Hey everyone!

Welcome back to Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince. It has certainly been quite the journey!

Today’s audio clip starts off with Hugh and Denton chopping wood in preparation for the icy-cold winter. The boys have come to be close friends, and although they are teasing each other, their comradery reflects how much they’ve grown over the years.

“Are you expecting a cold winter this year?” asks Denton, dryly. Confident and self-assured, Hugh responds.

“It is better to be prepared than caught empty handed.”

“I think I liked you better when you were lazy.”

Hugh has graduated from seeing what needs to be done in the immediate present, to one who plans ahead. You could say that his line of vision has increased!

What I love about Hugh is his character arc. He starts off impetuous, cocky, strong-willed, and stubborn—qualities that some would say are the making of a leader. Albeit, not a very good leader, but a leader nevertheless. The young man represented in today’s audio clip is confident, determined, hard-working, and thoughtful—one who others would want to follow. What changed a self-centered child into a responsible young man?

The son of a king became a servant.

Hugh was stripped of everything he knew, taken from everything familiar. He knew the soft luxuries of the palace no longer and fell asleep on beds of straw. He chopped wood with peasants and completed his own chores rather than playing castle games with his friends. He learned lessons that no hand but the Invisible could teach.

“I did not know you could read,” said Denton, surprised.
“There is much you do not know of me,” responded Hugh.

A world of knowledge filled Hugh’s head. He was the son of the king, yet it was a truth he was unable to share. Who would’ve believed that the ragged ward of Dame Martha came from robes of royalty? In God’s sovereign plan, Hugh would now be known as a peasant instead of a prince. Left to his own thoughts, he was presented with two choices. To allow himself to become a victim of circumstance or rise to the occasion and persevere.

Through a simple act of prayer one lonely night, he recognized whose son he truly was. Driven by a Force higher than his own, he surrendered his stubborn will and allowed it to be shaped and formed by his Father in heaven.

Along the sovereign path of suffering, Hugh learned much. Bright bursts of confidence, determination, zeal, and humility entered his life and transformed his character from the inside out. Yet the biggest thing that grew was his sense of joy.

Now, when someone has joy, you know it! I’ve never met someone who was brimming with joy, wondering if they were doing okay. Rather, I would wonder how I could obtain some of what they had. Joy is so contagious!

This doesn’t mean we are always going to be joyful. Hugh certainly didn’t feel like cracking a joke after reading the duke’s edict. He didn’t feel like laughing when the duke’s henchman rode on his high horse and ordered him and Denton to leave the wood they chopped. Yet his life was no longer marked with anger, bitterness, and tantrums. He would now bear loss and restriction with truth, honor, and strength of character for he is the son of a greater King.

Though not perfect by any means, as we heard in today’s audio clip, he was learning, like Jesus, obedience by the things in which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

Let’s step into the story for a moment.

Eager to be understood, Hugh speaks out against the Duke’s injustice. In return, the Duke’s henchman is angered by the boy’s bold accusation and warns him against questioning the ways of royalty. Hugh refuses to be silenced and the sharp sting of the man’s whip falls upon Hugh’s leg.

While the prince may have been overcome with righteous indignation at the unjust taxation, he allowed his hot emotions to rule his tongue. He would have done well to remember Proverbs 21:3,

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. ~Proverbs 21:23

The duke’s man was not seeking the interest of the villagers and Hugh’s words only served to infuriate him. There’s one thing you can guarantee when anger meets anger—an explosion! Proverbs 21:23 comes to life in full color in the painful sequence of events that follows.

While Hugh was justified in wanting to resolve the injustice by the duke, he didn’t go about it in the best way. However, it is not too late for our young hero, as we’ll discover in next week’s audio clip!

To quote Lamplighter Theatre’s Sir Knight of the Splendid Way,

“The righteous are not determined by the fall, but by the rising after the fall.”

Hugh is about to come up with a bold and daring plan that will take him far from the confines of village life and lead him on an unexpected journey. One, as Finnian would say, you are about to experience.

Stay tuned!

Molly Mayo
Writer/editor and long-time enthusiast of Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince
 

P.S. Here are some Lamplighter favorites on character growth:
Joseph’s Shield (Ages 6-11)
Robber’s Cave (Ages 9-14)
Stick to the Raft (Ages 9-14))
Rosa of Linden Castle (Ages 9-14)
Stepping Heavenward (Ages 12+)
Sir Knight of the Splendid Way (Ages 12+)