jim

But in the end, we all discover that there is much more to this life
than knowledge can predict or handle. May the Lord Himself greatly
bless each of you, and hold you tightly in His own loving arms.

Two Gallons of Paint

It was very early morning, and the sun was not yet visible in the
brightening sky. On both sides of the old country road, frogs and
crickets made quite a bit of music, as the birds with sweeter songs
tried to be heard in the trees above.

A young boy walked with his father on the road to town. Each of them
carried a few sticks, small cuttings from willows that had been
simply, but attractively, fashioned into walking sticks. The boy did
this in the evenings, whenever he had the time. A skill he had learned
from his grandfather. Already, the boy showed a fine talent for
carving.

Behind them waddled two large white ducks accompanied by a small dog.

"Where are we going?" the dog asked the ducks. "I've never been this
far from home."

"Oh, we're going to the market," the older duck answered.

"What's a market?" the dog asked.

"It's a grand place, with lots of people from all around the country
side!" the younger duck replied. "And lots of animals are there, too!
I've heard so much about it!"

"Yes," the older duck said. "It is a wonderful place where people
gather to share ideas and to exchange things of value. The farmer and
his son are going there today to trade those sticks for paint. The
farmer's wife is with child, so they are preparing a room for the new
baby."

"Oh," the pup said. Being new to the family he had lots of questions,
and very often the answers he got only produced more questions. Of
course, many of his questions were forgotten before he could even ask
them, and some of the answers he did get were also forgotten. Not
because he was exceedingly stupid. He was actually very quick-witted
for a dog. But he was also young, and had many things on his mind,
like chasing rabbits or catching butterflies.

After trying to learn what paint was, and why people would cover the
walls of a room with it, the dog asked, "So why are we going with the
farmer to the market?"

The younger duck answered, "It is customary for animals to visit the
market, and sometimes more than once. This is my first visit. But my
father here is making his second journey."

"Yes," the older duck said. "I first came to the market for trading
when I was very young. And now I have been invited by the farmer to
visit again. Maybe I will be traded again. Or maybe I will just have
the opportunity to talk with some of the other ducks and learn many
things."

The dog was listening. Well, sort of. He was mostly running and
dancing about, chasing mosquitoes and flies. But his hearing was very
keen, and so he got most of what the duck was saying.

"You, my young friend," the old duck was saying, "were probably
invited along because you are so young and have many things to learn.
And I was no doubt invited because I am such a wise teacher of the
young. I have many good things to tell you, if you will only listen."

At this, the young dog yapped and spun around to catch a fly that had
landed on his tail. He almost caught it, too, and did manage to bite
his tail a little more forcefully than he had intended. He let go
quickly, and answered, with eyes watering, "Oh, yes. I do want so much
to learn everything."

They walked along, as the dark, early morning coolness turned into
bright summer warmth. And they talked about the great market, for the
young dog had many questions, and the ducks delighted in explaining
all things to him.

The dog learned that even though objects or creatures of value were
often traded at the market, it was mostly a place of great
intellectual stimulation and advancement. A wise animal could learn
more in one day at the market than he might discover alone in a whole
lifetime at home. It truly sounded like a wonderful place.

Finally, the farmer and his little caravan reached the edge of town.
So many houses and buildings! So many new smells and sounds for the
small dog who had seldom left his home on the farm! They went this way
on this street, and then that way on that street, until they got to
the center of the town.

It was still early morning, but already the streets were busy. The
small dog and the ducks had to be careful to walk much closer to the
farmer and his son, so as not to get lost among all the people.

And then, there it was: the Great Market itself. Such noises and
smells and colors, it almost made the little dog dizzy. He was running
round and round the farmer and his little company, barking and leaping
with excitement.

"Oh, at last!" the older duck exclaimed, as they approached the
butcher shop. "I've heard of this place. I will be able to share all
my learning with others, and they in turn will teach me many new and
wonderful things. We will not be the same when we come out of this
sacred place!"

And it was true. When the ducks finally left that place, they were
nothing like they had been when they went in.

Both ducks went into the butcher's shop and were sold. And there they
met with other ducks from all over the wide county. They all talked
about many wonderful things. The wise older duck was able to teach
many new things to the other ducks. And he was also able to gather in
much new wisdom and knowledge. And when the ducks finally left that
place they were very different, indeed.

Of course the dog was not around to see them or talk with them
anymore. He followed the farmer and his son as they went to another
small shop. There the farmer sold the walking sticks that his son had
made. And then the three of them went to several other places in the
big market, including a place where they bought paint, as the wise old
duck had predicted. And then they went home.

The ducks waited there in the butcher's shop, until the next morning,
when butcher's helper had time to take them out back and chop their
heads off. All the excellent learning they had gathered remained in
their heads when they fell to the ground, and some of it made its way
into the cheap sausage that was so popular with the townsfolk.

However, it is unlikely that the duck's knowledge actually made a
detectable difference in the flavor of the sausage, since the spices
were so overpowering. But I'm sure it didn't hurt anything, either.

But all in all, it was a good day. And a few days later, the baby's
room did look so nice with its fresh coat of paint. The small dog
never really noticed it, of course. He was too busy growing up,
chasing dragonflies in the meadow, and playing with the farmer's son
in between chores.

The dog seldom remembers anything that the old duck once tried to
teach him. But he always entertains a gentle fondness for well-meaning
quacks that take themselves, and all their own ideas, more seriously
than is really necessary or even profitable.


Jim

"Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their
hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not
believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And
this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is
in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the
Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you
have eternal life." (1 John 5: 10-13)