The Dream

Many many many years ago (that was a lot of many). In a place called Earthliness, was a fruit farmer. One night he dreamt of fruits harvest.

In his dream, the very first tree he visited had a fruit already bitten by an animal. He wanted to turn away and gather only the good and clean fruits but the aroma oozing out of the fruit was too inviting to ignore. So to himself he said, "I will eat this fruit right after gathering all the fruits on this half of the field. It is not badly bitten". He placed the bitten fruit in one of the baskets, and went on to harvest forty baskets of very good and clean many different types of fruits.

The other side of his fruits field was very much unlike the previous. Wild animals and insects invaded the fruits, eating and destroying them. He decided to gather the spoils of his field nevertheless. He gathered forty baskets of bitten and rotted fruits except for the very last tree which had an uneaten fruit. He was amazed at this, and said, "I will replace the bitten fruit from my first harvest with his good fruit." He placed it in a basket among the rotted fruits nevertheless.

When he returned to collect the fruits and take to his barn, he noticed that the forty baskets of good fruit had all become rotten, and the forty baskets of rotten fruits all turned good.

So he woke up.

MEANING OF THE DREAM

The first bitten fruit = Adam

Oozing aroma = Sin

Wild animal and insects = Satan

Last tree's uneaten fruit = Jesus Christ

"Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command,...

...For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!"  -Roman 5:14-15

The Architect


An architect once lived and had a dream. He dreamt that God instructed him to draw a house plan from which many houses would be designed. He was given specific instructions from start to finish in his dream, and it was to be painted blue. 

The man woke up the next morning greatly disturbed by his dream. He knew how impossible it would be to make the people believe him, and then accept his design as a road-map for all urban houses. 

He told his wife the dream and she encouraged him to do as God instructed. And so he did the design. When he was finished, he went to the city authority for urban constructions and had a meeting with them. They all laughed and made light jokes of his dream. Then he showed them the already made house design. Astonishingly, the chief architect of the city said, "All the while you lived in this town, you have never had a successful career. I foresee that this is a scheme to make a breakthrough in you failed career, but you will find it impossicant as long as I am head of the urban architects. You will not get money from this nor fame." But the man pleaded with them, and they did not listen.

The man also went to the churches and he explained what he was told in his dream. The churches laughed at him saying, "If God had a message, He would have told us through a priest or pastor or bishop, or someone spiritually discerning, but not you." Everywhere he went and told his story, they would not heed.

He finally decided to build the house himself. It took him years to build. He sold his car, farmland, personal belongings, animals, and everything he could possibly sell to complete the house.

Finally, it was completed. It stood nice and blue on a lane of the main boulevard entering the township. A week later, he kicked the bucket.  

The township was sadden. Even though he was a bother to them about his dream, his death was not worth celebrating. His funeral was scheduled to be held at his newly constructed house.

At the funeral, his wife came up and said, "My husband left me a note for the township, and it reads:"

Dear Urban Dwellers, 

I am deeply sorry for putting you all through much trouble. I perhaps did not understand that the dream I had was not meant for you, but for me. But if you would forgive me, I ask that you please take a tour of the house which God did instruct me to build. 

With love,

The Architect.

After the funeral, the wife asked everyone to follow her for a tour of the house. The house was indeed different. The inner works were perfect and there was resonance of reflection throughout the house. It exuded tranquility and cleanness; the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and sitting places. It was unlike no other the people had ever seen.

And as they went away, some said, "That man's dream must have actually been true." Some admitted that they loved the house. Others, only the kitchen; some admired the stairwell, the garage, the lawn and so on. And since that day, many house within that urban community have started to turn blue. Not all at once, but gradually. And many parts of that house has either been referenced in renovation of old houses or copied by many architects for new constructions.

"Let your light so shine before men and women, that they may see you good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven...and even imitate thy good works"

Moral:

"You cannot impel anyone to live a righteous life, but you could live a life worth imitating righteousness" 

Background picture by: Akiane Kramarik

The City of Darkness


In a certain city was a people of abundance. They lived under the protection of God and were blessed in abundance, so much that they forgot the source of abundance.

The hearts of the people grew darker and evil. They became so evil that the sun refused to shine by day, nor the moon by night. The city became completely black with darkness. And in the darkness of day and night, their hearts were also. 

Time and time went by; they accustomed themselves with the darkness of the day and the darkness of the night that they could see in the dark. They carried on with their businesses just as when there was sun and moon.

One day, a certain man carrying a mighty torch came to the City of Darkness. The people of the city could not stand the brightness of the light he bore. For there was complete brightness throughout the entire city. 

The swayer summoned the man and said, "Why cometh thou to our city?" He replied, "I was sent by your God to bring forth light unto this city which once had light." The swayer replied, "Return where ever thou cometh. For we have no light yet we see, but your light blinds us." Then the man said to the swayer, "Too long have you dwelt in darkness. Yes! You may get blind for a while, but you shalt see again."  And the swayer finally said, "It is for us wiser that we continue to see as in darkness than to be blinded and see later."

And so the man with his light was banished from the City of Darkness. As he left, few of the dwellers of the city followed him. Out of the city, he made for each of them their own torches from his own torch, and told them to go into many cities and spread the light. 

Some of whom were giving torches returned to the City of Darkness. When they did, some were beaten, some were killed, and others were able to spread the light to those whom were willing to risk their lives. And others went towards new cities to spread the light.

"He who sees light, let him seize it. He who has light, let him put it on a light stand so that it gives light unto others."

 So is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Background picture by: Akiane Kramarik

The Sin of Pride

A great king once lived in a great kingdom and country. He had much lands, and much male and female servants, and much cattle, and much gold and money. And it came to pass that he said to himself, “I have all these wealth but must travel afar to see what it is like on the other side of the world.” He then told his head servant to gather much food and wine unto his ship, and much gold and male and female servants for they do not know when they returned. And he did as was instructed them.

When the time was come, the king bid his kingdom farewell and his ship sailed away into the deep ocean. Life on the ocean was a different experience for the king. The rocking and swaying of the ship was irritating to the king. The king then summoned the captain at once and said “Why do you constantly and consistently cause me uneasiness by steering this ship as if we were driving on dirt-road?” Then the captain replied, “This is beyond my control. The waters are uneasy today and unlike traveling on land, the course of our journey is going to be much rougher for I sense high tides and heavy winds.” It was the first time the king could not control a situation which did no best suit him.

On the second day of the journey, there was indeed high tides and heavy winds as predicted by the captain. And the ship was rocking more than ever before. The captain came to the king and said, “Long live the king. The waves are too large, coupled with the tides, for our safety we will have to let go into the ocean some of the food and wine so that we do not sink when water comes onto the ship.” The king said no. He was not ready to let go of his aged wine, nor let go of his well prepared food and first picked fruits.

The third day came and the captain came back to him. This time, asking that he throw into the sea all the gold for it was too heavy. The kind also refused to do so. 

On the fourth day, the head of the king’s male and female servants came to him and said, “Long live the king. We have seen that it is dangerous to have too much weight aboard this ship, least the king dies. If it so pleases the king, may I throw into the sea his money or half of his servants so that the life of the king may be spared.” The kind said to him, “I rather the lives of my servants be given to the ocean than that of my money.” And when the head servant heard this, he did as he heard.

On the fifth day, there was great turmoil in the ocean because of the things (servants) thrown into it. But the king would not let go of this treasure nor his food. Water begun to enter the ship and the ship was beginning to sink. The head servant and the captain decided to make a raft out of the empty crates and barrels that were on the ship. After they made the raft, they came to the kind and said, “Long live the king, but we foresee that this ship needs more weight remove from it for it has already started to sink. Do you wish that we throw away some of the food and drinks and all of your treasures or do wish that we remove the few servants including ourselves from the ship?” The kind replied, “No one dare touch my things. Do as you please with your lives and it shall please me.”

On the sixth day, the remaining servants, the head servant and the captain threw the raft into the rocking ocean and on it they got. They were sure that they would still die, but perhaps a few more days longer than being on the ship. By this time, the king was well aware that there was no hope for the ship, but he was not willing to accept losing all that he had on the ship.

On the seventh day, most of the ship had already plunged into the sea. The king cried out to the head servant and the captain on the raft saying, “Please help me, for I am sinking.” And they replied to him saying, “We will help you unto our raft, but if only you remove your crown and royal cloak. For they are heavy and may cause us to sink.” Then the king replied saying, “For I am the king, and I shall not remove my crown, least I become one of you, nor shall I remove my royal cloak, least I became a servant like you. If I must go, I must go with my crown and my cloak.”

And the Captain said, “You are now king and king only of that wrecking ship and all that is within it. If you so choose to be a king unto death, rather than a slave unto life, let it be so.”

And so it was.

Background picture by: Akiane Kramarik

The Fear (love) of God

There was a certain man of a certain city who owned a very large olive grove. He had many laborers tending to his olive farm, but he also had three sons. One day, he called unto himself his three sons and said, "I must go to a foreign country for there I shall attend to other affairs which greatly concerns me." And they said to their father, "But who shall tend to your olive farm whilst you are away. For it is so large and with many laborers thereof." Then the man said to them, "Indeed, I shall divided the land into three equal parts and unto each of you shall be given a piece. You shall govern it as I your father have governed before you. But I say unto you, be good to the laborers as I am good to you as my children. Respect and love those of my age as your mothers and fathers, and those of your age as your brothers and sisters. Live with them without standards. For I shall return in a short while."

So each son was given a part of the land to govern and away the father went as was spoken. So the first son said to the other sons, "For I am the firstborn and do deserve a greater portion of the land. In this, I shall inherit the land given to the last brother. For he is a child and knoweth not about governing." And so it was so. 

The first son with two parts of land; the second son with one part of land and the third son with nothing. Time went by and the first son had problems with the laborers for the land was too big for him to govern, and there was strife amongst the laborers. For he had favored some of the laborers over others as according to their works. He hated those who would not let him to see their daughters. Those whom did not increase their yields according to his will were not paid. 

The second son with one part of land was unlike the first son who wanted to harbor great wealth and indulge into lust. He was not a respecter of any person but the first son. He ruled well but did not heed to the warnings of the laborers as it concerned the produce of the land. He wanted his yes to be yes and his no, no. He would only take heed from the first brother who was not of any good examples. Because he did not take warnings, when a heavy rain came, all the olives of the land of the second son died. 

The third son without a land and remembering what his father said, moved out to live with the laborers. He lived with them as if they were of the same lineage. He loved and respected them as a family. He helped them till the soil for new planting of the second son's land. He with them harvested to meet the demand of first son. When and where the lacked, he would bring his portion of supplies and food to share with the laborers. 

His brothers would get angry at him, for he had no authority to share with the lowly. He was chastised by his brothers when caught doing as they so despise. But he remembered the words of his father, and in his love for his father, he feared to ever make his father angry. And because of this, he did not wither in doing good. 

And it came to pass after a time and a time, the father then returned to his land. And he called unto himself his three sons and said, "I have come but with my final blessings for each of you." And they replied, "But father, you are not on your dying bed. Why giveth us blessings beforehand?" He said, "I am your father and I do as I see fit. Unto each one of you, as you have done by my words, will you receive unto yourselves seven times." And the first son said, "What if we by mistake did not do by your words?" And the father replied, "As you were told and did not obey, you shall also receive unto yourselves seven what you did." 

Then he called forth his third son and said, "What is your report over the land which was given you?" "Father, the land given me was taken from me by my eldest brother; but I was able to do as you told me. The laborers are my witnesses." replied the third son. Then he called forth his second son for his own report. "Father, I did as was told by you, but rain came and killed all the olive trees on my part of the land." And lastly, the father called forth his first son. "Father, I have much harvest to even cover for your second son. Some are in crates and much taken to the mill. There is much money in the bank." the first son said. 

The father said to the first son, "I have no pleasure in the riches you have stored up for me. I am displeased that you coveted you brother's land unto yourself. The amount of money you made required the lives, happiness, and well-being of my laborers. For you shall not have the portion of land given to your brother, neither shall you have the land which was given to you. For your greed has made you so." 

And to the second son he said, "The rain might not have taken away the olives had you listened to what the laborers forewarned. They are very skillful in their work as I know them well. Your pride has made you so, and you shall not have the land which you did not govern well." 

And to the third son he said, "Truly you love and fear me. For only out of love of father can a son obey him, and without fear, it is easy to do as your brothers did. Unto you I give all these lands. As I was away, I heard of your goodness from many people. So did I also hear what your brothers were doing." 

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Background picture by: Akiane Kramarik

The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a college student; who is enrolled to attend a career study, and is expected to make a pass by so doing. But he is then carried away by the fine activities of college life, and does not study to show himself approved. 

When the day of examination is come, because he did not study, he is unable to pass the exams. 
He goes to the graduation ceremony, and sees that his mates are called by names for their rewards. The first groups are the Summa Cum Laude. Then the Magnum Cum Laude and the rest of the graduates. But his name is not called yet he goes to the platform and says. "I am a graduate, but did I not hear my name". And he is told, "Sorry, but according to the list, you did not make a pass". 

And he starts to weep and regret that if only had he studied and not put first the pleasures and distractions of college life, he would have been in the number.

Will you be in the number when the Saints go marching in? 

Background picture by: Akiane Kramarik