Whom Does the Grail Serve?

For a few years I've been haunted by the tale of the Fisher King and the Holy Grail. I think the Fisher King reminds me of my dad, maybe that's why. The Fisher King was pierced through the hip by a spear and his wound could never heal. He sat every day on the banks of the river, fishing and waiting and dying, though death would never come.

As the Fisher King went on endlessly dying his kingdom was wasting away too. The land itself was suffering, there was a sickness in the earth. It was like ET and the flower. Leaves rotted on the trees, the air was grey. People felt uncomfortable. This went on for a long time.

But the Fisher King had a secret, for he was the keeper of the Holy Grail. He knew that when the right person came looking for the grail he would be healed. It was hard for him to feel too hopeful though, because he could only give the Grail to the person who asked the right question. Many came searching but all they ever asked was where to find it. He sent them away and continued fishing.

"Whom does the grail serve?" That is the required question. Of course no one ever asked it. Does any searcher stop to wonder if they can have what they are looking for? What if the thing you want you can't have? Would you continue searching?

The knights believed that the Grail was magic and that it would reveal itself to the worthiest person. Their quest was really a quest for their own identity, to discover their class and valorize their entitlement. They searched in vain because this is not the service of the Grail. Who knows what the Grail does? And who's asking?