those who truly love us never leave
us
~by Andy
Quo Vadis is a Latin phrase and needs
careful translation because its meaning is not exact in today’s modern
English. One possible meaning is “where are you going?” and I think
that’s what the instructors of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
had in mind when they devised something called Exercise Quo Vadis. In the
words of the training syllabus Quo Vadis was designed to nurture qualities
such as initiative and self-reliance.
My introduction to Quo Vadis came at 1am one
morning when as a cadet I was woken up and “invited” to parade
naked on a freezing parade ground. Some time later we were ordered to get
dressed and to climb aboard a big military truck. We were then blindfolded
and ordered to remain silent for the duration of our journey. The object
of such treatment was to disorient us and in a mild way, subject us to the
type of psychological games we might encounter should we suffer the misfortune
to be captured during times of war.
The truck drove on for 14 hours while we sat
on the hard floor shivering, cold and frankly rather frightened. Eventually
the truck stopped and someone got off. The truck drove on and sometime later
another person got off. This ritual continued for quite some time until my
name was called. I dismounted, stiff, sore and totally disoriented. As my
eyes adjusted to the light after hours in darkness I could see I was in the
middle of the Scottish highlands…. they had to be kidding.
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I was handed a sealed brown envelope and told
not to open it until the truck had slipped from sight. The only other thing
I was told that if I failed this exercise I would fail the course and be
returned to civilian life. That made me sit up and pay attention.
Eventually I opened my orders and was stunned
by what I read. I had to hitch hike around the country collecting a range
of items as diverse as the Prime Ministers autograph and a pair of knickers
from a well-known TV actress. I was embarrassed, I had come to this world
famous military academy to learn the art of war not play silly parlor games.
A closer analysis of the list revealed that in fact I had less than 36 hours
to travel nearly 1000 miles (no money) and collect nearly 50 different items
along the way. Clearly it was impossible and the whole idea was to adapt,
improvise and overcome.
I set off down this deserted road feeling rather
confident that I would make it on time. Some 4 hours later and well after
sunset with no sign of a car in sight I was feeling significantly less confident.
To make matters worse it had started to snow. I trudged on for a few hours
until I could feel the first signs of hypothermia setting in. Suddenly this
“parlor game” had become very serious indeed. If I didn’t
find shelter fast I would die from exposure.
Eventually I came to a small wooden shelter.
It had neither door nor windows but it was SOME kind of shelter. I huddled
in the corner and quickly felt myself drifting into sleep. I tried to stay
awake for I knew if I did fall asleep I would succumb to hypothermia and
most probably never wake up. I stayed there for some hours drifting in and
out of consciousness.
Suddenly I woke up and was immediately aware
of a presence in the shelter with me. I looked up and saw the figure of a
middle-aged man with a vaguely familiar look about him. I was too tired and
exhausted to pay any attention to him or to think how he could possibly have
known there was anyone in the shelter - I was huddled in a corner and well
out of view from the road. He was there and that was all that mattered.
I got into the car and the last thing I remember
was the clock on the dashboard – it was 3:30am. When I woke up again
it was 8am and we were in the middle of a large city I recognised as Glasgow.
The car stopped and I got out. It was all very surreal. The last thing I
remember was the driver smiling at me and saying “watch you now,
Pandy”.
Nothing unusual in that except of course that
Pandy was my childhood nickname that only my father used and no-one
outside the family could have possibly known about it.
I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions
as to who the mystery driver was who came to my rescue but I am in no doubt
that somehow and in some way either God or the spirit of my father (he had
been dead a year) came to my rescue.
I firmly believe that those who truly love us
never leave us and that if someone is meant to come back into our lives they
will, even if it is only for a brief moment in time.
If you are on your own personal Quo Vadis and
in need of help take care and trust that those who truly love you will never
let you down.
Love,
Andy (Community Member) |
