The Totem Pole
The first will be last, and the last will be first. Along the shores of British Columbia you can find totem poles among Indian villages, beside their great lodges, or along the shore. The animals of a totem pole are special to the people of that village. One village was very poor, and no animals had come to be their totem pole. The villagers were sad, and their eyes had no joy because they had no totems. Many of the animals knew about it, and finally a bear decided that if no one else were going to be these…
The Prisoner Who Set Himself Free
When you forgive someone, you set a prisoner free—yourself. The jailer sat by the prison cell door. He glumly looked at the man inside, who abruptly turned his head away and folded his arms. The jailer said to the prisoner, “You need to let me go.” “No!” snapped the prisoner from behind the iron bars of the cold, gray cell. The thick stone walls afforded only a tiny window that peeked out to the surrounding world. “Please let me go! You must,” the jailer insisted. “Why should I?” demanded the prisoner. “Because there’s no use carrying on like this….
The Party
Better to enjoy God than to serve him while in fact ignoring him. The steward stood beside the king in the castle tower, as they surveyed the hills and valleys of the kingdom. The king turned to him. “I still tingle at the pain and the joy of the time I saved my people from the invader who would have enslaved them. The one thing I have yet to do is celebrate.” The steward nodded. “Celebration, a very good thing.” They walked down to the castle grounds, where the king paced the manicured lawn. “Steward, my victory calls for…
The Knobby Spruce
However bad we may feel about ourselves, we are special to God and have a special place. Along the forested shores of the Great Lakes stand vast tracts of spruce and birch. Every few years swarms of insects hatch, fly around a while, then bore holes through tree bark to lay their eggs for the next generation. They like spruce trees best. And they all go to the same tree. One spruce formed her branches in almost a perfect cone. She stood so proud of her shapely green shades. The other trees were envious, and that made the spruce…
The God Store
You can’t keep God in a box. Half way down Main Street was an old, famous store, a community landmark for as long as anyone could remember. A white marble colonnade adorned the front, and inside were the most amazing goods for sale. It was The God Store. Almost everyone had been to the God Store and bought something at one time or other. Satisfied customers only bought once. If they went back it was just to show their friends or to browse and see what was new. Other customers, never satisfied, went back again and again to buy…
