2nd June 2015

There is a move in the game of Chess called ‘castling’, where the king and rook intentionally change positions, both vacating their original squares, to take up new positions in the clear space between them, but lining up in reverse order. The move is executed mainly to reposition the king to a more defensive position, and the rook closer to the ranks of attack, and the move is usually one of mutual advantage to both rook and king.

The picture reminds me of what happened in the opening chapters of the Book, except for the bit about mutual advantage. At the initiative of the rook, the King was moved to the side, and the human castle ambitiously took the middle ground, and then in vain tried to hold it. It didn’t work. It never does. The King is too strong and too wise to be successfully out-positioned and outwitted. And so the Book tells the story of the King, who through a move of powerful and sacrificial love, reclaimed the middle ground and the heart of the castle.

In the game of Chess there is no such move called ‘kinging’, where the castling move is reversed. But it is allowed in life. And it may be done at any point in the game. And without penalty. And the sooner the better. For then the rook can stop doing what it was never meant to do, and can start being what it was actually made to be.

DM 2^nd June 2015