A young man named Eli, found himself traveling through an interesting old town. His wandering was fueled by his insatiable curiosity and his love for the truth. One day, while wandering through the ancient streets, he came upon the town’s library. Eli stumbled into the single chamber filled with books; new and old. As the door closed behind him, he instinctively believed that these volumes, contained in this vault filled with knowledge, held the answers to all of mankind’s problems.
Flipping through the pages, book after book, he learned they were all written in languages he had never seen before, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not decipher their contents. Eli spent years in that library, surrounded by the wisdom of ages, yet unable to unlock its secret treasures.
“One evening, as the sun set, casting a golden glow over the library, an old librarian approached Eli. Without his knowledge, she had watched him struggle for years and decided his time for guidance had come. Her name was Verity, and she taught him the languages of the books, one by one, until he could read them fluently.
With each language he learned, Eli discovered solutions to problems that had plagued humanity for centuries. He couldn’t wait to share this newfound knowledge with the world. His excitement grew as he envisioned the end to needless suffering worldwide. The truths he could share would ease the pain caused by avoidable poor decisions. Then, suddenly, the smile left his lips. Sitting back in his chair, he utters aloud, “Weren’t these solutions made available in the past. Someone smarter than I wrote the solutions down for others to use. I was not the first to read these worn pages. Why are they not widely used in this present age?”
Verity overhears his pleas in the silence of the library. Walking up behind him, she places a hand on his shoulder, “Now, your eyes have opened, and with wisdom comes the heartbreak of understanding. Yes, some of the eternal truths, from time to time, fall out of favor with society, in lieu of selfish desires. However, they are never lost; they are timeless and ever present. Even when the truth is no longer favored and taught to the young, time has a way of delivering one who craves the truth. They feel the pull of its call and they have the courage to seek the truth, regardless of the cost. Its presence, and the power it wields, cannot be denied forever.”
With tears in his eyes, he shifts in his seat to gaze up into the face of his mentor, “So, when? When will be the right time to share this wisdom? It has the power to stop the senseless suffering of so many people.”
A single tear, cascades down her cheek and she whispers, “Only once you have the trust of the entire world.”