*****************************************************
"Someone handed me this parable, in which Hawaii represents obedience and perfection: The town of Remnant, California was officially organized in 1896. However, the earliest settlers began to gather in that location around 1844. People who lived in Remnant were different in many ways from the rest of the world. But they had one outstanding teaching. The people of Remnant believed that everyone should move to Hawaii. (Now remember, Hawaii represents obedience.) From the first they had been sure that the sooner folks made it to Hawaii, the sooner they would make it to heaven. But there was one extremely embarrassing fact that they could not escape. They didn't live in Hawaii. Hawaii seemed to be a long way off. Almost as far away as heaven itself. And while a few of them claimed to have been to Hawaii, nobody believed they really had. There was a common saying in Remnant: If you say you've been to Hawaii, that is sure proof you've never been there.
Most of the people in Remnant believed that if you worked as hard as you could for your entire lifetime, maybe you'd be able to spend one day in Hawaii just before you died. And few would manage even that. Although the population of Remnant numbered several million, most accepted the fact that if a hundred and forty-four thousand of them made it to Hawaii, even for a short time, that would be about the best that could be expected.
For a number of years, there was one commonly accepted method for trying to reach Hawaii. You went out to the beach, got into the water, and started swimming. Swimming lessons were popular in Remnant, as you might imagine. Children were expected to learn to swim almost before they learned to walk. There were swimming schools and swimming seminars and five-day swimming clinics offered regularly. Anyone who was a citizen in good and regular standing was expected to learn to swim. New comers to town were warned that it might take some time before they could swim well enough to actually reach Hawaii, but they were expected to begin swimming right away. All were encouraged by the thought that if they would do their part and try hard every day, sooner or later they would succeed in making it to Hawaii.
Some became so discouraged with trying and failing, trying and failing, that they left town. Others died in their attempts. But most everybody kept trying to swim to Hawaii until, one day, the inevitable happened.
A swimmer had just been forced to turn back toward shore, failing once again to make it to Hawaii, when he had what seemed to be a flash of insight. As soon as he got his breath, he began going up and down the beach and all around town asking, "Who says we have to live in Hawaii anyway? Do you realize how long we've been trying ot make it to Hawaii? Can you name even one person who had ever made it?" Before long, he gather quite a following, all asking the same question. And they came to the same conclusion. It is not necessary to go to Hawaii(obedience).
And they began to spread their good news far and near. Some people gladly accepted this new idea. Other fought against it. For a time, everyone in Remnant seemed to be discussing the new theology, the idea that even if they kept on trying to reach Hawaii, right up until they were taking to heaven, nobody would ever even come close. But, the good news claimed, it didn't matter.
So, now there were two groups, the one group still insisting that it was necessary to live in Hawaii, and the other group was sure that it was not. (But interestingly enough, both groups still went regularly to the beach to practice their swimming.)
Then came news of a third option. It sounded weird. It bypassed the beach entirely. The third option was to get acquainted with the airplane pilot and place yourself in His hands. Then you depend on Him to get you to Hawaii. And when you get on board the plane with the Pilot in control, all you have to do is rest. It is His business to get you to Hawaii.
It seemed difficult to understand at first. the questions came thick and fast. So what do you do? Do you wave your arms? Do you kick your feet? Do you jog up and down the aisle of the plane? When so many had failed to reach Hawaii in spite of the tremendous struggles and backbreaking work, how could anyone expect to reach that tropical paradise by resting? It sounded pleasant, but surely it was only a myth. Hawaii had always meant effort, lots of effort. Surely there must be some misunderstanding.
Some tried to explain that there was effort involved in getting acquainted with the Pilot, in boarding the plane, and even in the resting itself. But it didn't sound like real effort at all, not compared to that had been going on down at the beach.
The discussions about the third option went something like this: "Our part is to rest and to continue to place ourselves under the control of the Pilot."
Someone would look puzzled and ask, "Do you mean we don't have to go to Hawaii after all?"
"Yes, it is essential to go to Hawaii."
"Well, then we'd better get back down to the beach and stop standing around talking about it."
"No, we will never reach Hawaii by swimming for it."
"Then it is impossible to go to Hawaii."
"You mean we don't have to go?"
"Yes, we do. Living in Hawaii is possible. It is important. It is necessary."
"Then we'd better start swimming."
"No, no, no, we'd better head for the airport."
Little by little, here and there, people began to get the message. And as they did, they began to make regular trips to Hawaii. It was true that they didn't talk about going there. They talked about the Pilot and the airplane and the rest that was offered. As they continued to share and reach out to the tired swimmers, the good new began to spread.
What happened then? Well, some who had been the best swimmers and had ventured the farthest out into the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean were insulted. They were heard to say, "If they're letting people get to Hawaii by depending on someone else to take them there, then I don't want to go anyway." So they left the water and the beach and the town and moved to Las Vegas.
But some of the worst swimmers, who had barely managed to stay afloat, were among the fist ones to rush to the airport, and board the plane with the Pilot. Before too long, everyone had gone one way or the other. In the end, they beach was empty. Nobody went swimming anymore."
Excellent story! Thank you for sharing it!
ReplyDelete