The Great and Wonderful One

You are being pursued by an evil and unrelenting monster. This monster is called Darkness and its tools are sin and death. This monster is much larger, quicker and powerful than you. You can and will fall victim to it under your own ignorance of its plot. This monster is smart. It lays out bait in the form of desires to lure you in, to fatten you up, and to slow you down with a burdensome load. Unknowingly, you collect these baits. You indulge in them freely, you consume them greedily, and you carry them along in case you find a use for them later on. In fact, you have loaded up your pockets with as much bait as you can and you have filled bags up and carry them along with you as well. From the sidelines, the monster watches in wait as the bait you have accepted makes you sluggish and distracted. You unknowingly continue preparing yourself to be the victim of this monster.

You have heard of a Great and Wonderful One. Others have spoken of Him as the One who has never consumed from the desires laid out by Darkness. These others collect the desires left as bait in wooden baskets and you rarely see one of them consume any of it. In fact, these others often encourage those consuming the desires to stop and look for The Great and Wonderful One, though many choose not to.

Suddenly, the Great and Wonderful One approaches you. With urgency and conviction, He says to you “My little one, you are in great danger. You are being stalked by Darkness that wishes to overcome and consume you!” The Great and Wonderful One tells you that He, and only He, can save you from this monster. However, you must stop picking at and consuming these desires that you have found and instead follow Him!

With a great startle, you stop picking up the bait that has been laid out for you and feel compelled to listen to His advice. You begin following the Great and Wonderful One who says He will lead you to safety. At first, the path He leads you upon is easy to follow. It seems often travelled and it inclines just ever so slightly. However, your journey on this path does not last long. The Great and Wonderful One leads you off of the first stretch of path and on to one that is much narrower and a little steeper. You suddenly realize that you find yourself losing sight of the One who is leading you.

 He calls out to you from ahead, “Drop your bags of desire little one! You cannot carry such a burdensome load and keep up with Me at the same time.”

You look to the left and see to the side of the path a large ditch filled with bags of bait similar to the very bags you are carrying. Reluctantly at first, you take the bags off of your shoulder and throw them into the pile.

“Great and Wonderful One”, you reply, “I am not the first you have led on this path.”

 “No, my little one, many have allowed me to lead them this way before you. Come now, we must continue on.”

Feeling a little lighter, you continue along where He leads you. As you continue along the path, it continues to grow narrower and steeper. You find that the bait that you have filled your pockets with is becoming uncomfortable. You also notice a familiar feeling in your stomach. You have not indulged in any of these desires since you first met the One who leads you. You reach in to your pocket and pull some out to look at it. Your hunger for some of these desires overcomes you and you put one to your mouth. Instantly, your mouth is filled with a bitterness you have never experienced and your stomach turns sour. These desires that you had held in such high value suddenly seem more of a burden than a blessing. You notice as you walk along the path that it is littered with similar looking desires that other people have abandoned before you.

“Great and Wonderful One, the path is littered with old desires. Why have so many desires been left on this path by others before me?”

He replies sweetly, “Many have found the desires they held most dearly to before this path have become a hindrance in their ability to follow Me. Some have held onto them so dearly that they have turned back down the path to collect fresh desires only to be consumed by Darkness. Others have decided to leave their old desires here and continue following me. I cannot make that decision for you.”

You turn to look down the path from where you came. Down at the bottom, you see a fresh pile of desires, many of them more wonderful looking than those you remember collecting previously. You also notice something you had never noticed beforehand. Just beyond the bait at the bottom of the path, you see Darkness for the first time. The hideousness of the monster sends shivers down your spine. How could something so terrible have been supplying you with desires so alluring?

Giving one last look at the bait in your hands, you scatter it along the path handful by handful as you continue behind the One who leads you. You still have a pain in your stomach and wish for something to satisfy your hunger. Suddenly, the Great and Wonderful One turns to you and reaches into His own pocket.

“What you have done is good”, He says. “It isn’t until you abandon the desires you have collected on your own that you are able to accept the desires that I have to offer you.”

He pulls from his pocket a single desire that is larger and more beautiful than any other you have ever seen.

 “Here, my little one. I have been waiting to give you this!”

 You reach out your hand and carefully take the desire from His. As you hold it up to your mouth, its aroma fills your senses with pleasure. One bite confirms that never before has anything sweeter and more satisfying been consumed by you. As you quickly finish off what the One has given to you, he speaks.

 “My little one, this is not the end of our journey. Darkness still pursues you. Thankfully, you have relinquished your old desires and this journey has made you leaner and stronger. If you can keep up with me, the monster will not overtake you.”

You feel like a new being. The path continues to become narrower and what was once a walk is now more of a climb, but you are able to stay within a distance to be able to see and hear the One.  Suddenly, the Great and Wonderful one comes to a plateau. When you catch up to Him, you see He is resting under a tree. The tree is filled with desires just like the ones you have collected your entire life. He stands and picks one off of the tree and hands it to you. It is as sweet and satisfying as the first desire that He gave to you on the path.

“Great and Wonderful One, why have you brought me here?” you ask.

 He begins pulling more desires from the tree and placing them in His pockets.

“I needed you to see that the desires placed as bait by Darkness come from the same tree as the desires that I give out. The difference is who they come from and what they are used for. The desires I hand out are given to strengthen you and to build a relationship between you me. I only give you the desires that you need and you are ready for. As for Darkness, it freely leaves out desires for anyone to consume. The monster ensures that there are more desires available for you to take than you should ever have. They become a trap to make you more vulnerable when the monster comes to take you and devour you.”

“I have consumed so many of those desires, Great and Wonderful One. Many more than I should have!”

 You hang your head in disgrace.  

“I did not bring you here to condemn you, my little one! I have come to show you the Way! You are to leave this place and do my work.” He hands you a wooden crate and says, “Here! You are to go and collect desires that Darkness has set as bait but do not consume them! Instead, you are to bring them back to me here and lay them at my feet. When you return to me, I will always supply you with the desires you need.”

“What about darkness? Does it not still pursue me?

“Darkness will always pursue you but it has no power over you as long as your desires come only from me. Only if you continue to partake of the desires that the monster sets as bait will Darkness be powerful enough to overcome you. Now go, my little one, and do my work. Collect desires that have been left out as bait and bring them to me. Also, tell others of the Great and Wonderful One who does not consume the desires left out as bait. Tell them to look for me so that I can lead them here as well.”

As you head down the path and begin collecting the bait left out by the monster, you realize that it no longer has the same appeal to you. In fact, as you pick it up and place it in the basket that the Great and Wonderful One gave to you, a tear rolls down your cheek in sadness for those who are still collecting and consuming the bait left as a trap by Darkness. You vow to not fall victim to those desires again and to tell others of the Great and Wonderful One who can supply all the desires you will ever need.

Mike