Thursday
Jun172004
Thursday, June 17, 2004 at 12:01AM
A Parable About Relationships
April 14, 1982 I was 25 and a seminary student in New Orleans. By that time, I had known the pain of a broken heart and the joy of feeling known and loved. This piece is a result of my pondering the subject of reward vs. risk as it applies to relationships.
Relationships: A Parable
Once there was a man who lived in a quaint house in the country. He never ventured out because of his terrible fear of being caught in the rain. Even when it was sunny and clear he opted to remain inside, “A shower can come suddenly and the results would be disastrous,” he reasoned to himself. He was not satisfied with his indoor life either. His small dirty windows could not begin to let in the warm, spring, sunlight. The cheerful songs of birds were hardly noticeable from behind his thick walls of protection. There were flowers to smell and cool, grassy, fields to run, jump, and play in, but these joys were confined to his imagination, “for to be caught in the rain would be devastating,” he thought. His life was mediocre, but safe.
He lived this way for a time, until he could no longer endure his dingy, boring, existence. One day he walked over to the door very slowly. He looked at it for a moment, and then he grabbed the door handle and thrust the door open. At first, the bright sunlight hurt his eyes, but they adjusted quickly and he stepped out into a wonderful world. He was being bombarded with new sensations from every direction. He drew in a fresh measure of clean air and his lungs called for more. He heard children playing and birds singing. He was so caught up with these new sensations that he did not realize he was a fair distance from the protection of his home, but he did not care for by now he was running and jumping in a beautiful grassy, field. When he was out of breath he laid down in the cool grass and looked up at the mammoth, cotton like, fluffy, clouds as they sailed across the deep, blue sky. One of the clouds looked like a sheep and another resembled a castle. The one that looked like the sheep began to take on the shape of a big white rabbit. When it had hopped across the spring sky, the man sat up and noticed a yellow butterfly zigzagging and fluttering about the tall, luscious, grass that waved back and forth as the gentle breeze dictated. Then he thought to himself, “How wonderful is the world.”
By now he felt so calm and relaxed that he fell asleep happier than he had ever been. In the west, storm clouds were forming and he did not notice the happy sky evolve into a dark, scary one. When he awoke, he sensed something different, but he was not sure what was wrong. As the sleep slowly cleared from his eyes, a knife blade of fear raced through his insides and he began to panic. The big, yellow butterfly was no longer fluttering around the grass which was now laid almost flat because of the breeze which was no longer gentle. There were no sounds of children playing or birds singing. With all the strength he could muster, he ran for his house of protection. He was still tired and groggy and this caused him to trip over a tree root sending his sprawling headlong on to the ground. He got up and continued running, but it was too late. By now the rain began to fall like water being poured from a bucket and the big drops stung his face. It was much worse than he had ever imagined it would be. When he finally made it inside his house he just stood there sobbing. He was cold, wet, and devastated. He was sorry he had ever gone outside.
The days and weeks went by and in time the pain passed too, but it was a long slow process. He would reflect and think of the joy he had once experienced – he longed for the happiness of the grassy field.
One day he walked over to the door very slowly. He looked at it for a moment then he grabbed the door handle. . .
How does the story end? The ending is written by you. Will you open the door or will you stay inside?
Until the next time
John Strain