The Great Secret
a Re-Write By John Hawkins
(to be read out loud)
There were these two young people, teenagers actually, a male and a female, and they lived in this immense beautiful garden. This garden had an exceptionally accomplished Gardener, who tended the garden day and night. He loved the kids so much that he told them they could have anything in the garden they wanted,/ anything except the fruit of this one tree, that is; the tree that stood in the middle of the garden.
All around the tree were plants with incredible yield of fruit and vegetables to salve anyone’s palette. There were pears. There were peaches and jackfruit, nectarines and oranges. There were bushes and vines, with blueberries and strawberries as far-r-r as the eye could see. The kids were wanting of nothing.
One day the two young people were looking at that particular tree,/ the tree in the middle of the garden. As the two kids looked on a thought slithered up into their minds. “So you can eat anything here, right?”
“Oh, no.no,no.” said the kids. “We cannot eat of this tree in front of us.”
The thought then began to wrap itself around the tree, or more accurately/ the image of the tree now firmly planted in these kid’s minds. “What’s the Great Secret about this tree that the gardener would want it only for himself?”
The kids continued to listen to that sneaky thought as it lengthen its tale, its story of what the secret of the tree could mean, inching itself around ever nuance of the tree’s image. Pretty soon, all that was in their minds was this tree. So they plucked the fruit and ate.
The male spoke in true male fashion, “If the Gardener asks I’ll just say I wanted it and ate it. What of it?” he said as he pulled up on his britches/ only to realize he wasn’t wearing any. In fact, he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Nor was the female. Neither liked what they saw in themselves.
The thought that had slithered and wrapped and coiled within their brains now struck -- in the form of judgment. So, they stitched together large leaves and adorn themselves thinking that they could hide what they judged not to like.
It was just about then the Gardener came walking through like he always did in the cool of the day. He saw them and realized what had happened, but asked anyway, “Have you eaten of that tree?!!?”
The male spoke first, and in true male fashion said, “It was her idea!”
“What am I to do with you?” said the Gardener.
The Gardener was puzzled. You see, disobedience was not his concerned. That could be easily remedied. The two children he loved so much failed to see the immense garden around them, as they were standing and staring only at that one tree. They banished themselves; -- exiling themselves from a rich sampling of all the earth could provide and only for that one tree.
To this day ….. the image of that tree still burns within all our minds. And you know what this Great Secret is; -- the secret around the tree?
The Great Secret is: -- We are all -- still standing -- in the garden.
©1999 John R. Hawkins
(to be read out loud)
There were these two young people, teenagers actually, a male and a female, and they lived in this immense beautiful garden. This garden had an exceptionally accomplished Gardener, who tended the garden day and night. He loved the kids so much that he told them they could have anything in the garden they wanted,/ anything except the fruit of this one tree, that is; the tree that stood in the middle of the garden.
All around the tree were plants with incredible yield of fruit and vegetables to salve anyone’s palette. There were pears. There were peaches and jackfruit, nectarines and oranges. There were bushes and vines, with blueberries and strawberries as far-r-r as the eye could see. The kids were wanting of nothing.
One day the two young people were looking at that particular tree,/ the tree in the middle of the garden. As the two kids looked on a thought slithered up into their minds. “So you can eat anything here, right?”
“Oh, no.no,no.” said the kids. “We cannot eat of this tree in front of us.”
The thought then began to wrap itself around the tree, or more accurately/ the image of the tree now firmly planted in these kid’s minds. “What’s the Great Secret about this tree that the gardener would want it only for himself?”
The kids continued to listen to that sneaky thought as it lengthen its tale, its story of what the secret of the tree could mean, inching itself around ever nuance of the tree’s image. Pretty soon, all that was in their minds was this tree. So they plucked the fruit and ate.
The male spoke in true male fashion, “If the Gardener asks I’ll just say I wanted it and ate it. What of it?” he said as he pulled up on his britches/ only to realize he wasn’t wearing any. In fact, he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Nor was the female. Neither liked what they saw in themselves.
The thought that had slithered and wrapped and coiled within their brains now struck -- in the form of judgment. So, they stitched together large leaves and adorn themselves thinking that they could hide what they judged not to like.
It was just about then the Gardener came walking through like he always did in the cool of the day. He saw them and realized what had happened, but asked anyway, “Have you eaten of that tree?!!?”
The male spoke first, and in true male fashion said, “It was her idea!”
“What am I to do with you?” said the Gardener.
The Gardener was puzzled. You see, disobedience was not his concerned. That could be easily remedied. The two children he loved so much failed to see the immense garden around them, as they were standing and staring only at that one tree. They banished themselves; -- exiling themselves from a rich sampling of all the earth could provide and only for that one tree.
To this day ….. the image of that tree still burns within all our minds. And you know what this Great Secret is; -- the secret around the tree?
The Great Secret is: -- We are all -- still standing -- in the garden.
©1999 John R. Hawkins
posted by John at 7:49 PM
1 Comments:
Chills. What a wonderful story.
Laura
Post a Comment
<< Home