A Loyal Companion

Despair will always be your most loyal companion. He is never far, and you do not have to call loud for him to come. Just a thought, and he is there, and he will stay as long as you ask him to.

In fact, he may stay longer. You will become accustomed to his company and not trust yourself without it. Despair is there to offer his ungilded opinion and keep you from harm's way. He will remind you how you had thought you did not need his advice, and look at the disappointment you suffered.

Despair knows disappointment well. Whenever you suffer disappointment, he will be there to see if his services are needed. He will come armed with certainty. He will promise you no more disappointment for the rest of your life. Who knows what will ever be? he says. If you put any faith in that which you cannot see, disappointment is inevitable. There is, therefore, only one solution.

That is why you must politely decline the advice of any councilor who councils anything other than, "Go." He whispers forever against that which cannot be seen, and all creation is unseen except in the mind of the creator. Life itself is a creation, not some maze to be navigated. Despair will hint that he knows the way through the maze, but the maze is a fiction. The future is infinitely open. You must choose. And choose you must faith over despair.

Faith is more loyal still because it calls you on and trusts you. Tell me where to go, faith asks. Faith reminds you that you are the captain. It's a boat for one. Despair should never be a welcome traveler. He will come aboard as a fellow sailor but always be crying for a port. Onward! Despair can walk the plank.