The End of Ego

CHAPTER ONE

Once upon a time…

There was a Master Designer who was known far and wide for His incredible and exquisite creations, which He carved, wove, welded, knitted, stitched, nailed, glued and pieced together; then painted with bold and gentle brush strokes in amazing technicolour.  His creations were distinctive and precious – a perfect design so qintricate that no copy could ever be made.  Each design was the real deal, a beauty to behold – and when He was satisfied with His work, he released it to the universe in a specially chosen place where it could do the most good and offer something of value to others.

The Master was clever in His design, with each piece intended for a special purpose, but also made to interface with many other creations in order to achieve a higher intent.  As his wonderful handiworks melded together, He would sometimes reach out and tweak or upgrade each work of art to make an even better version. Eventually, the Master would declare His beloved creations to have run their course, and so each masterpiece would eventually be retired and take its rightful place back in His workshop.

One of the Master’s original works was a piece called Ego. Ego was a morning star design; one of the Master’s most beautiful pieces of work.  Sadly, Ego took a notion that he was such a superior creation that he surpassed every other design in the universe.  He wreaked havoc in the Master’s workshop, and eventually was tossed out. In revenge, Ego found his way to Earth and sought out other creations to meld with so that he could mess with the Master’s handiwork.  A master of disguise, he latched on to one creation after another, built them up with false promises and then robbed them of their energy, stomped on them and then scraped them off his shoes into a dark pit. It broke the Master’s heart to see so many of his creations lost like this and so, He went to work on His greatest design which took many centuries to perfect. 

It came to be that the Master created a new design – a rather complicated piece with many moving parts; some that ticked, some that tocked and lots that went whiz!... and ping!... and whoosh!... and zwheeeeeee!  This new creation was filled with beams of colourful lights and when shaken or held tightly in His hands, these lights would radiate and bounce around his workshop like a rainbow.  The Master was particularly pleased with this new-fangled creation and therefore put a lot of thought into choosing  its purpose before releasing  it into the universe, setting it down in a small village, in the northwestern hemisphere of his beloved planet Earth. As with all of his creations, this new masterpiece was given a name. He chose Yochanan, meaning “God’s Gracious Gift” or Jan for short.

“There’s a lot going on with this particular creation! It’s too beautiful and full of energy to just sit on a shelf or take root in the Earth.  Therefore, I’m disguising her as a human child and placing her among, my most blessed creations, the humans, with a purpose that will unfold according to My plan.”

Jan was a curious human, always searching, peeking inside of drawers and cupboards, looking for something.  Exactly what, was never quite clear, but along the way she discovered all kinds of bits and pieces, some bright and shiny, others not so much.  She tucked these away in her pockets, and when they were full, she stuffed them in bags that she slung over her shoulders like a yoke.  

For many years, Jan believed that these "treasures" were incredibly valuable and important; the very definition of her.  She feared that without these possessions, she would fail to exist.  The bags got heavier and heavier and began take a terrible toll. Her beautiful lights grew dim, and she no longer ticked nor tocked, whizzed or pinged, whooshed or zwheeeeeed.  She could only manage a weak “Sigh” now and then. 

Ego, who had noticed Jan when she first arrived on Earth, was a faithful travelling companion for much of her life.  He was responsible for her compulsion to hoard ugly things like worry, fear and guilt and resentment.  If Jan came across something nice like a compliment, Ego would whisper, "Compliments are a dime a dozen. Save the space for the important stuff, like resentments.  You know how much you love to chew on one of those!" He was just waiting for the day that Jan would finally break down for good and he could toss her on the scrap heap. Jan was sinking fast!