The Path
by R. Scott Bettis
I was walking along a wide Avenue. A magnificent road, paved with beautiful stones and lined with impressive columns and bubbling fountains. The sound of bubbling water echoed in my ears. I wanted to stop for a drink but did not... but couldn't remember why I didn't.
My eyes wandered once again to the warm glow on the horizon. There was my goal, my hope, my reward. My determination renewed, I trudged along step by step, inch by inch. I came to an intersection; a small path angled off to the right. Small and insignificant It had not the size & grandeur of the Avenue. No columns or fountains adorned it's length. No bright stones paved the way. With a snort of contempt I began to turn away from the unimportant path.
On a rock by the path there sat a man. "You look thirsty" the man said. "turn aside from this dry, dusty road."
"Are you kidding?" I laughed, "Leave my Avenue? Hey, I'm going somewhere. I have a goal. See that glow?" I pointed to the horizon, "That's my reward. Everything I've ever wanted lies at the end of that road" Looking at the tiny path I said "your path is small. What good could come from THAT path?"
The man shrugged, "Life." he said simply. "Would you like to see your 'Avenue' more clearly?"
"What do you mean?" I said
"I have a Book... through it all things are revealed for what they truly are." He took a book out of his bag, opened it and held it out to me.
Hesitantly, I took it, held it up and peered through it down the grandiose lane. The pages were clear and I could see the avenue through them. What I saw made me gasp. A desolate road, cracked & burnt, columns fallen, fountains dry, and fire sparking up through the gaps in the paving stones.
"Lies!" I screamed. I threw the book down. Once again I was surrounded by tall columns & bubbling fountains... but the sound of water was a hollow echo now.
"You know its true." the man said, looking at me with gentle eyes of compassion. "But you didn't look at you goal." he said quietly.
I looked at the book lying at my feet. Then up at the warm glow on the horizon. I felt the comfort flowing from it, warming me, reassuring me... but now something else too... Menace? Falsehood? I had to know. Slowly I bent to pick up the book, faced the horizon of my dreams, and slowly, raised the pages to eye level, and opened my eyes.
For a moment nothing changed. My heart leaped in exultation for there was the glow the way I'd always seen it; the way I'd always remembered it. But then in a moment's time the scene changed, rushing forward as if I were flying down the road at a hundred miles an hour. Broken pillars and cracked fountains whizzing past. Then it stopped. There was the glow, the same as it always had been. I felt smugness rising up in me... until I looked closer.
I could see people walking along the avenue towards the glow, some with arms outstretched in longing , some running with anticipation. But then horribly, the scene became clearer. My viewpoint raised and pointed downward. I could see down into a great fit of fire. That's what caused the glow!
People were walking up to the edge, hesitating a moment as if coming to the realization that they had made a choice and could not go back. With looks of resignation, they stepped off the edge and, tumbling in slow motion, passed into their "goal," their "reward."
I closed the book, devastated by what I had seen. I turned to the man sitting there, smiling gently at me from the rock.
"So," he said, "you've seen the truth of your Avenue, your goal, your reward. What will you do now?"
"What can I do?" I said, "Can I return to that way having seen what I've seen?"
"Some do." the main said as he rose, laying both hands on my shoulders. "... but not all." He smiled, "Some turn aside down this path." He waved down the small winding path leading off in a completely different direction.
Looking over his shoulder I asked, "What is down there?"
The man laughed. The sound was like water tumbling over rocks or of a thousand birds exploding into flight. "Life!" he said simply.
...
I walked briskly along a narrow pathway. Reaching up, I grabbed a fruit off an over-hanging branch, hopped over a small babbling brook and stopped for a quick drink. I stood up and looked up to the horizon, marveling at the bright sparkling light that was my new goal. I pulled out my own copy of the Book, held it up, and looked to the horizon. Again, my vision went flying down the path as the sight swooped into view. There, bright as the sun, surrounded by multitudes praising & worshiping was the One on the throne.
As I put the book away, my eye caught another path. I turned aside and followed the path. As I walked along, the surroundings changed to a burnt, blasted landscape. Soon I came to a stone near an intersection with a wide, broken avenue lined with fallen columns and dry fountains. I sat for a moment and waited as a woman walked by.
"You look thirsty" I said...
Copyright © 2009, R. Scott Bettis
"The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."
--C. S. Lewis
