About a year and a half ago my pastor asked me to preach for him one Sunday. I informed him I was totally dry; there was nothing on my mind or in my spirit which I felt needed sharing with the congregation. That very week, during a time of contemplation/prayer, I received a vision! It was a very dramatic, vivid vision; it occurred totally visually. It happened in about a minute or two. So, even though it takes five minutes to describe, keep in mind that this all occurred very quickly, in a very short amount of time.
Later I called my pastor and said that indeed, I did have something to share! I am going to share the vision itself in this posting, and leave any commentary or interpretation to future postings. I would, however, love to get some feedback: what do you see in this vision? What is God saying to us through this?
Here, then, is that vision:
Edge of the desert; a large tent at the edge of a village; the tent is quite fancy and rich looking, for a tent. Inside this tent works a teacher guild which has grown up over the centuries in their society.
The primary task of this guild is the construction of an elaborate model of a building. The structure is made mostly of wood, some stones. Each individual piece is exquisitely crafted with great care before being placed. And prior to each new piece being added there is much discussion and debate. The entire structure is looked at, and discussed, ad infinitum.
Centuries have gone into this project. Great pride is taken in the structure, and its meaning and place in the life of their society. And the teacher guild is proud of their mandate of taking care of the construction and developing it, elaborating on what has been previously built. Each generation of teachers is conscious of building upon earlier foundations. Great respect is given to what has come before. Because of this respect and care, it takes longer and longer as time goes on, to effect any changes in the structure.
It is understandable, then, that extreme anger was ignited when one of the new, younger teachers came dashing into the tent one day, robes flying. As he burst into the tent through one of the flaps, he bumped against one corner of the elaborate structure, causing that corner to collapse. After a brief moment of shocked horror, all of the teachers present immediately tackled him, throwing him to the ground, shouting accusations at him. After subduing him, and securing him from causing any more harm with his recklessness, they began discussing his penalty. The trial was brief, since it was clear to all of them that the young man must die. Still incredibly angry, they dragged him out into the open to stone him.
Unnoticed, in their haste to exact justice, was a tent flap left undone. As they were stoning the young man to death, a great wind blew in from the desert, completely destroying the entire structure. All that was left was an unsightly pile of sticks and stones. Centuries of work was undone in a matter of moments. There was much wailing; cries of despair could be heard for miles, as not only the teachers, but the entire society beat their breasts in grief.
There were, however, a few friends of the young teacher who was killed, who had supported him in his rash teachings. As things began to settle down following this tumultuous day, these friends gathered quietly in the tent. They began to put together some of the sticks and stones left from the old, elaborate structure. Tentative and small at first, they were persistent.
Once again, as generation after generation continued to work in the tent, the structure took form. They realized, right from the beginning, that the new structure could never duplicate the beauty and complexity of the old. So they took what they could salvage out of the pile of rubble, and fashioned an entirely new structure. New pieces were crafted, and fitted together with the old.
As this new structure grew and took form, the teacher guild also grew, once again taking on great importance in their society. As before, great care was taken in preserving what was already built, protecting and developing it, spreading messages of its glory throughout the countryside.
Although very different from the earlier structure, it was impressive nonetheless. They had only dimming memories of the original structure, but through much debate and discussion, they were able to recapture some of the glory and beauty of the old structure. Indeed, many were of the opinion that the new structure was even more glorious and grand than the old had been.
Once again, there were complex arguments raised for each new piece added. Nothing was done without great care and deliberation. As before, the more time that passed, the longer it took for each new addition or modification to be accepted. Greater disagreements with new pieces meant more ponderous processes to get any changes made.
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