by BobA. Troutt
*****
Sycamore Tales
Other Side of Nowhere
(A Parable)
There came a time, in the land of Wuz, when an old man left and took a far away journey to the other side of nowhere. The people of Wuz, the land of Wuz and Nowhere lay beyond the shadows of the mountains in the valley of No More. The Lord guided the old man’s steps through the Naked Desert and the Forgotten Forest that dwelt not too far from Wuz. In the Naked Desert dwelt the Wuznots. The land was barren since the Lord had held back the rain; it had not rained in the desert for three years.
There was a place in the desert where the Wuznots went to pray. Each day they would come and go, some came from far off and others came from near. The old man saw that the Wuznots were good; he prayed with them and then left for Nowhere. As he left the Naked Desert, he stopped and looked back over it. In the sky he saw a dark cloud, about the size of a man’s hand, full of rain. Then there came the sound of thunder and a flash of light lit up the sky. The Wuznots praised the Lord for the rain.
The journey of the old man carried him to the Forgotten Forest where there was no light. The trees were so thick that the lights from Heaven couldn’t shine through to the forest, so the forest stayed dark because of the lack of light. The people who dwelt there were Forget-me-nots. They got their name from the flowers they grew. But as the years went by, the forest grew so thick that it shut out all the light to the forget-me-nots and they could not grow. It came to pass, in the land of darkness, the Forget-me-nots prayed each day unto the Lord for light to peer through the darkness so the forget-me-nots could grow. The old man saw that everything was good. He saw the love in their beauty and he told the Lord that they were good. It came to pass that the old man prayed in the Forgotten Forest. He prayed that the Lord would divide the light between the forget-me-not flowers so they could grow and the Forget-me-not people so they could pray and see the light. After seven days, the light appeared in the Forgotten Forest. All the Forget-me-nots and the old man praised the Lord and exclaimed that everything was good. The light came as fire burning its way through the timbers and left behind a trail of light. After seven more days, the forget-me-nots bloomed and the sweet smell of the flowers traveled through the forest. The Forget-me-nots were forgotten no more.
There would be many days that would come to pass before the old man reached the shadows of the mountains in the valley of No More. A strong wind drove him; it guided his steps to where he was going, the other side of Nowhere. As the wind became still, the travels of the old man came to a halt at the foot of the mountains in the shadows of the valley of No More. Carefully, he looked up at the giant, silent beast that stood before him. He looked to the left and then to the right for the direction he should go. He was faced with three roads from which to choose. He brought it upon himself to choose the choice he chose. As he walked to the left, he looked up the road and saw three goats standing in the path of his way. Then he looked to the right and there stood a big black bear that was foaming at the mouth standing in the path of his way. That’s when he remembered he had forgotten to pray. He immediately asked the Lord to forgive him for not seeking his will. After his repenting prayers, the old man looked back to the left and the goats were gone; he looked to the right and the big black bear had also disappeared. He paused for a moment and listened to the still voice that came from within the mountains. The old man walked straight and narrow down the middle of his journeys path. After a while, he came upon a creek that flowed wild and free through the mountain. There in the shallow of the creek laid twelve stones that allowed him to cross the flowing water. As he stepped on each stone, step by step, he never tilted from side to side nor did he step off the path a step or two. He prayed and made it to the other side. When he crossed the creek, he did nothing. He saw an old bridge that someone had burned some time ago. The charred boards and planks lay in the creek bed with the nails covered in rust. Some of the bridge laid covered with mud while the other was buried in the creek bed. The old man wondered how many had crossed the bridge, how many people had burned it and how many bridges were still left to burn.
The people who lived in the mountains of the shadows of the valley of No More were called Lost. They lived in the caves of the mountains and in the cracks and crannies of the cliffs. The Lost had nowhere to go, nor any way of going back. They were hard workers; they dug tunnels through the mountains. Yet, they were still lost, searching and looking for a way to be found. However, they had no time for the Lord since they were too busy digging tunnels searching not for what they needed but looking for what they could not find. The old man watched them for days and days. The Lost knew that something was missing in their hearts and lives. The old man tarried there for a season and let his light so shine that the Lost would become aware of how they stood and what they needed. The example the old man set opened up their hearts and eyes unto the Lord. And one day a blessing came to them and set them free from the bondage that held them captive. Through the blood of the lamb on the wings of a dove, the Lost were set free through their many prayers and the prayers of the old man. The Lord changed their name from Lost to Found. That very day, the Lord smiled and placed a bow across the sky. The emptiness in them was filled with the Lord’s Spirit that took them to their new home beyond the tip of the mountains of the shadows of the valley of No More. The Found prayed daily unto the Lord and read his Word that became an instrumental plumb line for them to live by.
In the mountains of the shadows of No More was a path from No More to Nowhere. As it was, the passage way was straight and narrow until the other side when the way became wide and broad. On the other side of Nowhere there was plenty of rain and light. The people who dwelt there were called Nothings. They were Nothings doing nothing and all that they did do was worthless. The Nothings were blind and could not see. They roamed here and there in the land of Nowhere. The land was corrupt, diseased and withered. It was bitter as gall and the wind stayed angry. After a while, the rains and the light were cut off; the land lay in waste and their needs went unfilled. The ground was hard, dry and cracked. The bitterness in the wind scorched the ground so that not even a weed would grow. As far as the old man could see, there were Nothings doing nothing that didn’t amount to anything. The moon was the light and the stars had fallen from the sky. At night a devilish chill roamed the land until the break of day. Slowly, the moon would hide behind the clouds as nothing happened. The Nothings carried on with nothing in the land of Nowhere. Sin was abounding upon every hand; wars, murders, rapes, and adultery took a toll. Drugs and immoral sex lives conquered every being of Nowhere. The Nothings took it all and left none behind for they were guided by the spirit of darkness that hung over them like a dark cloud. When the old man prayed, he looked and saw above their heads a cobweb intertwined with negative thoughts and hopeless dreams.
“My God, my God,” the old man cried, “is there no hope or way for them this day?”
The Lord spoke not a word but eventually said, “Old man, don’t tarry too long unless you plan to become a Nothing too.”
But, the old man pleaded with the Lord. He said, “But, Lord, if I find one who shall turn away would that not bring hope? Maybe I can find 40, 30, 20, 10 or one; wouldn’t just one be worth it, I say.”
“Find me one, old man, amongst the Nothings of Nowhere and I’ll see how true your love is to me. But remember, don’t tarry long or you will be a Nothing in the land of Nowhere.”
The old man roamed and searched the city as he cried out, “Would there be one to set an example and come to the Lord? Only one it will take for the others to follow. I’m sure they will for God is great, merciful and is love.”
But, the more he cried, the Nothings changed not. The young and the old stood naked and shameless. It all had become their way of life, accepted from generation to generation. Nothing would ever change; it was all hopeless.
As the ti
me passed, the old man began to fall weak. He had been too long out of the light and his faith was tarnished with doubt and unbelief. He tried to make it back to the passage but it appeared he had stayed too long. Slowly, his thoughts became mangled, his eyes lost their twinkle and his desire to go was slowly changing. Then out of the darkness the old man heard a voice.
“Lord, is that you? My Lord,” he said with the last tear in his eye.
“I see you have found one,” said the Lord.
“Oh, no, oh, no, my Lord, I have found not one.”
“Yes, my son, you have one,” replied the Lord.
“I beg you,” my Lord, “whom is this one I am supposed to have found?”
The Lord replied, “It’s you.”
The old man began to cry and so did the Nothings who hadn’t cried in a long time. The Lord parted the darkness and there was light. The scales fell from the eyes of the Nothings; they were able to see the glory of God, his son Jesus and the power of his might.
“But how, Lord? How could this be?” asked the old man.
“All they needed was for one to step out and show them the way. I used you as my instrument to spread hope to them this day. Your faith, patience and love that you showed was the key I needed to touch their hearts and spare their souls.”
The Lord blessed their land and changed their name from Nothing to Something. All was well on the other side of Nowhere where the sun is the light of the day. The old man cried out this time with joy in his soul.
The old man shouted out with joy, “Lord, it is good. Ain’t they something!”
The Lord looked down from Heaven and replied, “Amen, my son. Yes, it is good. They are something.”
The old man accomplished what he set out to do so he returned to Wuz.
