A Note on the Dragons
waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.
Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence,
something helpless that wants our love. --Rainer Maria Rilke
It was a year almost to the date. He hadn't seen any of them and he doubted that they would want to see him. He hadn't been entirely endearing.
He bowed his head and walked quickly to an empty pew about half way down on the left. It took forever. He heard the whispers begin. He wanted to see them, reach out to them and tell them he was sorry. He longed to have it all behind him, but how could he really? How could he make up for everything he had done?
The organ droned a familiar hymn. "Rock of Ages, cleft for me..." It somehow seemed appropriate. He picked up the hymn book and thumbed through it trying to make everything go by quicker. An eerie quiet fell upon the crowd as the service began. He knew they were thinking about him and about what he had done. Oh, how he wished he could make it all better.
It all seemed interminable, but the time had come.
He hadn't wanted to go. He had argued with himself many times. What was the point really? Its not as if his return would end the hurt or even lessen it, but he made himself do it.
The service dragged on. He felt the angry, hurt eyes peering into him from all angles. He dared not move. He just sat humbly, bearing his cross reluctantly until the final prayer was uttered and he found himself paralyzed.
How would he leave? He stood stiffly and turned to face them head on, yearning to hear a friendly word, a forgiving glance, a handshake from those whom he considered his friends. Their eyes averted his glare. They shuffled off to other things. He knew they would. It would take time.
But as he reached the door, he spotted a big man lumbering straight toward him. He recognized the man. Why was he approaching? What did he want? The man held his hands wide, embraced him in a big bear hug, and whispered in his ears the sweetest words he had ever heard.
"Brother, we love you. Welcome back."
posted by Cool Dad at Friday, July 15, 2005
7 Comments:
That was really lovely. It was a well written little post. Nice one.
Have a good weekend, I am here via Michele's M&G...
Cheers.
Nicely done. I've written several pieces very similar...the prodigal is a recurring theme. :)
You should enter this in a flash fiction contest - - it's really, really good. Thanks for sharing it with us.
(Sorry for the confusion; I mistakenly posted this to Michele's site...)
It's nice to know you can always go home.
Dropped in from Michele's. Thanks for visiting my blog as well. Loved your comment!
Nicely done!
Very good & most enjoyable!
Michele sent me.
I'm sure everyone there must have known how hard it was for that Brother to come back after having done something that hurt those he loved. Why is it so hard to just say hello, give a little smile and show a forgiving hand? Who are we to judge anyway?
We had a young family in our ward several years back who just quit coming to church. I had heard rumors but didn't want to lay any judgements because I didn't know the complete story. Months later they came back to church. He got up at testimony meeting and appologized to his wife and the entire ward for his indiscretion with another woman. He had the entire ward in tears and no one said an unkind thing to him. He showed that he was truly sorry for what he had done and he begged for our forgiveness. She took him back and they are happier than I have ever seen them. Forgiveness can do mighty things. Thanks for your post. We need to remember to show love to all our brothers and sisters.
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