Speaking in the Light -9-22

I have just finished a wonderful book written by one of my favorite authors, Richard Paul Evans, called “The Walk.” The fictional story tells about a young man named Alan Christoffersen. Alan, a successful Seattle advertising executive, seemed to have it all.
He had a beautiful home, a sky-rocketing career, and an idyllic marriage to his adorable childhood sweetheart, McKale. However, unbeknownst to him, on the very day that he successfully pitches a three million dollar advertising campaign to a key account, events unfold that will soon take from Alan everything that he holds dear.
Alan, like Job, ends up losing everything. His profession, his possessions, and most importantly his life partner are all ripped from him in a flash. And receiving no sympathy from his supposed friend and business associate Kyle, this modern day Benedict Arnold hijacks the company right out from under Alan’s nose.
This indecent act of backstabbing occurs while Alan is attempting to come to grips with having to say “goodbye,” to his beloved bride. When McKale passes, she leaves Alan adrift in a world that has suddenly grown cold and meaningless.
At first Alan considers taking his own life and almost pulls it off. Instead he answers an invitation that calls him back to life. Equipped with little more than just the clothes on his back and his diary, he sets off on a walk across America, from Seattle to Florida. Evans’ novel covers the events of the first 12 days of Alan’s journey.
As Alan journeys across the country, he learns how to move beyond despair toward a profoundly new understanding of life. “The Walk” concludes with Evans telling us a Brazilian folk tale entitled, “The Little Cow.”
It is that parable that I want to bring into the light for us today. The moral of this South American yarn is that sometimes we must be willing to lose the cow that we cling to for life- if we ever want to answer a higher call that God may be challenging us to go after.
“A master of Wisdom was walking through the countryside with his apprentice when they came to a small, disheveled shack on a meager piece of farmland. ‘See this poor family,’ said the Master. ‘Go see if they will share with us their food.’ ‘But we have plenty,’ said the apprentice.
The master said, ‘Do as I say.’ The obedient apprentice went to the home. The good farmer and his wife, surrounded by their seven children, came to the door. Their clothes were dirty and in tatters. ‘Fair greetings,’ said the apprentice. ‘My Master and I are sojourners and want for food. I’ve come to see if you have any to share.’
The farmer said, ‘we have little, but what we have we will share.’ He walked away, and then returned with a small piece of cheese and a crust of bread. ‘I am sorry, but we don’t have much.’ The apprentice did not want to take their food but did as he had been instructed. ‘Thank you. Your sacrifice is great.’
‘Life is difficult,’ the farmer said, ‘but we get by. And in spite of our poverty, we do have one great blessing.’ ‘What blessing is that?’ asked the apprentice. ‘We have a little cow. She provides us milk and cheese, which we eat or sell in the marketplace. It is not much but she provides enough for us to live on.’
The apprentice went back to his Master with the meager rations and reported what he had learned about the farmer’s plight. The Master of Wisdom said, ‘I am pleased to hear of their generosity, but I am greatly sorrowed by their circumstance. Before we leave this place, I have one more task for you.’
Speak, Master.’
‘Return to the shack and bring back their cow.’
The apprentice did not know why, but he knew his Master to be merciful and wise, so he did as he was told. When he returned with the cow, he said to his Master, ‘I have done as you commanded. Now what is it that you would do with this cow?’
‘See yonder cliffs? Take the cow to the highest crest and push her over.’ The apprentice was stunned. ‘But Master…’
‘Do as I say.’ The apprentice sorrowfully obeyed. When he had completed his task, the Master and his apprentice went on their way.
Over the next years, the apprentice grew in mercy and wisdom. But every time he thought back on the visit to the poor farmer’s family, he felt a pang of guilt. One day he decided to go back to the farmer and apologize for what he had done. But when he arrived at the farm, the small shack was gone.
Instead there was a large, fenced villa.
‘Oh no,’ he cried. ‘The poor family who was here was driven out by my evil deed.’ Determined to learn what had become of the family, he went to the villa and pounded on its great door. A servant answered the door.
‘I would like to speak to the master of the house,’ he said. ‘As you wish,’ said the servant. A moment later a smiling, well-dressed man greeted the apprentice.
‘How may I serve you?’ the wealthy man asked. ‘Pardon me, Sir, but could you tell me what has become of the family who once lived on this land but is no more?’ ‘I do not know what you speak of,’ the man replied. ‘My family has lived on this land for three generations.’
The apprentice looked at him quizzically. ‘Many years ago I walked through this valley, where I met a farmer and his seven children. But they were very poor and lived in a small shack.
‘Oh,’ the man said smiling, ‘that was my family. But my children have all grown now and have their own estates.’
The apprentice was astonished. ‘But you are no longer poor. What happened?’
‘God works in mysterious ways,’ the man said, smiling. ‘We had this little cow that provided us with the slimmest of necessities, enough to survive but little more.
“We suffered but expected no more from life. Then, one day, our little cow wandered off and fell over a cliff. We knew that we would be ruined without her, so we did everything we could to survive. Only then did we discover that we had greater power and abilities than we possibly imagined and never would have found as long as we relied on that cow. What a great blessing from Heaven to have lost our little cow.”
As long as you rely on your small cow, you may very well be missing a much greater power and an ability that you will only know if and when you reach beyond what you can see. God calls us to trust Him even when we can’t see very far in front of us- but He sees it all!
But we will never know that as long as we rely on our little cows! Maybe it is time to take a walk on the wilder side and trust the voice that leads us to go where we would never go if we didn’t have to! Why bow down to a cow when the God who made the cow might very well have higher hopes for us all?
Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net