Heart Tales is a monthly newsletter for people who want to live life with character, wisdom, and faith.
Heart Tales is published by Jim Cyr, storyteller, crisis intervention specialist, and minister.
Character is who we are in our thoughts, feelings, dispositions, and choices. In past issues we have seen how self-knowledge, honesty, and respect are all part of character. In this month’s edition we ponder how trustworthiness is part of character.
This is an ancient story from Wales.
Prince Llewelyn had a favorite greyhound named Gellert that had been given to him by his father-in-law, King John. He was as gentle as a lamb at home, but a lion in the chase.
One day Llewelyn went to the chase and blew his horn in front of his castle. All his other dogs came to the call, but Gellert never answered it. So he blew a louder blast on his horn and called Gellert by name, but still the greyhound did not come.
At last Prince Llewelyn could wait no longer and went off to the hunt without Gellert. He had little sport that day because Gellert was not there, the swiftest and boldest of his hounds. He turned back in a rage to his castle, and as he came to the gate, who should he see but Gellert come bounding out to meet him.
But when the hound came near him, the Prince was startled to see that his lips and fangs were dripping with blood. Llewelyn started back and the greyhound crouched down at his feet as if surprised or afraid at the way his master greeted him.
Now Prince Llewelyn had a little son a year old with whom Gellert used to play, and a terrible thought crossed the Prince’s mind that made him rush towards the child’s nursery. And the nearer he came the more blood and disorder he found about the rooms. He rushed into it and found the child’s cradle overturned and daubed with blood. Prince Llewelyn grew more and more terrified, and sought for his little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only signs of some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed.
At last he felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting to Gellert, “Monster, thou hast devoured my child”, he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound’s side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master’s eyes. As Gellert raised his dying yell, a little child’s cry answered it from beneath the cradle, and there Llewelyn found his child unharmed and just awakened from sleep. But just beside him lay the body of a great gaunt wolf all torn to pieces and covered with blood.
Too late, Llewelyn learned what had happened while he was away. Gellert had stayed behind to guard the child and had fought and slain the wolf that had tried to destroy Llewelyn’s heir. In vain was all Llewelyn’s grief; he could not bring his faithful dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle walls within sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passer-by might see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones. And to this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert.
The true spirit of my work is to lead people on a life-changing adventure toward wholeness by connecting their hearts to their true selves, to others, and to God, through stories of healing, wisdom, and faith.
My life-changing adventure toward wholeness includes performances of folk and fairy tales, sacred stories, and personal stories, and workshops on how to tell stories in therapeutic settings.
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“Jim’s storytelling spoke to many of the problems our women face on the road to recovery from addiction and gave them options for handling those problems they had not considered before.”
Helen Raytek, Program Director, Crawford House
“Jim, I want to thank you for your time, efforts, and talents in presenting your Clinical Benefits of Storytelling Workshop. I was very impressed with your professional and fun deliverance of the material and many useful resources and examples. I felt I benefited from it both personally and professionally, and will use what I learned…”
John J. D. Schweska, L.P.C. Assistant Program Director Mobile Response and Stabilization Services Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen
“…your newsletter is a wonderful resource, and I hope that many will subscribe to it.”
Dr. Robert Béla Wilhelm, Storyfest Ministry
“…Thank you once again, Jim, for sharing your stories/your story and influencing my healing.”
Eileen
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