"A Pastor Who Would Not Believe"

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a vignette by Avi

A flower that refuses to break the ground - it heard the rumors of concrete at the surface.
An air balloon that dreams of reaching the center of the earth and hates the sky - it is so easy to get lost there.
A beetle that murmurs inside its shell, builds a carapace, makes plans for winter - and all the time does not notice that he is pierced by a collector's pin, displayed in a dusty case. Sometimes he wonders about the leering faces of huge children and booming noise outside.

Who remembers the things that matter? The world steals them from us. It hides them in a treasure cave and puts a dragon on top to hoard them - our most important recollections that would energize us and bring us back to our senses, to the road we are supposed to travel. And then a pastor would not believe; a hobbit would refuse to leave the Shire; and a knock would never be sounded because someone inside will get upset.

A sense of inadequacy, a fear of failure grips us like this world's other "gravity". We are held in one place, captivated by lies about the reality outside. Opportunities hide from us, misery actively seeks us out.

Faith turns all the tables and makes the effort worthwhile. It laughs in the face of the odds. And pastor who would not believe, SMILES.