The Boy was unusual. He had always thought this, but he was only just beginning to figure out the hows and whys of it. He had always been sensitive. Even now, as he stared out to sea across the great sweep of the Bay, he felt that he had the answers to things that most boys didn’t even have questions for.

For example, this rock he was currently perched on - several million years old probably, a piece of solid granite. The rock had moved little, if at all, in the last several hundred thousand years. Maybe, the sea had nudged it slightly in a storm. Maybe, it had been worn away a bit. After all, some of the pebbles on this beach were undoubtedly its children - bits of it that had gone off to explore for themselves. But, the rock itself continued sitting here, placidly, still, silently observing - all seeing and all knowing.

And yet, the boy wondered if it could move if it decided to. You see, the boy seemed to sense the life in this rock. Yes, it definitely felt alive to him - vibrant, teeming with swirling thoughts and observations and memories from millennia gone by.

The boy began to feel that this rock knew pretty much everything there was to know about the moods of the sea. It had seen stormy nights, frozen seas, warm seas, waves crashing in, waves lapping out, full moons, new moons, and clear nights when bright stars shone down like you wouldn’t believe.

And through its stillness, the rock knew everything. Everything about this beach and the sea that today lapped in gently around the boy’s feet. But, more than that - the rock really did know everything. It seemed to have all the secrets of the universe within it.

And the boy, by sitting on the rock, felt that he too could receive the answers to all the things that he wanted to know. Yes, if the rock could do it, he could do it. All he had to do was sit still, be silent and focus on himself, just like the rock seemed to do. And so he knew that, sooner or later, he would indeed receive all the answers. Patience then was what was required..…and time.

So, the boy came back to the beach over many years as he grew older. He visited the rock as often as he could. He had no expectations about anything, he just enjoyed being alone with the rock. He continued to sit and listen to the sea and feel the rock beneath him and watch the waves lap at his feet. The rock never moved, and it certainly never spoke. He didn’t suppose that a rock needed to say anything, so he didn’t think any more about it - rocks were rocks, nothing more, nothing less. And, it was a well-known rule that rocks didn’t speak!

Then, one day as he sat on the rock and stared out to sea, he began to relax, but at the same time, he felt heavier and heavier. He closed his eyes.

But, hang on, did he now feel heavy or light? There was a part of him that felt heavy - yes definitely, so, so heavy….his breathing slowed, the presence of the cool air itself surrounding him seemed to be his means of breathing. He breathed out, he breathed in - shallower and shallower until his breathing virtually stopped. He felt the weight of his body on the rock….or was it in the rock? Yes, he felt he was merging with the rock - going inside the rock, but at the same time another part of him continued to feel lighter and lighter. His arms tingled and then it seemed that his hands were floating upwards. Then this feeling spread…he was both entering deeper into the rock and floating upwards, both above himself and below himself at the same time.

“How could this be?”, he thought for a fleeting moment.

His eyes opened slightly and he caught a glimpse of a luminescent glowing white sea; not the grey, green sea he had seen earlier as he walked along the beach. But, the moment passed even before it was complete and he relaxed again. His eyelids gently closed and his eyes themselves began to focus on a light that began to appear in front of him…but how could he see this light? His eyes were closed, but the light got brighter. It swirled and pulsated and moved around in front of him. He felt like he was looking into another world - a world within himself? Yes, that was it, he was inside his own inner world. By sinking into the rock and floating up at the same time, he had achieved this!

Then….Bang! Flash! Lightening bolt! Wallop! A voice in his head!

“Hello boy!”

The boy jumped up, startled. Simultaneously, he was catapulted up out of the rock and back into his body and from above the part of him that was floating also entered his body again. He straightened and looked around him - no one there!

“Oh well, I’m imagining things”, he thought.

But, then again…

“It’s me!”

“It’s who? What is going on? Voices in my head?” He said out loud.

Who or what was he talking to? Was it that seagull there talking to him? No - impossible, as the bird flapped its wings, caught a thermal, rose up on it and swooped off out to sea.

Then, the voice again, “It’s me! Sorry to startle you.”

“It’s who?”

“Me…the rock!”, came the reply.

He jumped up as high in the air as he had ever jumped and landed on the beach, turned around and stared at it.

“The rock? Rocks don’t speak!”

“How do you know that? Ever spoken to a rock before?”

“No!”, said the boy - incredulous.

“Then how do you know that rocks don’t speak?”, said the voice.

“Well, I don’t…um, uh…are you really talking to me?”, said the boy.

“What do you think?”

“Well, after what’s just happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if I am talking to a rock! I always imagined that I might one day! And now it seems to have happened…amazing! Thank-you!”

“You’re welcome”, said the rock.

“So, what happens now?”, said the boy.

“Well, you’ve always known that you have a lot to do. But what you do now is you rest and you wait”…somehow, the boy understood all of this. He had been half expecting it….for a long time.

“For how long do I wait?”, he replied.

“For as long as it takes”.

“How will I know what to do?”

“It will be made known to you in the same way as you are receiving this message….look out for the signs. Not only rocks speak”.

“But what is my role?”

“You will be required to re-assure the people. Are you a leader? Can you do that?”

“Yes, I think I can. I can, but I’m a bit scared now”.

“Don’t be afraid - focus on love and the truth. These will set you free and guide you to do the best you can, to be the best you can be and to bring out the best in others”.

“How long will it take?”, asked the boy.

“The time is now approaching fast. More and more boys and girls like you are waking up”.

“Thank-you! It’s reassuring to know that I am not alone in this”.

“You are never alone my child - you now know that. Rest assured, you are not alone. Never. Now, go and begin the first day of your new life as a teacher, as a messenger and as a master. You will find the truth everywhere you look for it and you will guide others towards it and they will find it because of you. You are welcome back to me any time.”

And with that the boy turned and looked out to sea. Everything was different. He saw everything differently. He saw how the waves were also talking to him. He saw how the wind that blew his hair was also telling him things. He saw the sun as a pure bright white teacher and the ever-changing clouds as a metaphor for the ever-evolving nature of the human spirit. Even the pebbles at his feet were infusing him with wisdom. Everywhere was knowledge and wisdom and truth. Everywhere he looked, he saw it, but he knew that the greatest wisdom, knowledge and truth was within himself. Within his own soul would he find his greatest strength. He knew he would now be free to do anything he wanted. He had a job to do. He was a messenger.

He turned back to the rock. He stared at it for a while. It looked different to him now. He walked across to it, put his hand across his heart, closed his eyes and said a few words quietly, thanking the rock for the experience he had just had, for strengthening his own soul. He opened his eyes again, stretched out his arm and waved his hand gently over the rock and blessed it.

And with that, he turned, left the rock, left the beach and walked carefully, purposefully, like the master he now was, into his new life.