Merlin - a Mentoring Month Momemnt

I sometimes get my Merlins mixed up.

Usually the Merlin in my mind is the literary one I envision from T.H. White’s The Once and Future King.  But I admit also that sometimes my Merlin is a cartoon one from Walt Disney or even Dumbledore or Gandalf.

Merlin’s mentorship of Arthur (Wart) is probably one of the greatest in history.  Even if you don’t believe the Arthurian legends as true, or in Merlin for that matter, you can’t deny the fact that the history of Britain has been affected  towards greatness by Arthur.  Even though Merlin was not at Arthur’s side when he was king, the lessons taught as well as the values shared by Merlin defined his reign.

Merlin was lucky due to the fact that legend says he lived in time backwards.  He therefore knew of the Round Table and Camelot before he began his relationship with the boy Arthur.  He knew that this child, not aware of his lineage, was destined to greatness and he was the one ordained to bring out all of the good in him.  Merlin also knew that he would not be around when King Arthur would face his direst challenges – giving him incentive to prepare him all the better.

For the majority of us non-druid, non-wizards, we don’t have Merlin’s knowledge of a particular child’s future.  We therefore have to assume that EVERY child will become a great adult with the ability to change the world.  Isn’t this incentive enough to ensure that there are caring adults to lean upon, learn from, and remember?

BE A MENTOR.