The Path
In a time
That was very much like our own
There lived a girl.
She had heard of a path-
One that seemed to whisper to her
But she did not know that
Countless lost
Had heard it speak
And had become found.
This path was
Narrow, but straight.
She thought to herself:
This
path
is
too
hard
For me.
Not knowing that the only thing she would have to do
Was walk on the path
With a special guide that would help her with
everything
that
she
needed.
She took one step, then another
Onto this path.
It was only like a soft
Twitter of a bird, the way that it spoke
But the voice was sweeter than the sweetest candy.
Suddenly, though,
In the middle of its song
Was the most unwelcome interruption.
She
Failed to recognize
That this other noise
Was actually
the most horrid,
deafening
screech.
For if she had,
She would have covered her ears
And fled.
The scream
Filled her eardrums.
It fascinated her.
But she knew
That something about that
Distorted cry
Was off.
The enticement was too much
For her.
So instead of stepping forward,
She looked back.
Then,
She stepped back.
In the distance,
She saw a wide path.
It looked so different
from the path
That she had walked on.
It was paved with gold,
The finest silver,
The shiniest diamonds.
She thought that
It was simply beautiful
And oh!
so easy
To pass through.
And so it began.
She moseyed through this
Wide passageway,
And looked around her.
Her eyes liked what she saw-
Beautiful
flowers,
Wonderful
birds.
It seemed to be full of light
And life.
But all of a sudden,
She noticed something
strange.
As she ventured further and further
through this path,
Things began to change.
With every step,
The gold turned to lead,
The silver turned to coal,
And the diamonds
to ashes.
The grass
Once looking so green and vibrant
withered.
And the flowers
turned black
And vanished like smoke.
The birds’ song
No longer pleased her ears
And soon enough
the birds too
Fell to the ground
And died.
She sped along,
Thinking that this was just
A dark patch
In a quilt that she thought to be
made of
all sunlight.
But there was no end in sight
To this seemingly sudden
End of loveliness.
She sighed
And paused for
just a few seconds,
Closing her eyes
As she did.
She opened them.
All at once
She realized
That it was pitch black.
She could see nothing
in
the
slightest.
She gasped.
“Had it been like this all along?”
She found that those words
Leaving her mouth
were true
Though she hadn’t realized it.
Yes, indeed, she saw around her
Only darkness.
All that was on her mind
Was to find the light
That she had lost.
She turned on her heel
And walked.
As she got farther
And farther
From that wide path
She heard a noise.
At first, it was like the breath of the wind.
But as she got closer,
She found that it was familiar
To her.
She just could not
shake that feeling.
Then she realized that it sounded like the twitter of a bird.
This time, it felt
Like a pin
That would not stop pricking her
over
and
over
Again.
Until she could take it
no longer.
So she went even further
From that wide path,
Finding that as she did
She felt oddly peaceful
And the twitter
That had pricked her
sounded sweet
once again.
And then she saw it-
The narrow, straight path.
She decided
That she would walk this path once again
This time, going further
Than ever she had.
To her, it looked
Nowhere as beautiful
As the wide, broad path.
But she kept going.
She fell countless times.
All of her attempts
seemed to be in vain.
And, soon, she could not rise.
From her eyes flowed rivers
and her legs turned to flames.
Her shivers and shakes
Could not,
Would not,
be tamed.
But then she felt something different.
A tap on her shoulder.
She looked up
And there He was.
She had known
That He was real
But somehow, her mind
had
twisted
and
turned
Him
into a fable.
It was the special guide
That she had heard of
But had never acknowledged.
“What shall I do to escape this fate?”
she asked Him.
“For if I walk on the wide path, it is darkness. And even here, I feel no light!”
The guide
stared at her
in such a way
that she found that she
was unable
to hold His gaze.
She expected Him to shake his head
and disappear, like the beauty
of the wide path
had.
But instead
He smiled
and held out His hand
to her.
He said only a few words to her
But they were
More valuable
Than a million.
“Follow me,”
He said.
“And you shall find the light that you seek.”
So she took His hand
and He pulled her up
and He walked with her.
When she let Him do so, her surroundings began to change.
There were flowers there
More beautiful than the ones
Lining the wide path.
And the sky smiled down at her.
She looked back,
And found
That the beauty
was unchanging
And it was faithful
And it was true.
The girl was in awe.
She asked her guide,
“How have my eyes deceived me so?”
He looked at her and said,
“Because your heart was blind to the truth, you would not seek Me. Now you see the truth, and so the veil of darkness has been removed from your eyes.”
She was speechless.
And so the girl grew
Following her guide.
Sometimes she expected Him
to fail
But he never once did.
One day, He
Asked her
A question
As she looked back
and admired how far
She had come.
“Exactly how far could you have gone on your own? Tell me, would you have been able to endure as you were?”
She stopped
And realized an undeniable
Truth.
“I could not have risen, nor could I have continued if You had not been there to guide me.”
He nodded and smiled at her,
as
warm
as
a
hug.
Gently,
Yet firmly,
He said,
“Don’t you ever forget that,
My child.
Know that truth
Now and forever.”