Lewis Carroll said it best:

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things; of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings.

I'm learning about princes and kings, and a conglomeration of other nonsensical things.

Machiavelli wrote that a prince ought always to act as though he had virtue, even though he be made of vices, so that should the opportunity arise for the vices to be used, they are readily available and it is not against his true nature to use them. Today I read this:

O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad. And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice. You have given him his heart's desire, and you have not withheld the request of his lips. For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of You--You gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through Your salvation; Splendor and majesty You place upon him. For You make him most blessed forever. You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord and through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
Psalm 21.

I am neither prince nor king, heir of great riches or in the line of royalty, but I am learning that life must be walked, as Machiavelli said, as though we had viture. As though we are hopeful and expectant and full of all the goodness that we desire and know is ours. But what Machiavelli didn't fully understand was that when virtue is the path chosen and walked upon, virtue is what rises up within us.

David wrote of all the blessings a king would receive, his heart's desire, the request of his lips, the blessings of good things, golden crowns, and life, salvation, joy with gladness, unshaken. These are the things that a king expects to have. His bloodline, his name, decrees him everything he could want, without exception.

I am learning about walking in expectation, as though I am royalty, and as though the blessings are mine, without exception. I am learning about walking with virtue, trusting that the vices will vanish under the faithfulness of my God. I am learning about the weakness that accompanies all the depth of my humanity, and the abyss on which I feel myself teetering. I am learning that vices do not define me and failures do not disqualify me.

I haven't got the bloodline of a king, but I have the bloodshed of One and that is my expectation. That is my hope. That is my confidence.