Long ago there was a young man visiting Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. On his way to meet some relatives, he happened upon a crucifixion procession. He saw a man with his arms lashed to a wooden crossbar and a crown of thorns on his head. The young man was in a hurry, but was blocked by a throng of people glued to the gory spectacle. When the condemned man stumbled, the young man cursed him and told him to get moving. The bloodied man stopped, looked him in the eye, and said, “Wait for me.” After what seemed like a long moment, he continued his journey to the cross. The sea of spectators parted, and the young man hurried on his way without looking back.
Years went by and the impatient young man had grown older. He had lived a decent and respectable life. His wife and children had died years ahead of him.
The old man grew tired of living in the same place without his family and friends, so he decided to leave his homeland for new surroundings. His travels did little to distract him from his aimless loneliness.
He had no home. He did not belong anywhere nor to anyone. Outwardly he appeared to be free, but his existence was an invisible prison he could not escape. Death refused to visit.
His suffering grew to the point where he tried to take his own life. His suicide attempts were always foiled in the most unlikely ways – perfectly good ropes broke, poisons failed, last-second rescuers came out of nowhere. Even when he tried to provoke others to murderous rage, their faces would suddenly and inexplicably soften into looks of pity as they turned and walked away.
There was only one explanation – the crucified criminal’s words had changed his fate even though that man had been killed by the Romans. He had also heard rumors of the man’s impossible return from death. He had never taken those stories seriously, but anything seemed possible now. The old man searched for the one to whom he had been so cruel and unkind. He deeply regretted what he had done and wanted to see him again to apologize, but no matter how hard he looked he could not find him or anyone who had seen him.
He did find some people who followed the crucified man even though they had never met him. Together they started a tiny mission in the city where they lived to serve those who were in need.
In a moment of deep gratitude for the people he had come to love and who loved him, something like the warmth of the sun broke in upon his heart and flooded his entire being. The people took on a brilliance and beauty unlike anything he had seen in his many centuries. In the midst of his bliss came a gentle whisper, “I am here.”
Secrets of the Story
This story is an outgrowth of my contemplation on the experience of the legendary figure of the Wandering Jew. James Padgett actually received a message through automatic writing from a spirit claiming to be the actual person behind the legend. My version of the story is also inspired by my love of the movie Groundhog Day where the screenwriter Danny Rubin imagined that Bill Murray’s character (Phil Connors) could have lived the equivalent of 10,000 years before becoming enlightened.
The story of the Wandering Jew fascinated me when I read it the first time so many years ago, and it continues to fascinate me. In it, I don’t see a curse, but an incredible blessing, where a man with a hardened heart (like myself) is given all of the time he needs to discover the truth of God’s Love in his earthly life before being released into the afterlife dimensions.
We each have our own unique journey. Each person’s story is her own, and rock bottom is different for each of us. Sometimes people experience God’s Love without hitting rock bottom, but there are those of us who will not seek God’s Love until we’ve hit rock bottom, and we literally have nothing to lose. If we want to experience the power of God’s Love, some of us are going to have to experience desperation before we will seek it. I hope that no one has to become desperate to experience God’s Love, but it is the experience of some of us who have taken this particular path to spiritual transformation that a dark night of the soul is an important part of the path.
Bill, I just wanted to add that I have been appreciating all the pictures that come with your parables. Good job!
In Sunday School class today when discussing Days of Awe and Wonder by Marcus Borg we talked about experiences of mysticism. I appreciated your parable sharing this man’s mystic moment when he realized the beauty all around him and heard the words, “I am here.” That deep appreciation just washed over him, and he truly knew that he was complete.
It only took him a few centuries to have his first mystical experience. Thankfully, our Creator is very, very patient with us. God is in this for the long haul – AKA: Eternity. Our Heavenly Parent won’t give up on us, ever. 🙂
Hello Bill. That is a ‘deep thought’ story. One who knows some of the background of spiritual progressions, it makes one read between the lines.
Thank you, Brooke! With most of my stories I am doing my best to distill a lot of detail and complexity into a relatively “simple” narrative. For me there is a lot going on behind, between, and within the words. My hope is that readers may either be able to perceive those things with their minds and/or with their souls. I am doing my best to challenge the mind and in the process help people to consider subtler layers of meaning available through the development of soul perceptions – AKA faith or faith perceptions.