The Two Headed Angel of Integrity and Trust

Joshua and I were on the road again toward our destiny. Winter wasn’t over yet, but we learned a lot from our first experience in the snow.

We were making good time but we didn’t know if we were heading the right direction. We hadn’t seen an angel in days and we, especially Joshua, were getting really impatient.

“Dad, are you sure this is the right direction. I haven’t heard a voice for many days. How can I trust your sense of direction? When I was little, Mom was always telling me, in so many words, that you were not to be trusted. I didn’t believe her, but then you trusted her and she left you alone. I’m so confused.”

“You know, Joshua, back then I was kind of a jerk. It was all about me and my desires. I wasn’t looking for a purpose for our family. Why do you think we only had you and no more children? Your mom was just acting and talking out of frustrations with me. My lack of leadership in our marriage and our family was evident. When you two left my life, for a while, life had no purpose and no reason. But it is never too late to change.”

Joshua, by the time I was done speaking, had fallen fast asleep. I thought that maybe I should be working on my speaking skills, rather than chasing my destiny.

Just a few days later my son and I were climbing a trail across a high mountain. As we looked down from this elevation we could see where we had been and pretty much where we were going. I was prompted to stop and I needed to rest, anyway. Joshua looked like he needed to, as well.

Where we stopped, my breath was taken away by the incredible view . We could see the beautiful forest covered with crystal white snow, and the creek that watered the valley shone brightly as the sun reflected off the ice.

In the distance I could see the barren plain and what looked like a desert that stood in our path. We rested for quite a while and refreshed ourselves with fresh spring water.

Joshua stared into the horizon and asked, "Dad, are we going down into that desert? Are you sure this is the right way? Look to your right. There's a beautiful trail that will lead us right around that awful looking desert."

I too noticed the route that Joshua spoke of. It was very tempting, but I told my son that we should sleep on it. The sun was fading fast so we ate a quick meal and set up camp for the night.

As normal, Joshua set up a fire pit and before long we were being warmed by a blazing fire. My son acted like he didnt want to talk so I reached in our basket and pulled out the big black book. I began to read while Joshua stared into the fire.

It wasn't very long before my son was asleep next to the fire. It was completely dark and I could't read any longer so I found a wool blanket in the basket and rolled my jacket up as a pillow. I laid back, looked into the night sky and began to ponder.

I was almost asleep when I heard a voice. Then I heard another voice. Standing right in front of me was an angel. Not just any ole angel but a two-headed angel.

He, they spoke, "We, I am Integrity and I am Trust."

"Wow, Joshua and I have been watching for you,...two. Should I wake up Joshua?"

The angel called ‘I’ replied, “By the way, my dear sir, they call me ‘I’. Of course, that stands for Integrity, and this fellow, the one with the smirk on his jolly face is ‘T’ or Trust. As for your question, my good man, don’t wake him. T will talk to him later.”

“Now that you’re here, do you think you can help convince my son that we need to go through the desert to get to our destiny? He wants to go around on the smooth clear path but to me it seems longer. I just felt…like I was being told that we needed to go down into the desert on the straight and narrow path.”

The Angel I answered, “My dear sir, your son will speak with 'T' and I will converse with you. You ‘felt’ something because I was speaking to you through HS who is the boss. That’s why you felt you should go the straight and narrow path. You do know that the black book told you that, as well?”

“I just read that earlier, just before you arrived. Wow!”

“Well, my good man, you’d better get some rest. I will be with you on your journey. You may not see me but you will know I’m there. You need to listen for me. We have to go because 'T' needs to talk to Joshua. Tootle-loo.”

The angel was gone in a flash and I felt a deep sleep come over me. The next thing I knew it was morning.

I looked around to check on Joshua but I saw no hide nor hair of him. I walked over to pick the basket up and I saw a note.

“Dad, I’m going the easy way, around the desert. I will meet you on the other side. The angel hasn’t spoken to me yet so I guess I’m on my own. Have a safe trip. Carry lots of water. I love you, Dad. See you.”

I felt really lost without Joshua but I knew I was doing the right thing. My son may have to learn the hard way.

I whispered a short prayer for Joshua as I headed down the steep hill and toward the desert that was just a few miles away.

When I reached the bottom of the hill, I remembered what Joshua had said in his note. I stopped at the creek that flowed rapidly down into the desert and filled the water jugs that were conveniently placed inside the basket. Feeling quite hungry I sat down and had lunch. A half hour later I was on the trail and walking into the desert.

Even though it was winter in the mountains, it felt like summer in the desert. While walking in the sun, I thought about my son, and I wondered when I was going to talk to him. I continued to pray for his guidance and my success.

It seemed like I’d walked for hours before the sun finally started to set. I had drunk over half of my water as I walked in the heat. When the sun went down I found a small lonely tree to camp next to. I rolled out my bed and prepared my pillow, and then I ate some dinner.

It was easy to sleep this first night in the desert because I was worn out from the warm temperature. When I laid my head on the pillow I fell fast asleep.

While I slept I had a dream. I could see the two-headed angel flying through the air and landing on a broad pathway right in front of Joshua as he hiked the long trail. Instead of ‘I’ talking to him, ‘T’ began, “Joshua, my hip buddy…What’s happening?”

Joshua didn’t know what to say when ‘T’ approached him. Immediately my son dropped the shovel and axe he was carrying and hid in the woods near the trail. ‘T’ started to laugh while ‘I’ just frowned. ‘I’ told ‘T’, “What did the boss tell you about your bad behavior of scaring people. We are professionals and must act accordingly.”

‘T’ responded, “Just having some fun, big guy. You need to lighten up a little and have some fun.”
‘I’ replied, “Let’s get back to business. Joshua, don’t be frightened. We are the angel of Integrity and Trust. We have come…My friend here has come to speak to you. ‘T’ it’s your turn.”

“Josh…u….a, where are you. Come to daddy. I mean to Trust. I need to speak to you, now. Soon or I’m leaving.”

Joshua walked out of the woods and back onto the broad path and then he said, “Please, don’t leave…I’ve been waiting for you to come for quite a while. Are you going to teach me some trust or help me with my integrity?”

“Integrity is ‘I’s’ job…I’m the trust guy. You, my groovy buddy, have a trust problem. You led the way earlier in this journey…now, you are taking the hard way. You lost your trust and now you found me…I mean it.”

Joshua, replied, “I know I didn’t trust my Dad. And I came down this broad path. All I have had are problems. Someone tried to steal my axe and my shovel handle broke when I used it to fend off the robber. That was in the first hour.”

“Well, good buddy, from here on you are groovin’ with me…I will teach you to trust if it kills me…That’s joke…I can’t die…LOL.”

‘I’ inserted, “If you learn to trust, good man, you can speak to me… then and only then. If you can’t trust first, no one will trust you, thus you will not have integrity. Wow, that sounded pretty good, even to me.”

My son commented one more time in my dream, “I’m way over here. How can I get back to the trail to travel with my dad to get to my destiny….if I trust, again?”

Integrity answered, “Trust and I will speak to you and you will know…Look in your pack…..You will find something special in there. Tootle loo.”

My son opened the pack that he had been carrying on his back. He found a little black book. He sat down in the middle of the broad trail and read until it got dark.

When I awoke the next morning, I felt completely refreshed. I thought about my dream and about my son. I knew he was safe and that I would see him soon.

Two days later as I walked in the heat of winter in the desert, I felt a presence around and near me. I turned in a three-hundred and sixty degrees circle to see if I was missing something. There was nothing there accept for the wind and some sage brush.

I continued to walk and continued to feel something near. Finally at nightfall, when I decided to call it a day, I looked everywhere for a tree to lean my head against for the night.

Since I couldn’t find a tree I made up my mind to have dinner and sleep right where I stood. So I did just that. Again, I was exhausted from the trek and when I put my head in the sand I was asleep instantly.

Another night was filled with dreams. I could see the two-headed angel right in front of me. And then ‘I’ spoke, “Dniknam, how are you today, my good man?”

“I’m doing well, but missing Joshua. Is he doing alright?”

“Very, well. You will see him soon. ‘T’ talked to him rather harshly last night and he could see the error of his ways. Again, you will see him soon….”

‘T’ interrupted, “But soon to us is……………Could be millions.”

“’T’, don’t talk to this good man that way. Sorry for my friend, Dniknam. He sometimes is to jolly for most people.”

And then I answered, “It’s OK, as long as my son finds his destiny. Look how many years it is taking me. I truly want to help him find his destiny.”

‘I’ responded to me, “You are a good man, and I also believe you are learning what integrity is and you already have shown us the virtue of trust. Others will try to get you to compromise your integrity and ask you to do things you really don’t believe you should do. Trust me, they will. You will realize when you do the right thing and that you are on the right track. Trust me.”

This part of my dream was completed and then I was transported to the very place where my son was setting on a trail and contemplating. Then ‘T’ appeared to him and said, “Howwww….d…….y, Joshy. Can I call you Joshy? (The spell check sure won’t like this.) Joshua, my friend you are still on the broad path. Your Dad is almost through the desert, and you need to meet with him soon. You need to trust me..Ha,Ha. Get up and make a turn at the next left. It doesn’t look like much of a trail but you’ve been on worse. Get to!! Now!!”

‘T’ was gone in a flash.

Immediately, Joshua got up and walked about a hundred feet and spotted a narrow path through the forest to the left and down a steep hill. He promptly followed it until it got dark and then he set up camp for the night.

I woke up, right after the dream ended. I looked around to see if Joshua was suddenly there, but be wasn’t. It didn’t matter if he was there or not. I knew he was coming. I walked this day with a lighter step and I felt great peace, but I kept looking around expecting to see my son at any moment.

I had hope, but didn’t see Joshua that whole day. By my observations and calculations, I would be out of the desert in a day or so. I was praying that my only son would be with me when I begin the next leg of my journey to my destiny.

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