The Parable of the Light in the Land of Deep Shadow

 

Once upon a time, far, far away, there was a people who lived in a land that lay in Deep Shadow. It was always dusk there. Never night, never day, just a deep dusk. This people was very much loved by the Creator of All Things, but they had foolishly wandered into the Land of the Deep Shadow and lost their way because in the Land of the Deep Shadow, everything looked different than it really was. 

 

A tree looked like a troll.

A bird looked like a banshee.

Blowing leaves looked like prowling ghosts.

 

So the people in the Land of the Deep Shadow lived in fear.  They were always chilly—never really cold, but never totally warm either.  The fear and the chill made them cranky, and cranky people fight each other. All the fighting hurt the land. And the people hurt each other. 

 

So the Creator of All Things sent His Son into the land with Light burning inside Him to show people that the tree wasn’t a troll, and the bird wasn’t a banshee, and blowing leaves weren’t ghosts, and that they shouldn’t be afraid and fight each other. That things were really very different than they looked in the Land of the Deep Shadow. 

 

And some of the people loved the Son of the Creator of All Things and the Light He brought.  But others didn’t because the fear was buried so deep, and their hearts were as chilly as their hands. They actually loved the Land of the Deep Shadow more than the Light of the Creator of All Things. They forgot what it was to not be chilly and afraid all of the time. 

 

Still, the Son of the Creator of All Things wanted everyone to have the Light so they wouldn’t be afraid and chilly. He wanted them to know that 

The trees weren’t really trolls 

And the birds weren’t really banshees

And the leaves blowing on the ground weren’t really ghosts. 

 

The people who took the Light from the Son of the Creator of All Things were so happy to have the Light and to see the things from the Creator of All Things as they truly were.  They wanted to make sure they never forgot the Words the Son of the Creator of All Things told them. They made the Words into songs that made the light glow in each other. They told the story of life in the Land of the Deep Shadow and how the Son of the Creator of All Things came to them and made them warm and not afraid. Fathers told their little daughters the story and helped the Light grow in them and give them courage. Mothers sang songs over their sons about the Creator of All Things, His Son and the Light, and they were warm in their mother’s arms. 

 

But the Son of the Creator of All Things wanted everyone to have the Light and to know the difference between 

a tree and a troll,

a bird and a banshee, 

and leaves blowing on the ground, and ghosts. 

So He took the Light into all the places where people wandered in Deep Shadow. 

 

But strange things happened when He did. 

 

Some people who lived in Deep Shadow would listen to the words of the Son of the Creator of All Things and see the Light in Him, but right away it would be taken from them as if they had never heard or seen it. 

 

(Now just who was taking these things away from them is a story for another time)

 

Other people would see the Light in the Son of the Creator of All things and very much want it, only their hands had been chilly and their hearts had been afraid for so long in the Land of the Deep Shadow they couldn’t let the Light warm them and couldn’t stop being afraid long enough to let the Light grow in them. 

 

And sometimes there would be people who saw the Light from the Son of the Creator of All things and they would start to be warm and unafraid.  But because they had collected so much stuff while living in the land of Deep Shadow, they didn’t know how to make room for the Light of the Son of the Creator of All things. So eventually the Light was pushed out by all the stuff they had collected and couldn’t let go of. 

 

But every once in a while…

 

There would be people who  saw the Light in the Son of the Creator of All Things, and they would let the Light fill them, and they would receive the Light of the Son of the Creator of All Things and cherish the Light and it would grow in them. 

 

In some people it would glow like light bulb in a dark room. 

In some people it would shine like a car’s headlights on a dark road. 

And in some people it would blaze like the huge lights of a stadium full of people on a Friday night! 

 

And to all these people, the Son of the Creator of All Things said, “Let the Light shine all the time and everywhere!”

 

He told them to never be afraid to let the Light shine, and to never hide it away. He told them to keep shining the Light so everyone, everywhere, would come to be in the Light, always be warm, and never again think

a tree was a troll 

or a bird was a banshee 

or leaves blowing on the ground were ghosts.