#servanthood

Sebastian was elbow-deep in the clutter of an old man's attic, sifting through forgotten trinkets and discarded relics while working a clearing job for an estate.

His fingers brushed against something smooth and cool, and when he lifted it into the dim light, he discovered a lustrous golden bottle. "This is pretty cool," he thought. His boss, the clutter-clearing specialist, saw the gleam in Sebastian's eyes and chuckled. "You can keep that one, kid," he said, as Sebastian carefully stowed the bottle in his backpack. Returning to his cramped student apartment, Sebastian methodically cleaned the bottle. In a whirl of sparkling dust, a figure emerged from within, billowing into the room in a shimmer of iridescence. "Greetings, master! I am Dailan, the genie of this bottle, and you, dear Sebastian, have three wishes at your disposal," the figure announced with a flourish.

Sebastian, thinking it a joke, sarcastically announced his first wish: "Yeah, right. I wish this place was spotless." With a melodious hum, Dailan granted the wish, leaving the room immaculate. "Seriously?" Sebastian murmured, incredulous that he had wasted a wish so frivolously. He mulled over his next move and wished for a smoother path through his studies without such hard work as clearing other people clutter. Dailan nodded, and Sebastian soon received a generous scholarship.

Days passed, and Dailan gently prodded Sebastian about his final wish, but the student remained undecided. "I'll think about it later," he evaded, to Dailan's growing concern. After continual prodding, Dailan explained that he could only fulfill others' wishes once Sebastian had chosen his. Accordingly he shouldn't be so selfish and wait any longer. Unperturbed, Sebastian remained indecisive. A year elapsed, and still, Sebastian hesitated.

One fateful evening, as Sebastian hurried down a dimly lit staircase, his foot slipped, and his body tumbled down, crashing onto the hard floor with a sickening crack. Pain seared through Sebastian's body as darkness threatened to claim him. With his last breath, he heard Dailan's voice echo around him, reminding him of his unclaimed wish. "Sebastian, your final wish," Dailan's voice urged, the urgency palpable. But it was too late. Sebastian's consciousness slipped away. Sebastian awoke to an unfamiliar sight. He found himself in a boundless expanse, surrounded by a vibrant, otherworldly energy. His mind felt weightless, detached from his physical form. Suddenly, Dailan materialized before him, his form shimmering in the ethereal light. "Sebastian, as the one who did not make his final wish, you are now destined to take my place." "What do you mean?" Sebastian's voice trembled as he struggled to comprehend. "You are now Lux, the genie of the bottle," Dailan declared.

"You will grant the wishes of others, just as I have done for you. It is your fate and your burden." Panic gripped Sebastian as the realization sunk in. Trapped in this role for eternity, he understood the weight of his missed opportunity. "But I never asked for this! I never wanted this!" Sebastian screamed, his voice echoing across the boundless expanse. Dailan's form began to fade. "I'm sorry, Lux. This is your destiny now," he whispered before vanishing completely. With a heavy heart, Lux accepted his new reality. As time passed and the world outside the bottle carried on, Lux was bound to wait for his next summoner.

In the wake of Sebastian's death, the apartment underwent refurbishment, with Jasper, the son of the landlord, overseeing the renovations.

Amid the empty rooms, he discovered a solitary blue bottle coated in a veil of dust. In a whimsical impulse, Jasper polished the bottle, and from its depths, Lux emerged, resplendent and enigmatic. "Hello, Jasper. I am Lux, and you hold three wishes in your grasp," Lux intoned with an otherworldly glint in his eyes.

Jasper, his heart pounding with disbelief, tried to make sense of this unearthly encounter. "I must be dreaming," he murmured. "I assure you, Jasper, this is no mere dream. You have stumbled upon a most extraordinary opportunity," Lux insisted, his tone firm yet remarkably soothing. Shrugging off the surreal encounter, Jasper dismissed the opportunity. "I have everything I could possibly want. I don't need any wishes," he conveyed with an air of nonchalance. "It is not about need, my dear Jasper, but about desires unspoken," Lux countered, his gaze piercing and inscrutable. Returning to his abode, Jasper's mind swirled with conflicting thoughts. Lux's words echoed in his mind, urging him to consider the true extent of his desires. Inwardly troubled by the authenticity of his friendships and the superficiality of his aspirations, he revealed to Lux his feeling that others liked him only for his wealth and looks. So Jasper pondered the implications of his emerging wishes. "Fine, if this is what it takes to prove a point, then I wish for someone who surpasses me in wealth and allure, enough to turn straight man gay," Jasper declared, half in jest, half in earnest. Despite his uncertainty in mastering his magic, Lux felt compelled to grant the wish. Suddenly, in a surge of blue light, Lux transformed into a wealthy and captivating figure, stunning in both opulence and charisma, leaving both of them astonished.

Delighted with the outcome, Jasper reveled in the world's admiration for Lux's splendor.

Jasper and Lux strolled through the opulent streets, where designer boutiques beckoned with their luxurious wares. Jasper, resplendent in his tailored suit, and Lux, exuding an almost regal air with his chiseled features and impeccably styled hair, attracted admiring glances as they indulged in a spree of lavish shopping.

Lux emerged from the changing room to see a satisfied grin on Jasper's face. Jasper was content, believing Lux's presence as a wealthy, attractive man would divert attention from himself.

Swathed in the finest fabrics and adorned with extravagant jewelry, they basked in the attention their wealth and attractiveness garnered.

Their escapades extended to the realm of leisure, where they reveled in upscale recreational pursuits befitting their status. Lux accompanied Jasper to exclusive venues, where they partook in leisurely yacht cruises to savor the allure of the sea, and engaged in spirited matches of tennis at elite clubs.

At night, they graced extravagant soirees, their presence commanding attention and admiration. Jasper and Lux immersed themselves in the glittering extravagance that their affluent lifestyles afforded. Lux found himself immersed in a world once beyond his reach, infusing every endeavor with an infectious joy, reveling in each moment as he came to understand the allure of wealth and luxury from an entirely new vantage point.

Worried about Jasper's fate, Lux shared his own story and urged Jasper to express his final two wishes, even if it meant parting ways as Lux moved on to serve his next master.

After a soirée, Jasper and Lux ​​walked home through a dimly lit alley, where they fell victim to a violent attack by a robber. Jasper was seriously wounded.

Realizing the gravity of his situation, Jasper hastily uttered, "I wish for my recovery, and for the assailant to take your place as the genie." A infernal swirl of smoke enveloped the scene, and the assailant transformed into a genie. Lux regarded  the events unfolding.

Expecting Lux to vanish into thin air, Jasper was surprised as Lux remained, now merely a regular human—albeit rich and handsome. "Lux?" Jasper called out, uncertainty lacing his voice. "You wished for the assailant to take my place," Lux explained gently. "My essence is no longer confined to the bottle and I can stay with you." Jasper marveled at these unforeseen developments. The assailant, now transformed into a genie, stood awkwardly amidst the unreal setting, grappling with his newfound abilities.   The new genie, riddled with confusion and uncertainty, struggled to comprehend his newfound existence as Lux and Jasper embraced their friendship and unspoken connection.

Some days later the genie-turned assailant appeared and says:

"Lux has not fully fulfilled your first wish. I'm here to fix this. Your first wish was that Lux shall turn straight man gay. Therefore, from now on you will be gay and desire Lux.” Suddenly, Jasper began to show his affection for Lux intimately. The genie laughed darkly: “How sweet you are, Jasper. I guess you’ll make Lux bi in no time and your bromance will turn into a romance.”

We have to be around other people in order to reach them. 

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from…

Devotional for June 29th

And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs. - Mark 16:20

Insight

Mark's Gospel emphasizes Christ's power as well as his servanthood. Jesus' life and teaching turn the world upside down. The world sees power as a way to gain control over others. But Jesus, with all authority and power in heaven and earth, chose to serve others. He held children in his arms, healed the sick, washed the disciples' feet, and died for the sins of the world.

Challenge

Following Jesus means receiving this same power to serve. As believers, we are called to be servants of Christ. As Christ served, so we are to serve.

It's Lancelot's first episode which is tremendously exciting. I remember the first time I watched this show (last year- I really make it sound like it was much longer than it is), I wasn't particularly attached to him but on my second rewatch I loved him, I loved his and Merlin's friendship and I loved his sheer nobility and decency. Lancelot is of course typically one of the most central characters in telling's of the Arthurian legend, so of course his appearance is exciting. Also excitingly an episode where I talk about someone other than Arthur! Yeah, if you can't tell Arthur's my favourite character. I'm not sure how clear my point is throughout all of this, its hard to articulate but I hope I've done it justice.

"Sir Lancelot, the bravest and the most noble of them all"

This is a quote from much later in the show but it explains something very fundamental about Lancelot's character. Lancelot is supposed to be the chivalric ideal, in most versions of the story he is portrayed as such, as the only knight who really comes close to fulfilling it. Lancelot's fault that puts the dent in him being the true epitome of the noble chivalric knight is his love for Guinevere, and its actually his son Galahad (who doesn't exist in Merlin) who achieves this ideal. However, the point remains that Lancelot is almost there, his character is typically about a person who almost achieves this ideal of chivalry, and they run with this in Merlin, out of all the knights he is the most knightly, the most committed, the one most devoted to its ideals.

Lancelot talks like our idea of a knight, its kind of hard to explain but the way he talks is straight out of chivalric romances, out of films about knights. You notice it because everyone in this show talks in quite a contemporary way, its an Arthurian legend for people of today and the characters talk like it, but Lancelot just doesn't, he talks like a knight from a fairytale. It's just a small detail, but it really plays into the perception of Lancelot as the epitome of chivalric honour.

I'd argue that he represents a knighthood Arthur believes in, before he even realises it himself, a kind of honour that's about devotion to one another and helping others and fighting injustice. Arthur and Lancelot do get on extremely well, despite the fact that Lancelot, in Arthur's own words, doesn't sound or look like a knight. His passionate defense of him to his father, as well as the fact that Arthur releases him from prison without his father's approval is because Arthur respects him and admires him and probably because he sees him as a friend. King Arthur's court is often the ideal representation of chivalry, stories like these about chivalrous knights were very important to aristocratic culture in medieval times, and Arthur's court was at the center of it. The thing is that there is a code of honour and chivalry before Arthur in Merlin, the knights of Camelot already exist, and they are often honourable. But Arthur's task will be to reset the idea of chivalry and honour on new grounds, in new ways and Lancelot in many ways exemplifies this ideal

There is a huge emphasis in Lancelot's character in serving with honour:

"It's not my freedom I seek. I only wish to serve with honour."-Lancelot

"He laid down his life for me. He served with honour."- Arthur

"He meant no harm I am sure of it... he only wished to serve."- Arthur

I'm not exactly sure how to define honour, its kind of an abstract concept but I do know what it means, its acting with integrity and respect and honesty. It's a concept central to the Chivalric code, that knights should behave with honour, so its inclusion here further cements the idea of Lancelot's character as representing the ideal of chivalric knighthood. Also the concept of servanthood comes up again, Merlin emphasises (through Merlin most of all) the honour in being a servant, you don't need to be great or noble or a great leader, the world needs people who are willing to serve and that is just as noble as leading.

Chivalry as a concept is inherently bound up in the concept of nobility. The etymology itself is from the French word for knight/horseman, of which only nobles could be. However, one of the points of Merlin through many of its characters is upsetting this class divide so prevalent in Arthurian stories, not just in also including the stories of those who aren't noble but in setting up a code of honour that applies to everybody. Lancelot epitomises this, he is the knight who most represents the ideal of chivalry to Arthur, he's also not a nobleman. Just like making Gwen and Merlin servants, making the most noble knight not a noble sets up this shift, highlighting the capability of everyone to the kind of goodness and nobility that Camelot's ideal will represent. Because fundamentally what's the point of an ideal if it only applies to some people, ideals should inspire everyone to be better, they should make everyone's lives better not just a small subset of people.

As Gwen says that in Arthur's knights "we need ordinary people like you and me."

Arthur and Uther

Importantly Arthur realises the injustice of laws in his father's kingdom and you see the contrast between him and Uther.

"The code bends for no man."

"Then the code is wrong."

Uther is stubborn, we know that, he's unwilling to admit the fault in his rules, in his ideas even when the evidence is right in front of him and that is a fundamental fault, you can see it in his treatment of those who use magic. Arthur by contrast is someone whose views haven't been set, partly because he is still young, but also because he is a better person than Uther in the ways that matter. He's not going to purposefully blind himself to the truth. For Uther he is also one with a worldview of absolutes, all magic users are bad, laws are laws there is no room for argument or nuance, and I'm sure Uther would see accepting argument or nuance as a weakness.

It is also important that in recognising that the code should bend, Arthur recognises the essential flaw in Uther's construction of society and chivalry. The idea that knights should all be noble, Uther literally says that it is the fact that all knights are noble that binds them together, and this is emphasised by the fact that Uther created the first code of Camelot (also the fact that its the first code- makes this seemingly small law much more important). This is a premise Arthur does not agree with it, this episode proves what it really means to be a knight in Lancelot, its a willingness to do your duty and act with honour and self-sacrifice. It is not confined to class, and thus plays into merlin's wider subversion of chivalry as only being for knights, its a code of honour and behaviour that all people can aspire to, and the ability to live and die for noble causes should not be the sole preserve of knights. The Arthurian ideal is so premised on nobility, for the rest of the kingdom, yes they have a just king and presumably they are protected and safe but they are kept from the dignity of being allowed to be noble, being allowed to be considered a part of the nobility and goodness of the Arthurian ideal. It's significant that the first figure to represent this isn't noble.

Other Stuff

"I owe Lancelot my life and I am paying for that in the only way I can."- Merlin--> This is the worldview of knights and debts of honour in its own way as well

Gwen and Lancelot are just awww, like so sweet

"Merlin would do anything for anyone."- Gwen--> True and I love that about Merlin, even as he becomes more jaded as the seasons go on this doesn't change that much—>he's wonderfully decent

"You're the only thing I care about in this world."- Gaius to Merlin--> That was just sweet and kind of sad He's encouraging Merlin to put himself in danger and Merlin reacts with anger because its like does anyone care what happens to him—> but the point is Merlin can help Arthur and no one else can so he has to do it because its his job and its his job because he's the only one who can do it--> Duty is doing what you have to do, doing the right thing even when you don't want to

"It's my duty knight or not."---> Similar to Merlin—> Lancelot believes in being a knight so whether or not he actually is one he has a duty to act like one—> he is a swordsman he is skilled and (theoretically- if they weren't creatures of magic) could defeat a Griffin so he has to do it—> because he can and its his duty to his worldview And Gwen's response- "You really believe that don't you. I don't think I've ever met anyone like you."

"You've already proven that to us"- Arthur "But I must prove it to myself."- Lancelot--> Isn't there just something very noble in that- In the desire to prove your ability to yourself above all others- to hold yourself to a high standard not just to expect things to come Will parallel Arthur in later seasons as he tries to prove his right to be king to himself--> It's funny the scene when Arthur pulls the sword in the stone (much later) is the moment when he proves his right to be king in every version of the story- but usually its proof to others- In Merlin it was trying to prove to himself

Jesus knew that He had come from God, so He got up and began to wash His disciples’ feet. It was not despite the fact that He was the Son of God that He washed their feet, but because He was the Son of God. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28).

The Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom. It is not like the kingdoms of the world, in which the greatest people are those who rule over and oppress and gloat over those who are beneath them. In this Kingdom, the greatest people are those who get the lowest. Our Jesus, the King of kings, demonstrated His leadership by being a servant. He performed the most undignified, messy, disgusting task that existed in those days - washing the feet of people who had been walking through dust and mud and sand all day with very little to cover their feet.

Those who ride on paths, are like those who can see the way to God.

Those who ride across trackless deserts, are like those who have lost the way to God.