THE HALLS OF HEALING

You are shocked and angry for a moment, for you cannot believe that all of those battle-scars, imperfections, and dirty wounds reflected in the mirrors could all belong to you. In rage you hit the mirror with your fist. It does not react, bend or break, but simply continues to reflect what it sees through the layers of your being, as before.

You shout, "LIAR!" over and over again, yet the mirrors simply continue to reflect what they see, seemingly uneffected by your fitful displays of anger and self-righteous passion.

And then, in a desperate act of guilt you, through sheer will-power, try to force the battered image in the mirrors to be restored to perfection. You brush your hair, straighten your clothes, and attempt to wipe away the dark patches, yet you find that most of them -- especially the deeper wounds -- are not affected by your pitiful attempts to heal yourself.

Then it seems as if the mirror itself is speaking to you.

A voice filled with infinite authority yet infinite compassion is heard, reaching to the very core of your being, telling you:

"These mirrors were meant to reveal to you your need, and to expose the diseases and wounds within. The mirrors of the LAW were never meant to heal you, but to provide an infinitely perfect standard of perfection, a flawless mirror in which you can view a perfect reflection, one that pierces through the ego and its efforts to rationalize away the weaknesses of spirit, soul and body.

"I know this can be painful, yet it is necessary, for your wounds cannot be healed unless they are first exposed and you become aware of your true state of being.

"Just as a doctor uses a scapel to cut and to heal, so I have a two-edged sword that thou must wield if thou wouldst fight the evils without. For unless thou dost challenge and conquer the enemy within, you will never defeat the enemy without.

"This sword has always been there for the asking, yet the enemy of your soul wouldst ever divert your attentions away from its simple truth and reality and preoccupy you with all manner of diversions and offer thee brackish waters, which on outside appearance wouldst seem to heal thy thirst, and may seem to satisfy thee for a brief moment, yet in reality these false springs will cause one's thirst to increase all the more, and cause thy inner wounds to fester all the more, for there is no true healing in such counterfiet springs.

"So then, my child, forsake the waters of death and seek the waters of life. The waters of death are at first sweet to the taste, yet leave one ever thirsty. The waters of LIFE however may be bitter to the taste at first, yet they will satisfy the thirst of thy soul forever.

"Enter thou into the east gate, for within thou shalt find the two-edged sword, for thou art now ready to be healed, having acknowledged the truths which are reflected back at thee from the mirror of the Law."

"If you are in need of a more in depth explanation of the plan of redemption, thou mayest READ THE SCROLL which thou mayest observe in the twilight, if thou lookest within the cleft in the wall near which thou standest."