Short Story

I'm debating about just what to display here. Hmmmmmm....For now I think it will just be this one.

The Wilderness

I found myself wandering in the wilderness - it was wild, hard and unkempt. Beyond many obstacles, I could see a place of wonder. The more I gazed upon it, the more I longed to see it, so it became my goal.


I started out but had to stop - a dark forest and great thorns stopped me in my tracks. I tried to go another way, but I found the way too steep through a deep and gloomy valley. Once more I turned aside, only to be confronted by a vast, looming mountain. I looked again towards my goal, and my heart filled with despair. No matter what I tried, I would not be able to reach that wondrous place - yet determination filled my soul.


A glorious man in white appeared before me, a length of silken cloth in his hand. When he offered to show me the way, I rejoiced at the chance. "What must I do?" I quickly asked of him. I did not like his reply, for he said, "Put this blindfold on, and simply take my hand." I could not do it - I lacked the faith that he could lead me blindly through this land.


Turning back to the forest, I tried to find my own way once again. I stepped into the darkness and pushed forward only to be scratched and torn by many thorns. The man appeared a second time and stood silently before me. I looked at him, turned around, and tried to make it down the valley wall. I slipped and slid, and knew that I would soon fall. Once again the man stood before me, holding out his hand. I did not see how he could help, and for the third time I turned away from him. The mount rose up before me - a behemoth in my path. I grabbed a lip of rock and tried to scale the towering cliff. The rock scraped me again and again - my hands were cut and red. Once more I looked to my goal, then dropped to my knees and wept.


A gentle hand lifted my head, and there was the man once more. There was no judgment in his face - only boundless grace, depthless love, and a reflection of my pain. I took the blindfold from his hand and set it about my head. He took me by the hand and I tentatively followed where he led. Our path did not swerve to right or left, there was no rise or fall. Wonder began to fill my heart at this marvel I could not guess. I could not see it, but at his command the mountain moved aside and left a narrow way. Valleys rose up to meet his feet and forests bent back at a single word.


Suddenly we stopped and the blindfold was removed. I stood at the edge of my goal, and tears of joy filled my eyes. But greater was my wonder when I looked back on our road. Over a land that I never could have passed, he had made a straight and narrow path.


I felt the man's powerful gaze upon me and turned to thank him. "Do you see how much easier it is when you place your faith and trust in me?" he asked. I simply nodded, bowed my head, and worshiped at the feet of my Lord. I did not know it, but all along my goal had been this place before His throne.


-Valerie Reese, March 29, 2004