There once was a small city situated in a lush countryside whose citizens lived a simple yet comfortable existence. They mostly did whatever they desired, and no one really ever thought twice about it. A powerful, forceful tyrant ruled over them. He was not. kind and generous, but the people never lacked for food or earthly delights; so for generations, they mostly endured the hardness of their leader as one who provided for them at his will. The citizens never considered that their existence could be better or worse. What they saw in all the cities in the country side appeared very similar to their own living. The city’s name was Mansheart, and for them each day was as the next. One day, a tinker passed through the city carrying with him a message none had heard before. His message was a simple yet what he declared would shake Mansheart with fear and uncertainty. He declared unto them with many words, symbols, and prophets that their comfortable existence was neither due to their own ingenuity nor the leadership of the dictator of the land. This simple tinker explained to these poor unaware citizens that long ago, a Great One had given life to their fair city. He had built their walls. He had provided their warmth. Indeed the Great One alone was responsible for Mansheart’s very existence. He showed them that it was the rebellion of their parentage that had brought them to this country and that the tyrant whom they served cared nothing for them, but only his own ego and ease. Moreover, that old tyrant deceived them with promises of temporal delights, but could truly provide them nothing but death. Due to both Mansheart’s ancestral rebellion and her continued ignorance of the chief men of that city, their wages were payable only by death and the destruction of the city. Most laughed at the tinker. The thought of being made by a Great One so many years ago was ludicrous. They scoffed “Who is the fool? We all know that the greatness of this fair city is due to our ingenuity and happen-stance.” “Besides, our Great Leader, he has told us that we are the greatest city in the countryside.” Not dissuaded by their incredulity and rudeness, the tinker showed them the demands of the Great One. Now, we already have heard in our story that many of them scoffed, but some did listen-mainly Conscience and True-Knowledge, two chief men of the city. But even those who scoffed were troubled when they began to see the writing on stones that showed them the perfect character of the Great One and the demands he placed upon all the cities he had built and now sustained. Little did the citizens of the city know, but their fair city would never be the same. The next morning, they rose from their houses, did their daily duties always certain to obey the orders of the tyrant, living as if nothing had happened. But for some, the words on the tablet burned in their minds and hearts. Even though they were not consumed by this burning, some began to wish for it as the fire of truth singed deeply. Those who considered the words of the tinker, began to notice the birds, the flowers, the rain, the snow, the seasons changing, and various mercies of nature–this made them consider that maybe there was a “Great One.” They began to also realize that the laws given them by their tyrant seemed to contradict clearly the laws of the Great One they had read earlier. “How could this be?” they pondered “Could everything we have known till now be untrue?” Thus the inner part of the city began to burn as two brothers in the city, Guilt and Shameful mourned in the streets. Some in the city sought to shut up Guilt and Shameful’s woeful laments by hosting parties and increasing the delights stemming from without the city walls. Others sought to appease Guilt and Shameful by attempting as much as possible to go ahead and obey the Laws of the Great One, but this was very difficult and only made Guilt and Shameful weep even more. Keeping the Great One’s laws only discouraged the city more. Two things happened when they began to conduct their souls to obey the laws of the Great One. Firstly, the powerful tyrant who ruled that city with a fist of iron sent his operatives–his generals– to make a public show of the rebellious citizens. He reminded them daily through blatant shows of force and prowess that they most assuredly served only him and his laws! These citizens now began to fear both the tyrant and the Great One. The citizens thought with eloquent means to serve both laws, but with great futility it was revealed. Secondly, their efforts to keep the Great One’s laws proved not only futile, but in truth, their feeble attempts to appease the Great One by strength of their obedience tended only to stir up their own angst and passions to break his laws further. What were they to do? Some had come to the point of despairing of life, knowing that the way of the city ruler tended only toward death and corruption, but knowing also that they were powerless to truly maintain the perfect standard set by the Great One. They found themselves at a loss, but another effort to maintain sanity was bubbling in Mansheart. They began to build all manners of worship houses, community districts, and charitable organizations intended to appease the Great One and his inescapable words of condemnation taught by the tinker (but chiefly they sought to shut up Guilt and Shameful) . The evil tyrant saw their activities but realized that as long as they were preoccupied with their houses of worship, their attention to deeds, their incessant rituals, and their charitable acts his authority was under no danger of being overtaken. Besides, the chief man of the city, Willing was more than happy to urge his fellows-citizens to live submissive to both the tyrant’s rules while going to their communities and services for worship from time to time. He knew he was still in control, so he allowed them these tokens of worship, they were still his possessions after all and they must serve him…and they knew this as well and thus they were miserable punctuated with moments of mirth to cover their misery.
To be continued…
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