In the blink of an eye time can collapse and the curtain between lives blow open before settling back in place. I'm sure it happens all the time, ignored, unnoticed. Go ahead. Close your eyes and imagine such a moment. Who are you? Where are you? Imagine your many selves in that moment all aware of you, as you are of them.

Now who are you? Are you still a single self trapped in the confines of time? Let's assume you're not. What tale would you weave of the variation on a theme called your lives here on Earth? To what end are you here?

There, I see it now, the dawning, the light in your eyes. Yes, it's true, you, in all your myriad forms, are on a hero's journey. Wandering through time and space, stumbling, tripping, running, crawling, dancing toward wisdom, compassion, and, most importantly, love.

Look around you--your family, your friends, even your enemies, they're all on the same journey, the warp to your weft. The anchor points in your eternity.

Believe it or not, you are the director, co-writer, and lead actor on these stages, in these pages. What journey will you take us on? Would you like me to share a bit of mine? Where should I begin when there is no beginning? What ending when there is no end?

I'll start with the man at the tavern.