Seeing through Merlin's Eyes

Merlin and Arthur Fanart by Lainey, 2020

​My daughter started a family ritual when the coronavirus quarantine first began...watching the 5 seasons of the BBC's Merlin on Netflix together. 

We were not allowed to binge the show.  She had us spread it out over five months (a show like this needs to be savored!).  And we had to wait a couple of weeks to watch the very last episode, for she explained how she needed to mourn the end of the whole series first. 

It wasn't just her, all four of us really got into the story-line and characters.
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​Throughout the show, we watched how young Merlin (who would become "the greatest sorcerer ever to walk the earth" according to the Arthurian legends) demonstrated such humility, it was mind-boggling.  So many times we wanted him to take the credit he was due!  So many times he allowed himself to be the fool, his wisdom remaining hidden.

What inspired his Christ-like devotion as servant to Arthur?  What stirred his soul to seek to believe and bring out the best in him with little regard for self-promotion?  Why would he choose to empty himself of his status known to the few with magic but unknown to the many with power?

​"Some men are born to plow fields, some live to be great physicians, others to be great kings.  Me?  I was born to serve you, Arthur.  And I'm proud of that.  And I wouldn't change a thing."

-Merlin, a young manservant to young King Arthur, his master
in the BBC Series, Merlin    

Perhaps when we have a sense of why we're on this earth (however humble and hidden it may appear) we begin to see through Merlin's eyes.  Each of us "has magic" after all.

I am still in awe after a session of Spiritual Direction (even after 17 years!).  It thrills me how the time together has little to do with wisdom I might share and everything to do with calling forth the God-given wisdom of the individuals themselves.  The insights they need come out of their own lives with the sound and tone of their own voice.  Watching it happen is magical.      
Yes, I was born to serve others as a Spiritual Director, a Servant to Wisdom within each person who sits with me.  And I'm proud of that.  And I wouldn't change a thing.