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| King Wilburg (google) |
Since Paul didn't matter to his family or his country, he used the benefits of being royalty to travel the world. Will traveled too, but always on a schedule with an agenda. Play, never seemed to be part of his itinerary. Paul decided, when he was done with education in his country, that he would travel to "The Land of the Free," to study science. Although his country had medical facilities and medicine for the sick, the practices seemed outdated and irrelevant. Paul wanted to be a medical doctor since he realized no one cared what he did.
When Will and Paul's father died suddenly, from colon cancer, Paul was more determined than ever to finish his education, and if he could, find a cure for cancer. Paul was unaware of Will's envy. He assumed that funding would continue as usual. One of the first things Wilburg enacted was a law that would no longer allow citizens to study abroad. All monies should be focused inward rather than flitting it about, growing other nations larger. He believed that studying abroad devalued the education of the very nation they were supposed to represent. Paul was dumbfounded. He immediately spoke to the Dean of Students at the university.
The Dean said that with him being royalty, he would have to gain permission from his King to become a citizen of the "The Land of the Free." Paul knew....yet he was so close to a break through in his research. He only had a year left, and he would be a full fledged doctor in his new homeland. He knew the outcome before he even asked for permission. Still, he had to try. He gathered recommendations from several outstanding individuals in government, the science community, and the university. It was as though the very carefully, thought out, and articulated words were sand in the wind. Paul was to return to his country immediately. If he refused, he would never be welcome in his country again. All benefits would be cut off and he would no longer have the identity as royalty, but fugitive....a non compliant.
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| Paul (google) |
Unfortunately, for Wilburg, Paul didn't choose family and country. He chose noncompliance at a huge cost that Wilburg couldn't understand or comprehend as anything someone would desire. The Dean of Students began the process of helping Paul become a citizen, gain employment, and finish his education. The roadblocks were at every turn. It would seem that "The Land of the Free," was only that to those who have permission to be in the country. He could neither move forward nor go back. He was in a place of "non choice." Horrible!!! Before this, he was unaware of what makes freedom possible.
In Paul's homeland, he was taught that all governed people must comply with the King's order. His country was small, so the citizens were generally happy people. There had never been a coup, not even war. Paul had never considered his country as unique or rare until he saw the bloodbaths that lined the history of other countries. Had he known before his decision, had he studied the "system" of the "free country," he would have went home and tried to work it out with his king. As it was, he couldn't be even a lowly, desperate refugee. In the free land, he was an "illegal." In his homeland, he was a criminal, a man in opposition to the law, his family, and his land. His friends and professors abandoned him, because to "house" him was to be in opposition to their law. They really had no choice, he had to return to his homeland, which would mean his death.
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| Choice (google) |
Not all stories have a desirable outcome. This one did not. Paul was put to death by a firing squad. Wilburg was left with the reality that his choice led to the death of his brother and the end of peace. The country engaged in civil war because the people loved Paul and decided their King was unjust. The people adopted the new form of government of democracy and elected a president. Paul's choice left him without country, throne,family, and eventually, his life.
For both, choice was no more than habit, ritual, slavery. Paul was no freer than Wilburg, blind to value for the love of desire. Strange how "free will" requires two things: a preference in the place difference, and a command from authority that "one" is forbidden. Why on earth, would a loving God do that to His creation? Your answer depends on your perspective. Your perspective depends on where you are in the growth process of "Knowing Love."
