Only Simba's Pride lit the darkness of my room, casting patterns of colored
light that flickered on the walls. As I half drowsed in my quiet sanctuary,
my thoughts waxed to the glories of steadfast love, as Kovu's eyes met Kiara
's to the strains of "Love will find a way." With a smile on my tired face,
I felt the weight of my weary head begin to lose it's struggle to stay
erect. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened, but certainly the most
pleasant way to fall asleep as love did indeed find a way.

A rapping sound stirred me from my warm cocoon of semi-slumber. I looked up
and saw peering out as if at me the face of Rafiki. Again he rapped with his
knuckles on the inside of my television screen:.

I rose from my seat, sleep the last thing on my mind. The mandrill was
beckoning to me to come closer, closer. Like a moth to a flame I was drawn
to him-this was not in the Simba's Pride I had watched before:.

Once more he rapped on the glass, then he pressed his palm to the inside of
the screen, pressing it flat against the barrier, however thin, that
separated his reality from mine. Indeed, it seemed so real. I could tell
that he was watching me, and the subtle shift of his eyes as I moved let me
know that I was observed, not just observing. And then an impulse, as strong
as a dimly-remembered instinct, made me lift my own hand and touch the
glass:.

GASP!

Almost before I felt the clutch of his furry, strong hand, every belief I
had about physical reality had been dismissed and I had been yanked through
to the other side. The first impulse would be to look back for the hole and
peer into my room-but I did not. The second impulse would be to blurt out,
"What have you done to me!" but the words never escaped my lips. Indeed,
Rafiki opened wide his arms, a smile lighting his quaint, painted features,
and snuggled childlike into his warm breast. I felt that I had known him for
years-indeed as an author I had put myself in his place many times. I was
not disappointed.

"Come, Mwenzi," he said excitedly. "They're waiting!" Rafiki tugged at me
urgently, and he would not be denied. Slowly at first, then ever faster, he
pulled me toward the prominent stone feature I had learned to call Pride
Rock. Joining him in the high grass were some excited cubs who giggled and
escorted me without fear up the winding path that caressed the stone slopes.
I ascended behind the aged mandrill, ashamed that my young body had to work
to keep up with his ancient frame.

At the top of the path, where the shaft of the Promontory descends from the
heavens, was an opening. And like the frame of my television set, it
beckoned me into yet another reality, one that seemed more puzzling and more
beautiful than the last.

In the huge open space, more spacious than it had a right to be, was a
Christmas tree, decked out with white candles, silver garland, and golden
orbs. At the top was a gleaming star. Before the oddness could settle upon
my mind, I saw a more improbable sight than the tree. Standing about it in a
half circle were many of my friends. Simba was flanked by Nala and his
father Mufasa. Scar and Sarabi watched me with smiles of joy. Zira and Nuka
beamed at me, and Rafiki went to hug Uzuri and Isha, kissing them softly on
their golden faces.

Mufasa came to me and nudged my arm, almost demanding my love. And freely I
loved him, framing his beautiful face with my arms and showering his proud,
warm face with kisses. "Oh thank you," I said breathlessly. "I'm so glad to
be here."

"How about a kiss for me?" said a leopard. Magnwa I knew at once by his
simple, honest face. I fondled him, only to find his friend Coltex nudging
my other side. I noticed that Rama and Ahadi were there, and standing about
many of my other dear friends.

As a group of cubs scrambled about joyfully, Simba came over and said, "Look
at the star! See how it shines?"

I peered upward as Coltex lay his dark face on my shoulder. Indeed, the star
gleamed with an otherworldly light. I was attracted to it at once.

"It's yours," Simba said.

"But it's so beautiful there! How could I take it?"

"But you must take it," Simba insisted. "It was put there for you."

With hesitation but also childlike glee, I walked to the tree, smelled its
honest scent of pine, looked at the reflection of my eyes shining in a
perfect golden orb, then turned to face the star. I reached, and feeling it
in the palm of my hand, I experienced a rush of tingly warmth. There is no
explaining it-I just did not want to let go.

"Thank you," I stammered. "Oh thank you!"

"You must give it to your friends," Simba said.

"But it's so wonderful. And besides, who would I give it to?"

It was then that a white lion of such splendor that my breath caught came up
and nuzzled me. "Give it to everyone."

"How can I do this thing," I said, gazing into the eyes of the lion before
me.

"It's simple. It is yours. But it is not truly yours till you give it away
to everyone."

With this in mind, I walked to Isha and held out my hand. She touched it
with her paw, and in the moment she did, a light of celestial beauty
radiated from her eyes. "Aiheu bless you," she whispered.

I went to Scar and held out the shining token. He started to back away, but
I touched him on the cheek with it. In the moment it touched him, tears
spilled from his eyes, and as the tears ran over his scar, the scar was
healed. A smile-a very innocent smile-spread across his once stern features
and he touched my hand with his soft pink tongue.

One by one I went to my friends and annointed them with the spirit of love.
And just as I got to the last small cub and caressed her tiny face, I woke
to the whine of a videotape rewinding:..

"So it was a dream," I thought, shaking my head to clear the cobwebs. Then I
noticed my hand still tightly clutched. As I opened the fingers, I saw
poised in my palm as delicate and beautiful as a snowflake the Christmas
star.

Trembling, shyly, I hold out my hand to you. Touch me-feel the star. Love
will find a way.

====================================
John Burkitt
Witschindin Chapter, Order of the Arrow, BSA
FCOS Our Lady of the Golden Fur
www.lionking.org/~tgk  chakal@home.com
====================================