belief-system. Sebastian himself, in a recent interview, added that he’d written the 1960s song during a turbulent time with a lover.

John Sebastian at Woodstock, 1969

earning the right

Some of the ancient Spirit Guides speak of “earning the right” to be with your Twin Soul. This meritorious way involves successfully negotiating “the long dark night of the soul”; it means that destined romantics must peel away, and pierce, the levels of egoic illusion.

“Darling be home soon… try to see beyond the houses and your eyes” … that is, try to extend yourself beyond provincial “nomos,” of local belief-systems which keep you from reality, and keep us apart.

Twins cannot be together -- not in any meaningful sense -- until the ego has been substantially reduced in their spirits. It is not possible to love someone eternally and unendingly, utterly and deeply, wholly and completely, if one is led around by the base passions of the ego.

 

 

why can't Twins be together sooner? - the answer seems to be, they need to suffer first in order to fully understand the joy of togetherness

The story of The Little Soul comes to mind:

Once upon no time there was a Little Soul who said to God, "I know who I am!"
 
And God said, "That's wonderful! Who are you?" 
 
And the Little Soul shouted, "I am the Light!" God smiled a big smile. "That's right!" ... "You are the Light" ...
 
But soon, knowing who it was, was not enough. The Little Soul felt stirrings inside, and now wanted to be who it was.
 
"I want to see what that feels like! [to be the Light]" cried the Little Soul ...

The Little Soul could not truly know the Light without also experiencing the Darkness. He could not really know Hot without feeling the Cold; and so on.

It seems to me that we, in our immaturity, cannot truly know Love and Goodness without first experiencing Evil. I think the allegorical account of Adam and Eve in the Garden with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is meant to offer this lesson. We notice that it's not just "the tree of good and evil" but "the knowledge of good and evil."

Certain messages from the other side – which I consider to accurately reflect natural law – suggest that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of suffering one dutifully endures on Earth and one’s capacity to know joy in Summerland.

Silver Birch: "Life is always a polarity. If there were no darkness there would be no light. If there were no trouble there could never be any peace. If the sun always shone you would not appreciate it. You have to learn sometimes through conditions that seem a nuisance. One day you will look back and say, "We learned our best lessons not when the sun was shining, but when the storm was at its greatest, when the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, the clouds obscured the sun and all seemed dark and hopeless". It is only when the soul is in adversity that some of its greatest possibilities can be realized… If you knock on a door and it does not open, do not push. If you push the door gently and it opens, that is for you."

 

 

Flashes Of Light From Spirit-Land (1872), by J. H. Conant, channeled information: 

"Do you suppose you would appreciate the joys of what you call heaven, the heaven of the spirit-world, if you had always passed through a sort of an easy, free life here?
 
"Why, no... They who have been crushed under the wheels of adversity are the souls who know how to enjoy heaven. Why, I am only sorry I did not have more adversity when here. I am only sorry I did not drink deeper of the cup of bitterness, because if I had I should have a keener relish for the joys of heaven.
 
"My relish is very keen now, but it would have been enhanced a hundred fold if I had only suffered more when here. That is why the returning spirits always tell you that though they suffered much here, they cannot afford to part with the remembrance of it - they are very glad to have passed through it... What would you know about good, fine, pleasant weather, if there were no storms? You would weary of it very soon.
 
"What would you know about appreciating the sunshine, if there were no clouds that passed over the sun's face? Why, I think the [mythical] devil is one of our very best friends, and instead of putting horns and hoofs to him, we ought to array him in garments of light, and call him what God calls him - very good!"

 

 

Kairissi. You know what? I really like this concept of “inverse relationship” and suffering on planet Earth. This is actually something that has bothered me, especially in reference to lovers who lost each other “down” here.

Elenchus. Tell me what you see.

K. Well, you know – we’ve had our hard times. And sometimes I feel so bad about what we lost, what we could have had. But, then, in a saner moment, I also realize that it couldn’t have been any other way; we were what we were at the time – immature – and we couldn’t have been anything else.

E. It’s sort of strange, isn't it Dear. Just because we had the “excuse” of being immature, didn’t make the suffering we caused for ourselves any less real or debilitating.

K. Yes, it was real alright. But I am encouraged by these channeled messages. Elenchus, if we do this the right way, from here on out, it will all be made up to us. There’s a natural healing offered. What I mean is – think about it – if we've hurt each other while here, then there'll be a natural repentance one day, which will make us want each other all the more.

E. Someone once said that, when you love someone, there’ll be a series of endings and beginnings.

K. If love is true, then each ending will make you want to return to the lost one even more fervently. And I think this is part of what was meant about increasing our capacity to know joy and love - we'll want the injured mate even more.

E. The person on the other side even went so far as to say that he or she now wishes there’d been more suffering while on Earth.

K. That’s a hard statement, and I wouldn’t want to pray for it; however, I think there’s well enough misery to serve all purposes while on Earth, and so we don’t have to ask for more.

E. As they say, don’t go looking for trouble, it will soon find you.

K. (sighing) And we’re the poster kids for that.

Editor's note: See more discussion concerning how a capacity for joy is created within us. The joy is already with us, an intrinsic part of the soul, but there are blockages. More content or experience for the mind is not the prime mover here.

 

 

Restatement: there are many reasons why it will take some time, even in Summerland, to prepare one’s heart, mind, and soul to be with an eternal romantic mate

There are a great many books offering channeled information from the next world. Some of these testimonies reflect what I feel is a measure of wisdom concerning the process of finding one’s true mate. However, some sources over there do not offer a balanced view in this regard.

This latter group would assert that most or many marriages of this world are just fine and will continue right on, for eternity, once we get to the "promised land." This proposition, if it were true, would give pause to not a few.

In the writing, “500 tape-recorded messages from the other side,” we learned of a class of people over there who are very materialistic in their thinking. They live in the “good neighborhoods” of Summerland; they’re friendly, will offer a smile, and if you needed something they would help you. However, their materialistic view of life still centers about common belief-systems of the Earth – religious faith, nationalistic affiliations, errant views such as reincarnation, and the like.

This being the case, none of these thus afflicted, ones psychologically off-kilter, have any chance of finding their Twin Soul while in this “glassy eyed” state.

Jiddu Krishnamurti
1895 - 1986

The teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti are prominently offered on the Word Gems site. He is one of the most insightful spiritual teachers; much of his advice focused on becoming “spiritually sane.”

Allow me to offer four quotations from Jiddu which will help us understand why it’s not possible to find one’s true mate until one has cleansed the heart and mind of the dysfunctional ego.

This statement by Jiddu probably offers the most basic tenet that needs to be understood for purposes of our discussion.

What does he mean by “free mind”? As you read his lectures it will become clear that he’s referring to a mind free of cultural conditioning. In the main, these are the many belief-systems that we’ve taken to ourselves during our time on planet Earth – the religious, political, philosophical, and other materialistic frames of mind that beset people.

Why do belief-systems come with deleterious effect? We’ve discussed this in a great many Word Gems articles, but, essentially, these are adopted for purposes of safety and security, to assuage the fears of living in a hostile world.

Chances are, the person you were meant to love, even eternally, is presently caught up in some sort of belief-system - this is what John Sebastian's song was about. This means she’s afraid to live authentically right now. And this fear will keep her from recognizing you as her one-and-only.

If she's currently in a relationship, don't worry, it won't be authentic, and will be cast aside at the right time. Why can we say this with a degree of confidence? It's because a mind laced with fear, led by the dysfunctional ego, has never experienced true love, but only its fake-news counterpart, egoic needing and wanting.

This precept represents more of the same. The fear that sends one to belief-systems, concomitantly turns us into obedient “good little boys and girls.” Our fears demand that we do not step out of line, which makes us ever so eager to please some Dear Leader at the helm of the belief-system.

But the worst part is, she won’t be able to read her own “radar” concerning you while in this fearful mind-state.

The fearful mind cannot become what it was meant to be. Fear acts as a filter to the brain, like blinders on a horse, keeping us trudging along methodically in a straight line, but without creative impulse – not as we could be enjoying.

Little wonder then that the fearful mind will also find itself unable to enter the “extreme delight” relationship, waiting for destined couples, which is cloaked by one's dutiful conformance to societal rubric.

Those who have not experienced true love will not understand Jiddu’s statement. In the world of the ego, in our relationships, we ever live tottering between love and hate; one moment it’s this, the next, it’s something else. This Jekyll-and-Hyde disposition is considered to be normal. However, none of this is love in any meaningful sense.

The “pain and sorrow” is but the flip side of “pleasure and desire”; the fear of loss turns good into bad. Nothing is stable for the ego, and so this shifting dynamic makes sense to the typical couple. 

But true love is part of God’s “singular pervasive reality” which never suffers abatement. As such, true love has no opposite, is an expression not of brain chemicals but an elevated level of consciousness. This means, once it arrives, it’s here to stay.

But couples of the world know nothing of this wonder. And those presently caught in fear-based egoic belief-systems do not really believe there is something better waiting for them; and in this depressed state of mind, she won’t even be looking for you.

it becomes clear that most of us have some 'overdue homework' to hand in before we're allowed to graduate

We begin to understand why most Twins will not come together, even in Summerland. A good measure of time, work, and effort will be required to regain oneself, one's true self, after living the materialistic Earth life.

But, the good news is that success will be won by any couple willing to work for the "extreme delight" romantic union.

 

E. I remember… during those times we were apart… (sighing) there’s something I want to say about it, but… it’s so hard to put into words.

K. (softly) Just let the answer come to you, Elenchus.

E. (sighing)

E. I remember being angry…

K. (softly) And what were you angry about?

E. That’s the strange thing. There was no specific reason; not really… but, I just felt… so angry.

K. (silence)

E. If I’m really honest, and if I quiet my spirit to find out… I see that… I was angry with you…

K. (silence)

E. I would ask myself… when I see you again… will I even know you… that always terrorized me… I worried that you would have changed; that, you never really loved me at all… that, what happened back then was just an aberration… and didn’t mean anything.

K. (softly) Why did you think I wouldn’t love you?

E. My memory of how you were, in those early days, seemed so over-the-top wonderful that… I doubted it could be recaptured or recreated… And during one of those times of my despair, it occurred to me… finding one’s true love, finding the girl you love, is like trying to find God.

K. (silence)

E. I mean… the whole thing is a spiritual encounter… because… even if I could reach you, and see you, and if you weren’t the same person who loved me with that spirit of “extreme delight” of yours, then… it wouldn’t be the real you, and… I would have lost you all over again, even though you might be standing in front of me.

K. (softly) I’m reminded of the prayer on the cross - “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

E. It did feel like that; at times I would feel so alone, with a sense of hopelessness, that I would ever regain that girl who loved me… with that spirit of “extreme delight.”

K. (softly) Did you find resolution for your lamentations?

E. I began to see that we “find” God by “opening a channel” and allowing God to become real to our spirits. Our own fears tend to block God from our perceptions. And it came to me that God’s agent, the “made in the image” Twin, will also be perceived in this way…

K. And when you “open a channel,” how does this help you to “find” me?

E. During my darkest times, as I said, I would be angry with you. I might not have seen you for many years, but I was angry with you.

K. (softly) You were angry because… a long time ago… it felt like I had rejected you.

E. It did feel like that… and in my anger I blamed you both for leaving and for not returning, for building a life without me, for being with another… yes, I know, all of this is very unfair to you, as I was the one who virtually sent you away… but anger isn’t rational, it just wants to indulge its insensate passions.

K. (softly) What other images did your anger lead you to?

E. I worried that, even when we left this world for Summerland… you would either not want to see me, or would be aloof and cold to me.

K. (softly) But, Elenchus, you know that I was never that way toward you, that is, when I had the chance to be with you, which wasn’t very often.

E. I know… you’re not to blame… all this is very unfair to you… but, as I said, anger doesn’t have to issue with clear thinking.

K. (softly) And how do you feel about all this now?

E. I am no spiritual giant, Kriss, and I have my bad days when the dark side of me still wants to blame you for leaving me.

K. Elenchus… we have explained mercy and forgiveness to others, but now we have to taught, as well. We can see that there was no real intention on the part of either of us to hurt the other; and yet the dysfunctional ego wants to frame the entire matter in terms of personal malicious attack. That’s not what happened between us, and we both know it. Forgiveness, we both understand, has nothing to do with a will-power to absolve. Good intentions alone cannot reach to the core of the disease. What we need is real healing, and this can be obtained only through an elevation of consciousness.

E. I was thinking about Aber’s “law of repulsion, law of attraction" (above), and it occurred to me that there’s another principle similar to this to help us understand what happened to us. It’s something we learned from the Guides who worked with Franchezzo in the Dark Realms. They told him that “dark detention” is designed, not to punish but, to educate people, making them want to do what’s right.

K. I recall. They used the phrase “grinding the lust for sin out of the soul.”

E. And this is done when people suffer in the Dark Realms. It's a natural remedy. They begin to realize, and to admit, that they were wrong, and that the way of selfishness and the ego leads to pain and sorrow. And I thought about this principle of “grinding” the desire for sin out of the soul.

K. Does this apply to us?

E. Well, in a general sense, I suppose it does, whether one actually spends time in “dark detention” or not, because we're taught in this manner wherever we are. But, in any case, I’m realizing that it applies to me in a particular way, and I’d like to explain.

K. Please.

E. You know how many times I’ve talked about how I was that “insensate worm,” back then, “only vaguely aware of the light.” Some of that was just a young boy’s immaturity, something he’d grow out of in a natural process, in due time. But, I have to say, I believe I was an extreme case, extending myself into degrees of unawareness that cannot easily be justified by typical immaturity.

K. You feel there was a moral content to this?

E. I don’t want to be extreme in my assessment of myself. I don’t recall ever being malicious toward you; and yet, I don’t know of anyone who could have rivaled my lack of awareness. What I’m saying is this. There may not have been moral culpability in what did or did not do, but I think it bordered on gross negligence. If I apply the “reasonable man rule,” I find myself failing the test. As I say, I can’t think of any others who were so blind as I.

K. Or, maybe you’re just not aware of their lack of sightedness.

E. That’s possible. But, even so, I have a strong sense that Franchezzo’s principle of “grinding” an untoward element out of the soul does have a certain application to me.

K. How do you see it?

E. I look at what’s happened. I see where I started, and where I am now; and, most of all, how so many long years have passed since then – long years during which I suffered having lost you.

K. (softly) I think I know what you’re trying to say. You had a great many years to suffer for your lack of awareness back then. And what better remedy -- a natural remedy that fits the crime -- than to endure a gauntlet of decades of missing the girl you love.

E. (sighing) It has a way of opening the eyes.

K. Elenchus, if you are correct in this, and I think what you say has good merit – look at what’s happened! You’ve become a pillar of awareness, understanding, and insight! Not many beat you at this, if any. And I don’t think this could have happened by accident.

E. I think I had the “gross negligence of unawareness” ground out of me.