Once upon a time there was a young man who served a wise and
kind Master. Although the young man worked hard in the house of his Master, he
was given everything he needed to be comfortable, and he was very happy.
One day
the Master called the young man to him and gave him an important errand. The
young man was to deliver some items to a neighboring kingdom. The Master laid a
pack on the young man’s back and began to fill it. As the pack became heavy,
the young man asked, “Could I not have a donkey to carry this heavy load?”
The
Master said no.
The
young man was disheartened as his pack continued to grow heavier and heavier.
“May I not have a companion to shoulder half the load, sir?” he cried.
The
Master seemed to have kindness in his eyes, but he again said no. It seemed
that the young man would have to shoulder this burden alone.
At
length the young man was left by himself with his heavy pack, and he had no
choice but to start out on the road to the neighboring kingdom. As he walked,
his shoulders soon grew sore and his feet grew weary, and he began to wonder if
he had misread his Master all these years, for this errand seemed nothing but
cruel. Why could a donkey not be provided?!
Certainly there was no good reason the young man could not have some
help with this burden, and the unfairness of it all threatened to overwhelm his
heart with bitterness.
As he
plodded along, his back bent further and further under the weight of his pack.
Soon he was doubled over and could see nothing but his sandaled feet and the
dirt road beneath them. His discouragement grew, and hot tears streaked down
his cheeks. His back and shoulders burned with searing pain, and relief seemed many
miles down the road. Surely he could not endure.
In his
despair, the young man remembered some simple advice he had once heard, “It is
better to look up.”
The
young man could not do much in his circumstances, but he decided he could do
this. With great effort, he craned his neck under his burden so that he could
look up and at least enjoy the sun and clouds above him while he walked. But
when his eyes lifted, he was greeted by a shocking sight. The road he was
plodding down had led him into a wilderness area, and instead of the beautiful
clouds and sunshine he was expecting, he found he was surrounded by black and
barren trees. Not a single leaf graced the trees. Instead, they were full of
dead branches that stuck out in sharp points above his
hunched back. Hideous, demonic birds
were flying around, screeching, and when they saw the young man’s eyes they
flew straight for them, determined, it seemed, to peck them right out of his
head.
The
young man gasped and quickly turned his head back down to the dirt. He wondered
how he had been walking through this terrible place without fear, when he
realized it was his pack. That heavy, heavy pack that had seemed such a burden
to him was actually keeping him safe. By keeping his back bent low under the
weight, the young man had avoided all the sharp branches and pointy beaks of
this dangerous area.
With
sudden insight, he realized that his Master was, indeed, kind and wise. Had he
given the young man the donkey he begged for, he would have walked this road with
his back upright, and would likely have lost an eye on this journey, or worse. The young man realized with quiet awe that His
Master knew this road, and loved him enough to keep him safe.
The
young man continued his walk, but now his step was lighter, for he carried in
his heart a deep gratitude for the pack on his back that he had once considered
a burden.
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