Epiphanies

“I’m all out of stories, Elwood.”

“But, Grandpa, you always have a story…”

“Not today. Maybe not ever again.”

“That can’t be true. You’ve told so many stories. Didn’t you tell me there is an infinite number of stories?”

“I did. Thanks for paying attention, Elwood. But I didn’t mean I had an infinite number of stories, just that if everyone shared their stories, the number would be infinite. There are stories within stories, and we all have them. There are even stories created when people’s stories interact with each other, and these interact, and so on. Your stories and mine. Our stories and the stories of many others. In a way, all of life is combinations and permutations of stories.”

“Are you making up a story now?”

“No. Just stating what I think. Life is a matter of stories – some we believe, some we don’t, some we like, some we don’t. An old friend once told me that life is a great big metaphor, with everything meaning something else, pointing to the truth, if only we could be smart enough to understand it. Even the simplest story, or the silliest of stories, can point us in the direction of the truth.”

“How do we know what is true, Grandpa?”

“Sometimes we don’t know. Sometimes we can’t tell for sure. But we should know enough to listen, to compare stories, to figure out what truth might be hiding in the cracks between them.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Grandpa. Can you give me an example?”

“I suppose you’d like a story. I’m not falling for that. I just don’t have any more stories to tell.”

“Come on. You must have something…”

“I have this. What if we believed a certain man was a hero, a savior in fact, who could accomplish things others only talked about? And what if we learned this was true?”

“People are not always what they seem to be, Grandpa. You taught me that.”

“None of us are what we seem to be, Elwood. We all have pictures of ourselves inside our heads. Sometimes we are the heroes of our own story. Sometimes we are the villains. Sometimes we gloss over our faults and mistakes. Sometimes we think we are nothing but our failures. Some people think they are above reproach. Others can’t see anything good when they look in the mirror. In any case, what people share with the world isn’t necessarily the truth. There is sometimes a vast difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us. Remember what I said about trying to become the person our dog thinks we are?”

“Yeah. Unconditional love can bring out the best in us.”

“That’s true. But, unfortunately, sometimes unconditional love can encourage a certain kind of person to take advantage of us. Con men and grifters know this very well. Selfish, greedy people see goodwill as a weakness to be exploited.”

“Why are you in a bad mood, Grandpa?”

“I suppose I’m tired of seeing cruel and ignorant people have their way while kind and thoughtful people are written out of the story.”

“Is that why you are out of stories?”

“Maybe. Ignorance isn’t interested in others’ stories, or in knowing the whole story, for that matter. And cruelty seeks ways to make others look bad, no matter what the truth may be. And I’m just sick of it.”

“No wonder you’re in such a mood, Grandpa.”

“Look, Elwood. I’ll try to tell you a story, if you promise to be patient with me.”

“OK. I promise.”

“Centuries ago, in a time much like this one, three astronauts were searching for a man whose goodness and wisdom were reported to be beyond measure. They believed they would find the man on a blue planet, the third from its star, in a distant arm of our galaxy.”

“The Earth!”

“Let’s not get ahead of the story, Elwood. I don’t know how these astronauts found out about the man, let alone how they figured out the Earth was his home, but they landed not far from where the man lived as a child. For many years, they watched him from a safe distance, not wanting to reveal their existence. They had pledged not to interfere with life on the third planet. So, they visited him not long after his birth, incognito, dressed as wealthy travelers from far away. Some thought they were kings or astrologers from the east, but no one knew for sure where they came from. They did nothing to dissuade people from believing whatever they wanted to believe. All that is known is that these men brought gifts and when a power-hungry king asked them about the child, they could tell the king wasn’t the kind of man they could trust. They provided the king with a believable piece of misdirection and went on their way.

“The three took turns observing the young man for many years, remaining steadfast in their pledge to remain anonymous. They saw him grow into a man of wisdom and compassion. He seemed to be exceptionally in tune with the world, knowing the right things to say and do, and they would have sworn they saw him accomplish impossible things out of love for the inhabitants of the obscure third planet of a remote star system. The man spoke of loving your neighbor as yourself and doing for others what you would want them to do for you, propositions the three astronauts took with them for the rest of their lives.

“At last, the astronauts saw the man hunted by people in high positions who were jealous of his influence. Those closest to him either betrayed him or stood by and let him be captured and tortured. The travelers stood in the crowd on the day the man was publicly executed, although he was guilty of no crime, while a guilty man was set free at the whim of the masses. It was agonizing for them to keep their pledge and watch the kind and gentle teacher die at the hands of ignorant, bloodthirsty people. The astronauts realized they had found the man they were looking for, even as they realized that many people on the planet were not interested in the man’s goodness or wisdom, only in what they were told to believe about him, and what they were told would benefit them personally.

“The three left the Earth, disillusioned that its inhabitants seemed to be more interested in money and power than in goodness and truth. As they left, the last thing one of them said to the other two was, May God have mercy on them all. I don’t know whether they made it safely back to their home world, but I like to think they did, and that the young teacher’s message of hope and peace was widely shared in their part of the galaxy.”

“Grandpa, I knew you’d have a story for me! And I understand now what you were talking about. But I don’t think goodness was defeated by evil in your story. All it takes is for one man to set an example for others to live up to and many will follow his example. We might still have con men and grifters, but we have good and honorable people too. We just need the wisdom to tell the difference.”