On Magical Companions: A Fragment Deleted From a Sermon

In A. S. Byatt’s lovely story “The Eldest Princess,” all the eldest princesses magical companions are wounded.

I read of these encounters and my mind reeled. I think of all my magical companions, really my spiritual guides over the many years, the ones who were actually of use on my way. Not one of them without a wound. One ate too much. Another had anger issues. Another liked the opposite sex way too much. Some whose wounds were, are so great they’re constantly in danger of overwhelming them.

This story pointed out something important for me, and I think, possibly useful to you. These magical companions, spiritual friends and teachers, while they’ve been important to me, critical in fact; they’re actually each of them following their own story, making their way toward their own healing. I think of this and I find myself thinking of all those who have gone before, all those who would be honored on a feast of the saints. And I can’t help but notice how on our way we find ourselves united. Each of us as we try to be authentic, to be real, to find our way, in doing so becoming a sorority, a fraternity, companions of the Holy Spirit.