Episode 045 - Whatever Happened To The Town Drunk?

As many of us know, we are multifaceted beings with many different levels of consciousness and understanding within us, many of which haven't manifested yet. One of these inner aspects we each have is an amazingly heroic part of ourselves filled with bravery, strength and inner courage. It is often surprising in its power and its emergence can be completely unexpected. But whenever it makes itself known, it's usually a pretty transformative experience. I remember reading a story once about this unanticipated bravery of ours. It was a very long time ago, maybe in Junior High School, and I don't remember that much about it – like how I came to it, how old I was when I read it, or in what context it was in. I don't even remember the whole story, just one key part of it. But for some reason, that one part buried itself deeply in my mind and I never forgot it. I think it took place in a small New England town sometime during the 1870s. There was a certain man who had become the town drunk. Nobody seemed to know what had happened to him, but somehow, he had completely lost his bearings in life and was in a drunken stupor most of the time. Was it a lost love? Did somebody break his heart? Or did something awful happen to him in business and he lost everything he owned? Or had he done something horribly wrong and was now trapped in a dark chasm of guilt? Nobody knew. All they knew is that he was drinking all the time, could never be counted on for anything and was a completely hopeless, lost cause, One night as he was lying dead drunk on a sidewalk in front of a tavern, a fire broke out in a small home near the end of the street where he had passed out. In those days, fires were fought with bucket brigades. All the town's people would gather, a horse drawn carriage would arrive with an enormous container of water, and they would line up and pass buckets of water from the carriage to the fire in a desperate attempt to try to put out the blaze. As the brigade formed, they needed every single person available. Spotting the town drunk lying on the sidewalk, one of the firefighters roused him out of his stupor, shook him, slapped him awake and brought him into the line. The drunk was able to sense what was happening and did his best to help out.  But as the fire was raging out of control, he was still pretty out of it. At one point, a couple of firefighters brought a screaming woman out of the burning home that was now engulfed in flames. The woman was out of her mind, completely hysterical and with all the strength she had, she tried to break free from the firefighters, screaming that her two little children were still in the house. Her horrific story sent the entire brigade into a panic. Suddenly and without any warning, the town drunk, who was at the far end of the bucket brigade, stood up straight, and like a soldier in battle, marched up to the doorway of the house and burst in through the flaming entrance.  It was such an unexpected and shocking moment that everyone froze for a moment, then they went back to feverishly passing buckets of water. Minute after hopeless minute went by as the poor mother kept screaming and sobbing. After about another ten minutes, it started to become apparent to everyone that the drunk wasn't going to make it out. It was horribly sad, but at least he had died doing something noble. The bucket brigade continued its work and the house continued to burn. But then, suddenly and miraculously, bleeding and burned, the man emerged from the doorway of the home holding two little children in his arms. They were both screaming and frightened out of their minds, but they were both clearly and magnificently alive! The mother nearly fainted at the sight, and overcome with emotion ran up to grab her children.  Everyone immediately surrounded the man, enveloping him in a enormous wave of gratitude and appreciation. My memory of the story pretty much fades from that point. I do remember that it said that the event transformed his life he never took another drink again.  I'd like to think that he ended up marrying the woman, adopting her children and becoming the mayor of the town. But that's probably just the O. Henry in me. What happened in the actual story doesn't really matter that much because there's something about the tale that runs a lot deeper than the details of the drama. It points to the incredible nature of the undiscovered side of our being. I mean, something had happened to this lost soul that had completely defeated him and turned him into the town drunk. It doesn't matter what it was, but something had taken the life out of him and left him hopeless. And he had resorted to trying to numb himself to his pain by drinking himself to death. But then suddenly, the nobility and courage within his spirit  took over. Maybe he felt that his life was at its end anyway, so what did it matter if he risked what he had left to save the lives of some children? Or maybe it was just the act of doing something selfless for the benefit of someone else that produced this incredible effect on him. It could have been any one of a hundred factors like these,  but something triggered this power within him, and acting upon it created a miracle that not only helped innocent bystanders, it also completely transformed his life.  But a Now of course, this is a pretty dramatic story. But the reality is that we can come in contact with the higher and most noble parts of our character in ways that are not the result of dramatic circumstances at all. In fact, it's often quite the opposite. It can be in seemingly small choices, made in the most ordinary of situations that can bring about significant inner growth which ultimately bring about major transformations in our character. Coming from the perspective of western culture, we are trained to define real success as coming from the accomplishment of something great. But many wise voices of the past have pointed us in a rather different direction. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great poet and lecturer, who led the enlightened transcendental movement of late 19th century America, wrote a short, but deeply profound poem about it called, "What is Success?" It's always been one of my favorites: What is Success? To laugh often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; This is to have succeeded. It turns out that most people can relate to these simple ideas. And interestingly, most people can also relate to the story of the town drunk that became the hometown hero. We each have faced hard times in our lives, to one degree or another. And even if it's small, we've each felt an innate sense of courage and strength inside. And whether we're in touch with it or not, we each have an intuitive sense that there's a lot more to us than we know right now. So, how many more of these positive characteristics are inside of us? Well to me, that leads to a deeper question - What is the real nature of a human being? anyway? What is our highest potential and how can be we realize it? Now, that's a big question. Actually, it might be the big question. I think that seems like a good place to stop for now, so I'll just leave you with that thought. Of course, the ideas in these podcasts are just my understandings, presented to you for your consideration. Like everything else on the path of growth, if they do something positive for you, use them. And if not, just let them go. So, that's the end of this episode, As, always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened and let's get together in the next one.