Posted by 
Several months ago, my friend and neighbor Don convinced me to audition for a role in the Prescott Theater’s production of “The Man of La Mancha.” Don just happened to be the director of the play. At the time, I knew nothing about theater, least of all the amount of work a production involves. I earned a role for a small part as a ‘muleteer.’ We concluded the two-week run October 1st. I am exhausted.
If you don’t know the story, the man of La Mancha is Don Quixote, an aging man whose time and mind become consumed with the books of knighthood, chivalry, and saving fair maidens from dragons and evil magic. Like millions of people who have seen this musical over the decades, I fell in love with it.
One of my favorite scenes is when the Knight of the Mirrors confronts Don Quixote. In our production, three men stand before our hero with shields covered with mirrors, and Don Quixote is forced to look at himself. The knight tells him, “See reality, see what you truly are…”
I’ve thought much about that scene as I’ve watched it through weeks of preparation and production, and I’ve concluded that we all need those knights from time to time to get us back on track.
There is an old Polish legend about Bolesław and his knights who sleep in the Tatra Mountains of Western Poland. As the story goes, Bolesław will wake when Poland needs him and his knights the most. In his book The Hamsa set in WWII Poland, my friend embellishes this story when his young hero Bronisław Czech searches for Bolesław and finds himself staring at his own reflection in the wet wall of a cave. He concludes that we are all Bolesław, and we are all called to serve when we are needed most. Like Don Quixote’s reality check with the Knight of the Mirrors, it is those moments in life that we should be attuned to make us better people.
I am blessed with several knights of the mirrors. The Veteran’s Administration is one, and AA is another. I would truly be lost like Don Quixote without them.
Take time to consider who are your knights of the mirrors and take time to thank them for what they have done and continue to do for you.
