Written and posted by Jean-Louis
WELCOME TO THE HOME OF MIRAGES AND THE HORNED VIPER
To read the preceding chapter,
click: Here
Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
If a snake bites before it is charmed,
the charmer receives no fee.
Eccl 10: 8-11
To
the angel of the church in Laodicea write:These are the words of the
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 17 You
say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But
you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and
naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you
can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your
shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Revelation 3:14: 17, 18.
Revelation 3:14: 17, 18.
AN UNUSUAL CONVERSATION
Third Episode
Early
in the morning Theophilus wakes up grumpy. After a night of disturbing
dreams, he gets up and through his barely opened eyelids, he is able to
make out the fuzzy silhouetteof a strange vision cut out on the
background of an intense blue sky. Refusing to believe his weakened eye
sight, he rubs his eyes trying to get a better focus on the scene.
“Good morning Theophilus. I hope you had a good night sleep”.
Now,
he couldn’t believe what he heard. There at only a few feet distance,
planted in the desert sand what appeared to be a tree or more exactly a
cactus stood up, resembling the ones he had seen in the science books of
his childhood.
Completely
taken aback, his first reaction is to think: It is not happening. If I
told my family and my friends, they would lock me up in a psychiatric
ward. I must be hallucinating or I am seeing a mirage”.
-- Calm down, reassured Joshua who had read his thoughts, you are not going crazy. You can tell that I am real, can’t you? Are you bothered by my talking? Of course, it is a bit unnerving; your world is different and I can understand your reaction.
Relieved
that after all he was not crazy -- who wants to look for lost marbles
in the middle of the sandy desert floor without help from anyone? —
Theophilus replied:
-- Are you kidding? As if it were natural to accept that a Joshua tree has the gift of speech, that he could care about a man and discuss things about which he does not have the slightest idea. Then, he remembered the preceding night’s conversation and blushed in shame at the thought that he had carried a conversation with a cactus in the desert. He had a furtive glance around to make sure that nobody had been a witness to this absurdly surreal scene.
Josh:
-- You are right. I like to kid around. Well, then. Tell me the story
of your life. I see you are passionate about adventure travels trying to
find yourself. And how are you going to know if you finally found
yourself if in the first place you don’t know who you are and what you
look like?
Theo:
-- Hey, watch it! You start annoying me. What about you? What do you
look like? You can be proud of yourself, you found yourself, indeed,
didn’t you? What a beautiful place to spend the rest of your life!
Congratulations! Your master must be very proud of you. Tell me again,
why can’t you speak clearly like everyone else?
--
Because you don’t have enough wisdom to understand the words of my
master. But you are right. He is the one who gave me this responsibility
which I am handling in the best way and also keeping his word. One day,
when you meet him, you will understand.
--
I knew it! It is you who are incapable of intelligent reasoning. You
are hiding behind someone else teaching. You cannot even have an
original thought.
--
Ouch, Touché! But I forgive you. You have lost your way, you are not
seeing clearly because your center of vision comes from Lao d’Sé. You
believed in their remedies for your illness, didn’t you? Well, you can
see the result. Now you see double!
-- It’s not true! I didn’t drink anything, I assure you.
--
It’s not a question of drinking. On your way, did you meet a sand viper
with two horns that lies in wait for its victims and poisons them
surreptitiously? The poison weakens their vision until they become
incapable of telling the difference between reality and their own
erroneous perceptions. For example, they are poor but believe that are
rich, they think that darkness is light and are convinced that evil is
good. The worst part is that they don’t realize that they are deceived
because of the serpent’s power in his subtlety and his many disguises.
--
Rubbish! All this is philosophy! As for me, I have more pressing needs.
I want to get out of this blasted desert to go back to my world where
the cacti don’t talk nonsense about spells to people in dire need of
help.
-- Well, then, I am ready to help you. Where are you going? What are you looking for?
-- Come on, it’s obvious! I want to go back where I come from and I am looking for the exit door.
--
Yes, of course, they all say the same thing. But there is a slight
hitch; here as you know, we are in the desert. This is a very different
place. People that are lost need a guide. But there is no way back and
to get out of the desert, one has to go not through an exit door, for
no such door exists, but through an entrance doorway. This is why my
Master placed me on your path.
--
Not again, please. You are not going to bother me with your master.
What can he do for me? Sell me a camel or a flying carpet? Or offer me a
lamp with a genie inside? Does he live in an oasis nearby where he
sells maps of the desert?
--
None of it. And by the way, the camel is too big, for the entrance door
is very small. And He is the one who has the keys. He does not sell
anything, but He alone can satisfy your thirst and your hunger, and give
you new clothes that do not wear out. Moreover, he can heal you of your
disease and restore your sight so that you will not lose your way
again.
--
Stop making fun of me. Nobody is that generous a giver. There is no
freebie in this world. Everything has a price, that’s the law. I simply
need to gain my strength back, and find a pharmacy where I can buy some
salve for my eyes that are irritated by this blasted sand.
--
I am afraid that your condition is a little more serious than you
think. But you are not well enough yet to meet my Master. Get some rest
in my shade and later, I will take care of your heart which right now is
your most urgent concern. We will continue our chat once you feel
better. Tomorrow, you will meet my brother who will help you find the
Master of the Joshua trees.
My friends, take care until our next encounter.
Jean-Louis
To continue reading the next episode click: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2011/07/the-joshua-tree-desert-parable.html
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