Thursday, May 04, 2006

A parable to read in the dark... What do you think it means?

A while back I heard this story about a young women named Kerry. She was visiting California from back east on business and had finally landed a deal with some new clients. On the last night of her visit she and a few of her associates had thrown a small dinner party to celebrate at a little restaurant away off the beaten path. At last the dinner was over and every one had left, save for Kerry and a friend who consequently lived about a mile away. Her friend had offered to lead her to the freeway but she declined thinking it couldn’t be too hard to find the way back.
But it was late and Kerry was not familiar with the area. She had had to follow her friends out there just to find the place. So it was no surprise that by 11:30 she was completely turned around and lost. She was deep in the boonies on some forgotten country road under a moonless winter sky when her rental car started to sputter suffering from a sticky gas gauge (an empty tank). Even as she pulled over to the side of the road the car gave out completely and would not start up again, try as she may.
She was tired, frustrated, a little scared and very alone. She jumped out of the car to see if she could maybe catch a signal on her cell. but all to no avail. The icy cold wind sent a chill down her spine. She could see her breath in the dim green glow of her phone light as she read the time: 11:55.
Then she felt another chill, but not from the cold. In the dark, in the quiet, Kerry suddenly felt that she was not alone. She felt like she was being watched. She heard a rustle in the bushes. Turning around, to her great horror, she saw the tall figure of a man rise up from the bush across the street.
As the man moved towards her she could see that he was obviously homeless and was hobbling along. His clothes were torn and dirty and his hood was pulled up over his head. She was overcome with fear and screamed as she ran back to the car.
The man suddenly lunged toward her, stumbling as he ran. Kerry quickly got into the car, locked the door and crawled into the passenger seat. The man started banging on the window and the hood of the car yelling and carrying on. Kerry was terrified but there was nothing she could do. Finally it seemed that he had given up, but through the glass he stared her right in the eye with the oddest look. She watched him as he hobbled off down the road, his back lit by the headlights.
But panic gripped her heart once again when she saw him stoop down to pick up a large rock with both hands. "Just go away! Leave me alone!" she screamed.
Quickly stumbling back, he smashed through the driver’s side door window with the rock. Then opening the door he grabbed Kerry by the legs and started pulling her out, meeting with no small amount of resistance. She was kicking and screaming and crying and grabbing for anything she could: the seats, the steering wheel, anything. But she couldn’t hold on. Finally she grabbed the frame of the window the man had smashed out.
But as she kicked against him her grip was loosened and her fingers slipped free of the car and she fell to the ground. The man quickly dragged her away from the car towards some bushes across the road. Suddenly the two of them were illuminated by a bright blinding light, their ears ringing with the blaring of a horn.
At last the man let go of her legs and fell to his knees as Kerry watched the midnight train plow through the rental which had died on the train tracks. She shot a scared and confused look at the man whom she thought was her attacker.
Panting, he said "That’s what I was tryin ta tell ya lady, the train was comin!"
Exhausted and relieved he sprawled out on his back while Kerry’s mind was left to make sense of what had just happened…

1 comment:

Jacob Loofbourrow said...

This short story was writen sometime in 2003 or 2004. one night as i was surfing the idiot box i stumbled upon this short film. at the time i was preparing for the first bible study i had taught in a long time. it was on the purpose of escatology from a dispenational perspective. that being evagelism. i thought that this story would exliplify my point so i put it into my own words and used it. but i neglected to share the meaning hopeing the kids would understand. maybe they did maybe they didn't but they liked the story. it was the only time i think i ever had thier full undivided attention. perhaps thats why Jesus was so intent on useing parables.