Once upon a time, in a land not very far away there was a small town, nestled in brown rolling hills and oak trees, inhabited with mostly happy people who got along with each other and with neighboring cities. Gardens were planted, golf was played, churches attended, businesses thrived, and many a feast was eaten; that is until the day of the great let down. On that day the banks, money changers, manipulators, and Federal Regulators let everyone down: and so the Great Recession began. Every town had lived through recessions in the past, but nothing had been seen in decades like the Great Recession. Where once flowers had grown on the land between the lanes of traffic now stood people with cardboard signs asking for work or food. Stores, restaurants and shops all over the land closed their doors, leaving many people without a way to care for their family. When people could not pay their mortgage, the same banks from the great let down threw the people to the street. Families cried, asking their leaders for help.
Now the small city in the rolling brown hills was located in the biggest state in the entire kingdom, where many people lived and worked. And that great state was a part of the richest kingdom on the planet, with vast resources and millions of people. So the city leaders called upon the brilliant minds of the great state to help solve their problem of unemployment, sadness, and loss of faith in the government. When the leaders in the great state looked in the treasury for money to help, they only found a note reading, “IOU.” It seemed the leaders of the great state had squandered all the people’s money on foolish programs and high living, even going so far as to borrow money they did not have against income they had not earned. In the state capital many fingers were pointed, and voices grew loud, but no problems were solved, and no help was given. So the leaders of the great state called upon the leaders of the great kingdom for help, because surely those great minds were capable of helping the people in the great state, and the city with the brown rolling hills.
But when the leaders of the great kingdom went to the royal treasury they were shocked to find dozens and dozens of “IOU’s” and no money at all. The leaders of the great kingdom had squandered all the people’s money on foolish programs and high living, and they did not know how to solve the problems of unemployment, sadness and loss of faith in government – yet they told the people that they had a plan.
Other people from across the land held up the ancient Book of Scripture and said, “Learn from the master of old, He can tell us through His book how to solve our problems. He will tell us how to live in peace and happiness again.” But the leaders of the kingdom, the great state and the city with rolling brown hills said, “No! We cannot use the ways in the Book of Scripture, for we might cause insult to a few, and they would not vote for us. We can solve all our problems on our own. We have a plan.”
So the problems of the great kingdom, the great state and the city with brown rolling hills remain, even though many people urged their leaders to consult the Book of Scripture, the leaders’ believe that their ways are better than His ways. Or perhaps the leaders are too afraid of the few to embrace the One.
No matter how big or small the problem, absent faith and belief in God, the solution will always be less that it could be, and farther away than it should be.
Thanks for reading.
Your fairytale would be more entertaining if it were FICITON. But it’s NON-FICTION, and that’s sad, so sad. However, you wrote it in a simple manner, a manner even the most “brilliant” of minds might understand. Let’s hope they are listening.
Clarice – One can only hope that our brilliant leaders are listening; but alas, probably not. I am very pleased that you still are………..Thanks.
The great leaders should listen to you, they would learn a lot.