Christmas Star

As published in Christmas An Annual Treasury, Vol. LXIV, 1994, Augsburg Fortress.

Run, Coyote, Run

Run, Coyote, Run
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Run, coyote, run
over the wind-swept prairies
Through grasses browned by time.

Run in the freedom of you,
Snapping, snarling, laughing.

Propelled by the gust,
The color of dust--
Run, coyote, run.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

I Will Enter His Gates
I will enter into His courts
With praise:

For snow-capped mountain
Lit with morning’s beam
A child’s candy-coated smile;
A friendly touch;
The color of the leaf
And autumnal sod;
The old man’s sonorous song;
The young man's vision;
The joy of laughter;
The camaraderie of tears;

Abba Father,
This is the day You have made,
And I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Meditation

Meditation

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Reflect,

Consider our God.

A consuming fire.

A loving Father.

A Merciful,

Gracious

Awesome Refuge.

Greater than all other gods,

He is Strength and Power

Wisdom and Justice

Exalted above the heavens.

He is my helper

My defense

My salvation

My glory

My righteousness.

He is good

holy

pure

true

faithful

able

eternal

and near.

He is my Light

He is the Lover of my soul,

The passion of my Meditation.

The Heart of Autumn

The Heart of Autumn
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Crisp morning breath,
Softening in the noontide,
Deepening with the day,
Redolent in the cinnamon
Of fallen leaves and burning wood.
Fields, once green, then golden,
Now newly frosted,
Gleam in russet-bronze.
The earth’s returned the harvest
And seeks repose.
We, too, desire respite.
Autumn, amber, umber, Autumn,
Golden, flaxen, honey-hued.
Multitudinous tones
Of withered grass, ruddy leaf
And tranquil turf.
O Lord, our God,
Our Creator, our Sustainer,
In autumn, we worship Thee.
The harvester, surveying fallow fields,
Lifts his heart in psalm
For laden cribs and fattened flocks.
The housewife, pausing near the shelf
And fragrant larder
Sings her sacred song.
Young ones, basking in the fiery glow,
Harken to the swirl and plash of storm
And, mindfully, remember Thee.
O Lord, our God,
We worship Thee.
In autumn, we worship Thee.

Let Your Joy Be Contagious

Let Your Joy Be Contagious
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Psalm 16:11--"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
"

　

A Cycle of Joy

A tremor of laughter,

The five year old’s chortle

In capturing a dandelion,

Jostled the delivery man

Burdened by July, barking dogs and irascibility

And lifted his lethargy

with a memory and a smile

That gladdened the mother of three,

Saddled with prickly heat and sibling rivalry,

Who gently touched her tawny toddler

And melted his tantrum into a chuckle

That captured her heart.

　

　

　

　

Nehemiah 8:10b–"Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Director's Notes

Notes for the Director:
Dancing in the Cosmos will be most effectively staged in a minimalist format which will lend itself quite well to church and travel troupe settings. Moveable floor props such as a tree, a large rock and a bench can be used as the director desires. A synthesizer will be valuable in adding sound effects. Music behind the songs and dances will heighten the effect. However, the music should be ethereal. A flute is the ideal instrument. The choreography will depend upon the ability of the actors. However, it should resemble ballet rather than disco or ballroom dancing. Unless the actors are accomplished dancers, the dance sequences should not be lengthy. The choreography must include pantomime of the narration.
The narration has been written as choral reading. It can be done also with only one or more individual narrators. The important think is to be consistent in the use of voice tone and pitch to set mood. As written, the choral narration has been divided into lighter and heavier voices. The lighter voices are indicated with "Choral One"; the heavier voices with "Choral Two". Whether the director chooses choral reading or individual narrators, the narration can be read from scripts.
If possible, the two "commentators" should be seated down stage left.
One actor should play the part of "Joy" in all stages. She simply portrays the character
appropriately. The cloak she wears must include a hood that will cover the head of Nay Sayer when he assumes the guise of Joy.
Other than Joy’s cloak and the robes that she and Truth Seeker don, costuming can be as simple or as complex as the director desires.
A microphone must be available for off stage lines.

Cast:
Chorus: Either two groups of speakers or individual narrators. If the director chooses, actors who exit may join the chorus until their next entrances. As indicated in the script, minor roles may be spoken directly from the chorus.
Truth Seeker: A beautiful young woman, naive, but searching for greater understanding.
Eternal Hope: Strong and compassionate speaking with warmth and authority.
Commentators One and Two: May be either male or female. They shouldn’t be a part of the chorus. They play the roles as interactive spectators.
Joy: a child for a moment; then a young woman.
Nay Sayer: A nervous feline-like character, strong, yet fearful.

Dancing in the Cosmos Act 3

ACT THREE

Scene One

CHORUS TWO:      The further Truth Seeker walked away from Nay Sayer and the meadow of the devourers, the quieter became both the storm within and the storm without.  As darkness approached, she came upon a lighted cottage. It promised a welcome respite to the exhausted traveler.  She knocked, when no answered, she pushed the door opened, walked inside and was pleased to see a blazing hearth, a meal set out on the table and dry clothing warming near the fireplace.   Tears streamed down her face once more–tears of gratitude.  Eternal Hope had once more come ahead of her and made provision for her.

 

CHORUS ONE:  Warm and dry, she sat down to her meal.  Eternal Hope, Himself, then appeared, served her food and filled and refilled her cup to overflowing.  She wept again in the presence of such love.  Neither spoke.  It was a moment too tender for mere words.  It was a moment to speak heart to heart. 

          After she had eaten her full, she leaned her head on the breast of her Lover, her Creator, her King and listened to the beating of His heart.  She had many questions.  She found her answers in the stillness of His person.

CHORUS TWO:  She knew, then, that her time with Nay Sayer had not been in vain.  She had been the instrument through which Eternal Hope had planted the seed of destiny within the angry creature.   She remembered his words.

NAY SAYER: (off stage) I know enough truth to see that Eternal Hope wants more for me than I want for myself.  I don’t want the responsibility of being more than I am.

CHORUS TWO:   The seed of destiny was within Nay Sayer.  Perhaps, some day, he would accept that destiny.

         

CHORUS ONE: Truth Seeker looked at herself and knew, too, that because of the love of Eternal Hope, because of the destiny that had moved her forward, she had grown even in the midst of her adversity.  Eternal Hope had never chided her for losing both her path and her Joy.  He had only walked beside her and brought her through the consequences of her momentary acceptance of deception.  He had blessed her in spite of her free will and the free will of Nay Sayer.  She had learned in adversity what she may well have overlooked in prosperity.

 

CHORUS TWO:  She knew the love of Eternal Hope–a love that went beyond free will, went beyond the circumstances of life, went beyond rejection.  From the beating of His heart, she knew that Eternal Hope still loved Nay Sayer.  She prayed that Nay Sayer would learn from the adversity that most assuredly lay ahead of him what he had overlooked in the prosperity of the manna.

CHORUS ONE:  She was amazed at the love her felt for Nay Sayer.  She realized that she, too, wanted more for him than he wanted for himself.  She knew that he had not rejected her.   He had rejected the destiny of Eternal Hope that he had seen within her.  She understood that if she had stayed with him, she would have merely enabled him to remain where he was and she would not have fulfilled her destiny as a vessel of Eternal Hope’s love for him.  Had she stayed with him, she would always have been tempted to gather for him.  Perhaps he would have worn her to the point where she would have gathered for him because it would have easier at the moment than not gathering for him.

It would have been easier for the moment, but devastating in the end.  Revelation swept over her as she discerned that often we enable others because it is easier for us than refusing.  She accepted the truth that sometimes love says, “No.”

ALL: In the warmth of His love and revelation, she fell asleep in the arms of her Beloved.

         

CHORUS TWO: Nay Sayer, however, remained in the Valley of the Devourers.  He had not moved out of the storm.  He was miserable, and, yet, he had no desire to relieve that misery.  He wailed out his anguish to the angry skies and wept bitterly in his loneliness–a loneliness made greater now that he had once journeyed with Truth Seeker. 

.COMMENTATOR ONE:  Poor, pitiful Nay Sayer.

COMMENTATOR TWO:    Yes, poor, pitiful Nay Sayer

Scene Two

(Truth Seeker slumbers)

CHORUS ONE: The sounds of crowds nearby awakened Truth Seeker from her slumber.  In the early morning lighted, she saw throngs of travelers filling the road outside her cottage.  Although they walked in groups, each was an individual traveler.  Over the voices of the travelers, Truth Seeker heard the rushing of a great river.  It seemed that the river was just over the next hill.  Each traveler moved at his or her own pace  and, yet, advanced with the group toward the raging river through the verdant valley which had sheltered Truth Seeker’s cottage.  She joined a group and fell into step with a young man. 

TRUTH SEEKER:  Excuse me, young man.  I am a bit confused with all the activity this morning.  What is the destination and what is the purpose of your journey?

YOUNG MAN:  Ah, each of us in  covenant with Eternal Hope.  At one time or another, everyone in covenant with Eternal Hope must journey toward The River.  For some of us, it is a longer journey than for others, but it is a journey for each of us.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Please tell me about The River.  I have not heard of it.  Yet, I sense that it, too, is where my journey is leading me.

YOUNG MAN:  It is The River of Decision.  Here we must decide whether to stay on this side or cross over with Eternal Hope.

TRUTH SEEKER:  What is on the other side?

YOUNG MAN: Some say that a higher and deeper relationship with Eternal Hope exists there.

TRUTH SEEKER:  A higher and deeper relationship?

YOUNG MAN:  Yes, one that will give us authority to reclaim what the gods of the cavern have stolen from us.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Have the gods of the cavern stolen from all of us?

YOUNG MAN:  Aye, the devourers have come into all of our lives.

 

TRUTH SEEKER:    Do some choose to stay on this side?

YOUNG MAN:  Most choose to stay on this side.

TRUTH SEEKER:  But, why?

YOUNG MAN:  Many reasons.  Some of us are fearful of crossing over.  We don’t know what is on the other side.  It is a matter of trust to cross.   Some of us are content where we are.  We are happy to be in covenant with Eternal Hope, but we either don’t want to believe that there are higher and deeper truths, or we reject deeper and higher truths because accepting higher and deeper truths will cause transformation in our souls.  Transformation is a most fearful thing.  We are uncomfortable in transformation.   Transformation means that we will have to think differently.  When we think differently, we act differently. We don’t know what we will have to think or have to do.

TRUTH SEEKER:  We will have to think differently about what?

YOUNG MAN:  It is not “what”.  It is ‘whom’.

TRUTH SEEKER:    We will have to think differently about whom?

YOUNG MAN:  We will have to think differently about Eternal Hope.  We will come to understand that He is greater in love, greater in power, greater in hope than we have known.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Why is that difficult?

YOUNG MAN:  Most of us are comfortable with Eternal Hope when we see Him as limited in much the same way we are limited.  Believing that Eternal Hope has limits gives us reason to hold on to our own lives and our own limitations.”

TRUTH SEEKER:  What will happen when we understand that Eternal Hope has no limits?

YOUNG MAN: We will give ourselves to Him in total surrender and worship.  We will give up all control over our own lives.  We will truly walk heart to heart with Him.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Why wouldn’t we want that?

YOUNG MAN:  Because most of us are too comfortable with things the way they are.  We know that Eternal Hope loves us.  We go to Him in desperation, but we shun a surrendered relationship with Him.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Are you planning to cross The River?

YOUNG MAN:  I haven’t yet decided. (He moves down the path ahead of her.

CHORUS ONE: The crowd of people became more congested as she moved along.  Truth Seeker’s spirit was troubled.  How could people become so comfortable where they were that they feared going over the river into a higher and deeper relationship with Eternal Hope?  Then she remembered Nay Sayer.  Even his misery was more comfortable to him than the thought of going down a new path.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Eternal Hope, may my desire be enough to cross over with You.  May my desire be enough that my heart will beat with Yours.

         

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage) It is a matter of faith.  Remember, the choice is yours and yours alone.  The question isn’t whether or not your desire will be strong enough.  The question is whether or nor your faith will strong enough.

TRUTH SEEKER:  What determines the strength of my faith?

ETERNAL HOPE:  Your understanding of Who I am.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  How do we understand Who Eternal Truth is?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  It, too, is a matter of faith.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  A matter of faith?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  Yes, we must have the faith to believe that Eternal Truth is Who He says He is.

CHORUS ONE:  Then, suddenly, most of the crowd pulled back, and Truth Seeker discovered herself at The River’s edge.  The people had drawn back to make room for a bearded man in a derby standing on a wooden box.  He was an eloquent speaker.  People were more attracted to the sound of his voice than to the words of his message.  He spoke in smooth, enticing tones. 

BEARDED MAN: (solo from Chorus) (preaching)  I love Eternal Hope as much as anyone.  I have been in covenant with him since I was a young man.  However, I am suspicious of this idea of crossing over The River.  It is something that people used to do, but it is not pertinent for our time. 

          Come on, be reasonable.  Haven’t we been successful in what we have been doing?  We don’t need to change now.  We know how to do what we have been doing.  We have done it all our lives.  To change now would be sinful.  I am sure that this idea of crossing over is the device of the gods of the cavern.  We can’t have a deeper and higher relationship with Eternal Hope than we have right now. 

          Please don’t be deceived.  We are joyless and impotent.  That’s the way Eternal Hope wants us to be.  What is this nonsense about coming into a higher authority and claiming back what the gods of the cavern have stolen from us?  It is our duty to remain as we are until Eternal Hope comes for us.  We know the plan for His coming. We have determined it ourselves.  We must rest on the assurance of His love and continue to do nothing.  (Eternal Hope enters.)

          Eternal Hope would not call us to dance amongst the cosmos with Him.  Dancing is undignified and, therefore, sinful.    We can receive blessing only on this side of The River. 

CHORUS TWO: He looked straight into the eyes of One standing in the midst of the crowd.  He looked straight into the eyes of Eternal Hope and did not recognize the one he claimed to love with such a passion.

                                                                                                                       

COMMENTATOR ONE:  I pray that I will recognize Him.

COMMENTATOR TWO:  Recognition comes from spending time with Who He is, not Who we want Him to be.

CHORUS TWO:  The crowd divided.  Some wandered and wondered what they should do and where they should go.  The young man who had spoken to Truth Seeker earlier had joined that group.  Most of the people remained gathered around the man in the derby.  They proclaimed him as their new leader.  They named him Exalted Chieftain and asked him to lead them back to their former lives where they would remain in the love of Eternal Truth, where they would receive blessing, but not the greater blessing, where they would be safe from challenges that would demand the faith that can come only from seeing Eternal Hope as He is.  They asked Exalted Chieftain to lead them back to their complacency.

CHORUS ONE: Truth Seeker, though,  hurried to the tiny group that stood around Eternal Hope.  He looked upon them and spoke to them through the tears of love. 

ETERNAL HOPE:  You are truly mine.  You know My countenance.  You know My voice.  I need only whisper into your spirt, and you put aside all else and come to Me.

ALL:  The River surged tumultuously behind Him.

 

         

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Is it true that each of us will be called to The River?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  It is true.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  When will that call come?

COMMENTATOR TWO: It has come now.

Scene Three

ETERNAL HOPE: (speaking to audience) Come with me.  Come with me to  the edge of destiny.

To the place where eagles soar and glide  on the whisper of the wind. 

You are my eagles. 

My thunder awakens the warrior spirit in you.. 

My power rises above the towering mountains.  

My showers of blessing fall upon all creation. 

I am the sparkling, roaring stream of Living Water.

I am Mercy renewed. 

I am Grace to go forward.

Loose the chains from off yourselves. 

Stretch out your horizons.

Walk in My authority.

Dance from star to star.

As the sons of God sang when the stars came into being, so shall the stars rejoice as we dance together.

Hear the sound of many waters coming from My throne.

Waters of My power, majesty, authority. 

Hush--be still and know that I am Eternal Hope. 

Come, fulfill your destiny in Me.

CHORUS ONE:  “We will come.  We will come with You to  the edge of destiny. 

To the place where eagles soar and glide on the whisper of the wind. 

We rejoice to be your eagles. 

Your thunder has awakened the warrior spirit in us. 

Your power rises above the towering mountains.  

Your showers of blessing fall upon all creation. 

You  are the sparkling, roaring stream of Living Water.

You are Mercy renewed. 

You are Grace to go forward.

We loose the chains from off ourselves. 

We stretch out our horizons.

We will walk in Your authority.

We will dance from star to star.

As the sons of God sang when the stars came into being, so shall the stars rejoice as we dance together with You.

ALL:  We hear the sound of many waters coming from Your throne.

Waters of Your power, majesty, authority. 

Hush–we will be still and know that You are Eternal Hope. 

We will come and fulfill our destiny in You.

(Truth Seeker enters.)

CHORUS ONE:  The heart sensation that had arisen in Truth Seeker the morning after Eternal Hope had sent the first night vision again rose within her.  She wondered when she had last sensed it  and realized that it had been just before she had lost her Joy.  Now, again, that first sensation exploded, erupted within her, and poured forth in a dazzling wildfire that no longer overwhelmed her but still calmed and comforted. 

          The River surged tumultuously before her.  (Eternal Hope exits and Truth Seeker remains alone on the stage.)

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Now, Truth Seeker must make her own decision to cross The River.

COMMENTATOR TWO: Yes, she must make her own decision to cross.

                                                                 

Scene Four

CHORUS TWO: Truth Seeker and the others who desired to go over with Eternal Hope stood nervously on the bank of the rushing river listening carefully to the words of their King. 

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage) Crossing over is a decision that must not be made lightly.  It is a commitment for eternity.  It is the commitment of covenant.  Once you cross over, you cannot come back to your former walk.  You may come back to the place of that walk, but you will not walk in the same manner.  Crossing over The River is crossing over into newness.  Your senses with be enhanced.  Your discernment will be amplified.  Your capacity for revelation will be increased.  Remember, heightened sensitivity carries with it heightened responsibility.  The new intensity, at times, will seem overpowering.   What you will experience on the other side will be nothing that you can fathom within your own abilities.  It requires great faith to cross The River.  It requires greater faith to continue your journey on the other side.

ALL:  The River still surged tumultuously behind Him.  (Eternal Hope enters.)

CHORUS TWO:      Truth Seeker’s heart sensation burned within her and propelled her forward.  She tentatively put one foot on the water’s surface.  She looked down into the turbid stream.  She started to pull back.

ETERNAL HOPE:    Truth Seeker, don’t look at the stream.  Keep your eyes on Me.  Trust in my strength to bring you through the flood.

CHORUS TWO:  Truth Seeker fixed her eyes on her Redemption and stepped into the water.  At first, it swirled around her ankles and nearly knocked her off her feet.  However,  she kept  her eyes on Eternal Hope and continued to walk.  The roiling water came to her knees, then to her waist, but she kept her eyes on Eternal Hope.  Just as the water would have come over her head and plunged her dangerously downstream, Eternal Hope grabbed her hand and pulled her to the shore.

ETERNAL HOPE:  Ah, My faithful one, you have crossed The River.

CHORUS TWO:  One by one, He called the names of each one waiting on the shore.  One by one, each stepped in, walked through the deepening water, and was pulled to shore by Eternal Hope.

          A voice shouted from the opposite shore.  It was the young man that Truth Seeker had met on the road.  (Young man enters shouting)

YOUNG MAN:  Oh, Eternal Hope, forgive me for my lack of faith.  I should have known that we can do all things if we keep our eyes on You.  Is it too late for me?  May I come across?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Come.  Come into your destiny, Mighty Warrior.

CHORUS TWO:  The young man crossed The River to become the Mighty Warrior of his destiny.

          As they regrouped and walked up the path to their tomorrow, the River surged tumultuously behind them.          

         

                                                                                                                                 

Scene 5

(Truth Seeker and Eternal Hope enter)  

CHORUS ONE:  Soon the group dispersed because each had to walk a separate path with Eternal Hope.  Truth Seeker found her path and timorously began that new journey.  Again, she saw no signposts.  She must look into the heart of Eternal Truth to find the way.  What a land she had come into.  All creation was more colorful, more vibrant, more resonant.  She not only heard the singing of the birds, she could actually  see the melodies flowing above and around her.  The cosmos whirled in what seemed to be a cacophony of light, sound, color, taste and texture.

          Reds danced with blues.  Oranges sang out.  Purples pulsed through her.  The whisper of the wind amplified into a roar.  Branches groaned and moaned.   The verdant grasses shone in such magnificence that she couldn’t bear to look at them.  Her senses reeled with sensation.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Please, my Love, I cannot live in this intensity.

 

ETERNAL HOPE:  You can do nothing of your own on this side of The River.  However, you can do all things in Me.  Take My hand.  We will walk together.

CHORUS TWO:      She took His hand.  The reeling subsided.  The world came into focus.  She saw with a greater intensity than she had ever seem.  She heard with a greater clarity than she had ever known.  Yet, with Eternal Hope at her side, the phenomena did not threaten to overwhelm her.

          Still there was the sensation of old rising anew in her spirit.  It had become a longing for gladness, a longing for strength and peace. 

TRUTH SEEKER:  Eternal Hope, I am walking hand in hand with You, why, then, do have I such longings in my heart?

ETERNAL HOPE:    The longings have always been a part of you.  You have been so taken up with cares, concerns, and confusion that you haven’t felt the inner longings.  You have said that you desire to regain your Joy.  What you do not realize is that what you have been looking for all along is My Joy.  When you fully embrace My Joy, you will not be so easily deceived into relinquishing it.

ALL:  Then Eternal Hope sang the song of gladness and Joy.

ETERNAL HOPE:  Shout for Joy, those who seek My heart,

          Shout for Joy because you have placed your trust in Me.

          Shout for Joy, and I will guide you in the path of your journey.

          I shall give you Joy.

          Gladness is for the pure in heart.

          Gladness is for you, My Beloved,  because I have purified your heart.

CHORUS ONE:  The paths of others had crossed The River joined the path of Truth Seeker.  All who had crossed over joined in a festival of Joy.  Tambourines jingled.  Trumpets blared.  The trees clapped their hands in gladness.  All the earth rejoiced with them.

          Suddenly, Truth Seeker stood in amazement.  There, in the midst of the festivities stood the one she had regarded as her Joy.  She understood now that all Joy comes from the hand of Eternal Hope.  She could not have found Joy on her own.  She could find Joy only with the guidance of Eternal Hope.  He alone gave Joy and gladness.  How beautiful Joy had become in the hands of the King.

          Truth Seeker stood before Joy.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Please forgive me, my friend.  Even though I nurtured you, cared for you and walked with you, I didn’t really know you.  That is why Nay Sayer so easily deceived me.  I want always to walk with you and to know you, to know you truly.”  (She kneels before Joy.)

JOY:   Please stand, my Truth Seeker.” (She helps Truth Seeker to her feet.  She held embraces her former companion.  Truth Seeker weeps in the arms of Joy.  As she wept, Joy places her cloak on Truth Seeker and exits.)

TRUTH SEEKER:    What has happened?

ETERNAL HOPE:    View yourself in the mirror of My eyes.  What do you see?

TRUTH SEEKER:    I see myself, but I am somehow different.

ETERNAL HOPE:    Yes, My Beloved.  You are different.  You have embraced My Joy.  You are now stronger, humbler, more merciful and more gracious.  You have grown, matured, blossomed.  The prophesy of the scroll you found so long ago has been fulfilled.  Joy has become a mighty weapon at your right hand.  Yet, the more of My Joy you embrace, the stronger and more beautiful you shall become.  No matter what hardships come in the journey ahead, you shall be strengthened by My Joy.

ALL:  Truth Seeker sang her own song of Joy and gladness.

TRUTH SEEKER:    In seeking Your heart. O Eternal Hope, I have learned to shout for Joy.

            I have placed my trust in You, and You have proved Yourself faithful.

           I will shout for Joy as You guide me in the pathway of my  journey.

           You have given me Joy.

          You have purified my heart and made me glad.

          (Eternal Hope stands before her and extends his hand.)

 ETERNAL HOPE:  Truth Seeker, the apple of My eye, may I please have this dance?

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Can we dance with Eternal Hope if we do not have Joy?

COMMENTATOR TWO: No, we cannot.

CHORUS ONE: Truth Seeker took the hand of Eternal Hope and moved with Him to the music of the worshipers.  The sensation in her heart found fulfillment in the dance of her Beloved. She moved with Him across the valleys and above the mountain tops. 

CHORUS TWO:  The music became the music of the galaxies.  The stars sang with them as they danced within the Milky Way, out beyond the evening star, beyond the Pleiades and the might hunter, Orion.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Eternal Hope, are there pathways and journeys beyond this one? Will there be other rivers to cross? Others to whom I will be vessel of Your love?  Will there be other dances?

ETERNAL HOPE:  Yes, My seeker of truth, there will be other journeys and other rivers.  Each one you overcome will bring you higher and deeper into Me.  Your destiny, and the destiny of all others, is to climb higher and higher, to cross over and over, to find greater and greater Joy, to come to know Me even as I know you.

TRUTH SEEKER:    How many journeys?  How many conquests?  For how long?

ETERNAL HOPE:  As many as will fit into eternity.  Are you willing still to journey with Me?

TRUTH SEEKER:    Yes, My Lord.

CHORUS ONE: With His arms about her, they danced to music of the universe sung by the angelic hosts.  The stars kept rhythm with them.  They whirled and dipped, and their Joy rang out in a carillon of laughter.   Vibrant colors of the rainbow flowed out of the music and swirled about them. 

          The colors poured forth throughout all creation.  Some fell on the followers of Exalted Chieftain.  One raised his face to the sky and declared, “The next time You call me, Eternal Hope, I shall join the throngs of those who cross The River.” (Everyone enters.  Nay Sayer slumbers down stage right.)

 

CHORUS TWO:  One named Mighty Warrior mounted a powerful steed and went forward to conquer unrighteousness in the Name of Eternal Hope.

          A solitary golden beam searched out one sleeping fitfully in the Valley of the Devourers.  The golden beam sought him out, reached into the darkness of his soul and touched the seed of destiny that had lain dormant within his spirit. 

ALL:  The golden beam touched that seed of destiny and kindled a tiny flame that warmed a tiny portion of his heart.  Nay Sayer didn’t awaken, but he stirred in his sleep and almost smiled.

         

COMMENTATOR ONE:     It is not, then, too late.

COMMENTATOR TWO:    No, it is not, then,  too late.

FINIS

         

Dancing in the Cosmos Act 2

ACT TWO

Scene One

ALL:   With Nay Sayer at a distance behind her, Truth Seeker determined to retrace her path.  In her spirit, she knew that the way back would be more difficult, more difficult than the path to this utter desolation.

COMMENTATOR ONE:     Is the path back to Joy more difficult that the path to Joy?

COMMENTATOR TWO:    Most times, my child.

COMMENTATOR ONE:     Why?

COMMENTATOR TWO:    We learn in desolation what we often overlook in prosperity.  The greater the adversity, the greater our Joy when we burst through the darkness into the sunshine.

CHORUS TWO:      Briars and brambles inched across the pathway of Truth Seeker.  The startling cry of the condor shrieked above her.  Her self-doubt rose and churned within her like the surging of convergent oceans.  Nay Sayer could not see his prey, but he heard her despair and softly chuckled as he moved steadily behind her.

TRUTH SEEKER:  How could I have been so blind?  How could I have not seen?  Why did I harken to another’s voice?  How can I be so undeserving of the love of my one and only Eternal Hope?  How can I possibly redeem myself for what I have done?  I have joined the ranks of those who have forsaken their Joy and their hope.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Who are those who have forsaken their Joy and their hope?

COMMENTATOR TWO: All of us, my child.  Truth Seeker weeps the tears of all mankind.

CHORUS TWO:  Nay Sayer’s chuckle rose to a roar of hideous, evil, foully odorous laughter.  The tears and the laughter mingled with the rising wind and the shriek of the skua to produce a deafening roar  The distress in Truth Seeker’s spirit rose with the clamor. 

She choked on her tears, stumbled over the brambles, picked herself up and continued moving through the storms raging around and within her.

TRUTH SEEKER: (shouting in anguish) Eternal Hope!

COMMENTATOR TWO:  We must always remember Eternal Hope. (Eternal Hope enters.)

CHORUS ONE: Eternal Hope reached through the perturbation, touched the cheek of Truth Seeker, kissed her lips and spoke gently.  As he spoke,  the tumult subsided, the rising wind became the gentle breath of His Spirit, the skua returned to its nest, and overcome by the Spirit of Hope, Nay Sayer laughed in hideous, evil, foully odorous, gagging silence.

ETERNAL HOPE:    You ask how you can redeem yourself, My Beloved?  You cannot, and you have no need to.  I have redeemed you and destined you to become both a vassal and a vessel of Eternal Hope.  You are both my bond servant and my bride destined to bring hope to those who grieve without hope.  No one can deserve my love.  You may only receive it and in receiving it, you are commissioned to pass it on to another. 

Rebuke your fear and self-doubt.  Speak My love and My hope into your spirit.

See that brook of living water sparkling nearby?  Go, refresh yourself in Me. Choose invincibility.  Choose to choose Hope. (Eternal Hope exits.)

CHORUS ONE: Truth Seeker knelt by the brook’s side and saw her reflection in a tiny pool captured by the river stones.  Her reflection startled her.  The pool showed  a weary soul bedraggled by care and fear and hopelessness.  As she washed and drank and rested, she heard again:

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage) Rebuke your fear and self-doubt.  Speak My love and My hope into your spirit.

TRUTH SEEKER:  I am not this bedraggled creature of the pool.  She is the creature I will become if I choose to wallow in despair.  No!  I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.  I am joined in covenant with Eternal Hope.  I shall go forth.  I shall dance amongst the stars with my Beloved. (Truth Seeker arises with determination and begins her journey. She dances for a moment on the pathway.  Eternal Hope enters and observes her.)

          . 

ETERNAL HOPE:  You have received My love, and it has restored you.  You must now pass it to another.

TRUTH SEEKER: But to whom, my Love?

ETERNAL HOPE: To the most loathsome.

TRUTH SEEKER: To the most loathsome?  Are you asking me to be a vessel of Your love to Nay Sayer?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Yes, he cannot know his destiny in Me until he has tasted of My love for him.  You are destined to be the purveyor of that love.

TRUTH SEEKER: But he stole my Joy.

ETERNAL HOPE:  Oh, My precious one.  He did not steal your Joy.  He merely distracted you, and in your distraction, you surrendered your Joy and accepted his counterfeit.  This truth is the greatest revelation of desolation.  Because you are Mine, no one can steal your Joy.  You can only choose to release it.  This is truth that sets you free.  If you can choose to surrender, you can also choose to keep.  In spite of turmoil around you, you can choose to be content.  In spite of hopelessness, you can choose hope.  Even when others defame you, you can cling to the knowledge of who you are in Me.  If you so choose, despair can no longer rule over you.

On your own, you cannot love Nay Sayer.  Choose to love him in Me.  Allow me to show you how to love him, how to reveal his destiny.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Can Truth Seeker make Nay Sayer fulfill his destiny?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  No.  That must be his choice.  But she can plant the seed of destiny within him.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  How will she plant that seed?

COMMENTATOR TWO: Gently, gently.

Scene Two

CHORUS ONE:       Eternal Hope provided Truth Seeker with a loaf of bread and a wineskin.  He tenderly urged her onward.  The path seemed yet as dark and as fearsome, but she walked in the quietude of her spirit.  She walked in the quietude of her spirit, but she wrestled with the thoughts in her soul.  To hush those thoughts, she spoke to herself the words of Eternal Hope.

TRUTH SEEKER: In spite of the hopelessness of others, I will choose hope.  Even when others defame me, I will cling to the knowledge of who I am in Him.  If I so choose, d-d-despair will no longer rule over m-m-me.

CHORUS ONE:  To quiet the spirit of despair that threatened to overtake her, she sang, as her own,  the first song of Eternal Hope.

TRUTH SEEKER:    I am arising, My beloved.

I am Your child.  I am arising in You.

I will spring to the heights with You.

I will soar in your liberty.

I will ascend to your dreams.

I will come out of my valleys,

Beyond the mountain tops.

I will seek for the stars.

I will reach for the cosmos.

I will dance in the glory of now.

I will dance in the promise of tomorrow.

Though ravaged by time

And the machinations of man,

The foundations born of fire

Still stand.

I will build on the past.

Yet walk in the present.

And aspire the eternal.

I am coming, my King,

I am coming to dance in the stars with You.

CHORUS TWO: Just when her trepidation began to ease; just when a glimmer of hope began once more to rise within her, a howling foul-smelling force hissed and growled its way passed her and turned to glare into her fearful eyes.  (Nay Sayer enters.)

NAY SAYER:   I despise, despise thee.  S-s-s-s-s-s.” 

CHORUS TWO: Just as he bristled up to attack, Eternal Hope poured forth His magnificence as a shield over Truth Seeker.  (Eternal Hope enters and dances around Truth Seeker.) Nay Sayer was thrown down.  He whimpered and cowered before the one he despised.

          The spirit of fear gave up to a spirit of anger within Truth Seeker. 

TRUTH SEEKER: (screaming)  Eternal Hope, if You desire this wretched one to be loved, You’ll have to love him.  I don’t want to love him.  I don’t want to love him, not even for You.  He is evil, foul, cruel and utterly despicable.

ETERNAL HOPE:    My dear, you have spoken the facts, but you are a seeker of truth.  Truth is the “why” of the facts.  Seek to know why Nay Sayer is evil, foul, cruel and utterly despicable.

TRUTH SEEKER: (Trying to control her emotions) Why, my King, why is this one so terribly loathsome.

ETERNAL HOPE:    He is the way he is because he has believed untruth.  Those whom he trusted, those who should have loved him and spoken truth to him have betrayed him by speaking untruth over him.

TRUTH SEEKER:  What untruth did they speak?

ETERNAL HOPE:    They spoke that he is unworthy and, yet,  more worthy than others because even if he lacks intelligence, wisdom and giftedness, he is more intelligent, wise, and gifted than others.   They spoke that his heritage was pitiful and, and the same time, greater than the heritage of others,  that all he does is wrong, but more right than what others do, and because of who he is, that only he should prosper, and that his prosperity rightfully depends on the works of others because the labor of others belongs to him because he is more worthy. Worst of all, they denied him his right to be himself.  They spoke that he must be an intellectual and spiritual clone of them.  What they like, he must like.  What they think, he must think. What they aspire for him, he must aspire for himself.

TRUTH SEEKER:    What do they aspire for him?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Nothing.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Then he is without hope.

ETERNAL HOPE:    Yes, and life has not confirmed what he has believed about himself.  No matter how he tries to convince himself otherwise, he sees those around him who are intelligent, wise and gifted.   He sees those whose heritage he considers inferior accomplishing their dreams.  He is frustrated when his vision of what is right is thwarted by righteousness.  Bile rises up in him when he sees those that he believes to be lesser than he prosper.  He spews forth that bile when those who are prospering resent him for his belief that what they have labored for belongs to him.  Because others to do not agree with him, he sees them as ignorant fools, and, so, Nay Sayer is alone and lonely.  His anger has obfuscated his destiny.  In his anger, he cannot see his own beauty and giftedness.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Why did those who should have loved him speak such untruth over him?

ETERNAL HOPE:  To shackle him to their will.  To become his gods.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Why did he accept such untruth?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Because they spoke what he wanted to hear.  They tickled his ears, and he accepted.  He desired their words, and whatever we desire will rule over us.

TRUTH SEEKER:  So, he has become a slave to his own deception and his desire for more deception.

ETERNAL HOPE:    Yes, and deception as a master leads one to destruction.  Truth as a master leads one freedom.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Is dancing amongst the stars with You the ultimate freedom?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Yes, Beloved, it is the ultimate freedom.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Oh, Eternal Hope, I so want to dance amongst the stars with you.  I know that in order to do that, I must be a vessel of your love to Nay Sayer, but, of my own, I cannot.  My heart is too wounded.

ETERNAL HOPE:    I will give you the words to speak, and as you speak My words of love over him, you will heal.  The more of My words you speak over him, the more healing will come to  you.  You will be surprised by My love words.  He will be more surprised.  My love words are truth and that truth can set you both free.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Will he accept your love words? Will you force him to accept them?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Forcing him to accept would not prove wise.  It would then be an acceptance without roots that would fly away in the first gust of adversity.  No, the decision to accept must be his and his alone. (Eternal Hope produces a flaming coal that he touches to the lips of Truth Seeker). Allow the purity of my words to flow through you.

COMMENTATOR ONE:     What will Truth Seeker speak?  I am afraid for her.

COMMENTATOR TWO:    Hush, don’t be afraid.  She is surrounded and strengthened by Eternal Hope.

CHORUS TWO:      As she started once more down the path, she had to pass the cowering, whimpering Nay Sayer.  A sense of pity welled up within her.  She reached out her hand to touch his forehead.  He bristled and hissed. 

TRUTH SEEKER: (gently)  “My dear Nay Sayer, I bring you no harm, but you must remember that I am in covenant with Eternal Hope, and you cannot bring harm to me without harming yourself.  (She breaks off a piece of her bread for him and leaves it and a flagon of wine within his reach.  He hurls them away and spits in the direction of Truth Seeker.  Then he cowers further into himself while Truth Seeker exits.)

COMMENTATOR ONE:     Has she seen the last of Nay Sayer?

COMMENTATOR TWO:    No.  Nay Sayer may be confused and afraid, but he doesn’t give up easily.

Scene Three

CHORUS TWO:      Thwarted, but still willing to play his painful game, Nay Sayer again lighted the fire on his makeshift altar and again called on the gods who had betrayed him, the gods who had shackled him with his own desire, the gods that manipulated him not for any gain but for the evil pleasure of watching him suffer. 

NAY SAYER:   Speak to me again, you evil, vengeful seekers of my destruction.  Speak to me again of my desires.  Tell me how to frustrate this she, this seeker of truth.

CHORUS TWO:      From the mouth of the cave, a dry, fetid wind burst forth and extinguished the fire on the altar.  Nay Sayer shrank in fear.  Stillness reigned in the darkness.  Trembling, Nay Sayer waited.  Then he heard the wind speaking the words he wanted Truth Seeker to hear.  He heard the birds chirping the song he wanted Truth Seeker to sing. He heard the brook babbling the confusion he wanted Truth Seeker to feel.  He gloated, and his gloat arose as gorge and nearly choked him.  

          He remembered the gentle words of Truth Seeker.

TRUTH SEEKER: (off stage) You cannot bring harm to me without harming yourself.

CHORUS TWO:  He shook off the memory and dragged himself onward to watch as the forces of nature around her spoke to Truth Seeker.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Can Truth Seeker know that the voices she will hear to do not speak truth?

COMMENTATOR TWO: She will if she chooses to follow the words of Eternal Truth.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  It’s all a matter of faith, isn’t it?

COMMENTATOR TWO: Yes, young one, it is all a matter of faith.

         

CHORUS ONE:  As Truth Seeker continued on her path, the way seemed smoother; the air freshened.  The breeze delighted her cheeks and fluffed her hair.  As it flowed past her ears, it spoke.

BREEZE: (solo from the chorus) Truth Seeker, Nay Sayer is crafty.  He knows ways that are unknown to Eternal Hope.  He knows ways of darkness that Eternal Hope cannot see.  Nay Sayer can bring things into your path from which Eternal Hope cannot protect you.

TRUTH SEEKER: No, no.  That cannot be true.  Eternal Hope is my protection.

BREEZE:  Just because you choose to believe something doesn’t make it true.

CHORUS TWO:  To elude the words of the wind,  Truth Seeker ran to the lee side of a large oak.  Breathing deeply, she held onto the tree to catch her breath and ease her mind.  The tree offered no protection.  High in its branches the mockingbirds called:

MOCKING BIRDS: (trio from the chorus)  Does Eternal Hope truly love you?  Will He give you the desires of your heart?  Why doesn’t He call off the advances of Nay Sayer?  Why doesn’t He simply transport you to the stars and away from the harassment of the one who despises you? Why not? Why not? Why not?

CHORUS TWO: Truth Seeker covered her ears and ran further down the path.  The babbling brook accompanied her on its course. 

BROOK: (a solo from the chorus) He loves you?  He loves you not.  He protects you?  He puts you in the midst of peril because He chooses to.  He sends you dreams and visions?  Does He not also send you nightmares?  If He knows everything, why doesn’t He simply reveal to you the place where your Joy lies waiting for rescue?  Why doesn’t He rescue her Himself?  Why?  Why?  Why?

TRUTH SEEKER (stage whisper) Eternal Hope, I will not doubt your kindness, your goodness, you faithfulness.  I will not fear.  I will not fear.  I will not fear.

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage) 

          Arise, My child.

Spring to the heights with Me.

Soar in My liberty.

Ascend to My dreams.

CHORAL ONE: Peace came upon and around her.  The breeze now sang a anthem to Eternal Hope.  The mockingbirds trilled their love for their Creator, and the babbling brook again became a stream of living water.  Truth Seeker girded up her faith and went forward.     

COMMENTATOR ONE: What happened?

COMMENTATOR TWO: Power is released in faith.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  What is released in fear?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  More fear.

                                                                     

Scene Four

(Nay Sayer enters.)

CHORUS ONE:  Nay Sayer was mystified.   Truth Seeker was proving herself to be a formidable opponent.  His major weapon in the past had been intimidation, but Truth Seeker didn’t seem to be intimidated.  A force radiated from her that he didn’t understand and that he appeared to be powerless against.

          He went again to the cavern of evil, again lighted a fire upon the altar, and again called forth the evil spirits that hated him as much as he hated them.

 

NAY SAYER: Powers of darkness, speak, speak to me your groveling, hateful bond servant.  I know that if we destroy the one who seeks truth, we can destroy truth itself.  Tell me, what is my weapon?  Fear is powerless against her faith.

CHORUS TWO:  A stench that once more threw him to the earth preceded the voice of his gods.  He crouched behind the altar and waited for the roar of  words to come forth from the cavern.  The voice was at once surprisingly gentle and weirdly sardonic,  

SOLO FROM THE CHORUS: If fear is powerless, perhaps flattery will prevail.

CHORUS ONE:  How strange. How strange.  Nay Sayer could not see himself as a flatterer, but perhaps flattery should be his weapon of choice in this battle.

          Resolved to change his strategy, he tidied his appearance and waited at the side of the road for Truth Seeker to pass.  (Truth Seeker enters.)

          Soon his quarry came near.  He stepped before her and bowed. 

NAY SAYER: Truth Seeker, I see that I cannot defeat you.  I see a power in you that draws me to your side.  I ask your forgiveness.  I choose to walk beside you.  Please allow me to be your companion on the path.

CHORUS ONE:  Truth Seeker could not believe what was happening.  Such a short time ago, Nay Sayer had refused her gift of bread and wine.  Now, he was seeking her company.  Something arose in her spirit.  She heard a quiet voice speaking from within her innermost being.

ETERNAL TRUTH: (off stage)  Look into his spirit.  Be cautious, My Love, and look into his spirit and then into his soul. Be cautious, but remember you are a vessel of My love.

TRUTH SEEKER: (quietly)  Please, anoint me with your with your Holy Oil, that I may be empowered to see into his spirit and his soul.

CHORUS ONE:  Immediately, the aroma of frankincense and myrrh filled the air.  She felt the oil touch her forehead and run down her cheeks, down her body, to the hem of her gown. 

          She faced Nay Sayer and looked into the blackness of his spirit.  She saw the spirit of flattery. She saw the desperation of his soul.  She saw his desire to conquer her.  She recoiled.  She remembered her calling as a vessel of Eternal Hope’s love to this one.  She steeled herself to rebuke the flattering spirit.

TRUTH SEEKER:   Of course, Nay Sayer, you may walk beside me, but I will not allow you to choose my path.  I will walk only in the way Eternal Hope chooses for me.

NAY SAYER: Truth Seeker, I want to hear your heart.  I want to know the words you speak that empower you.  I know that you are one of mercy and compassion, I know that you desire my well-being and not my defeat.  In your compassion and mercy, you will give me the desire of my heart.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Hush, Nay Sayer.  My being is defined by Eternal Hope.  I know who I am in Him.  My worth is in Him.  My words are from Him.  I give only what He desire me to give.

NAY SAYER:  What does He want you to give to me?

TRUTH SEEKER:   His love.

NAY SAYER:   How will you give me His love.?

TRUTH SEEKER:    That, Nay Sayer, I must learn.

CHORUS TWO:  Nay Sayer turned his face to hide his anger and his disappointment.  She saw, though.  She saw anger in his spirit and disappointment in his soul.  Her compassion stirred, but she gave nothing because she did not know what to give. 

(Nay Sayer and Truth Seeker exit.)

COMMENTATOR ONE:  How does Eternal Love give His love?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  He gives what we need, not necessarily what we think we desire.  He gives at the root of our need so that we can be healed to need no more.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  How can we become vessels of His love?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  We must listen to His heart.

Scene 5

(Nay Sayer and Truth Seeker enter.)

CHORUS ONE:  The strange twosome soon came to a garden surrounded by a high stone wall.  From within the garden came the sounds of children at play–the happy, carefree sounds of children who accepted themselves and accepted one another.  Truth Seeker and Nay Sayer peered through the gate.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Look, Nay Sayer, see the children? Aren’t they delightful?

NAY SAYER:  Delightful? Look at them.  See that one with the ball?  He runs with such an awkward gait, he shouldn’t be allowed to play.   That girl with the braids can’t catch anything.  Only a fool would want her on his team.

TRUTH SEEKER:    They are just children playing.  They are enjoying the game.

NAY SAYER:  Games aren’t to be enjoyed.  Games are to be won.  Only those who are capable of winning and willing to win should be allowed to play.

TRUTH SEEKER:  But, Nay Sayer, they are just children playing in the garden.

NAY SAYER:  Only the superior should be allowed to play.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Are you allowed to play?

NAY SAYER: I am the superior one.  I make the decisions about who can play.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Whom do you choose?

NAY SAYER: I choose none.  None are good enough.

TRUTH SEEKER:  So, you play alone?

NAY SAYER:  I don’t play at all.

TRUTH SEEKER:    You have never enjoyed the laughter that these children now enjoy?

NAY SAYER:  That laughter is rubbish.  Laughter is for fools.  We, the superior, have no time for laughter.  We have time only for winning.

TRUTH SEEKER:    You say “we.”  Who else is superior?

NAY SAYER:  Only those who recognize my superiority.

TRUTH SEEKER:    And who are those?

(Nay Sayer snarls, slams his paw against the gate and hurries on.

During the following dialogue, he skulks around the periphery of the stage. Truth Seeker pauses for another moment to watch the children.)

TRUTH SEEKER:   Eternal Hope, has Nay Sayer ever played with anyone?

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage)  Not really.  Those few he once choose to play with grew weary of his bullying and his disdain and left him for those that he had not allowed to play.  Superiority is a hard task master.  Superiority breeds the bleakest kind of loneliness.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Why is that?

ETERNAL HOPE:    The moment superiority accepts another, he becomes equal and can no longer conceive himself as superior.  The one who feels that he is superior is doomed to loneliness.

TRUTH SEEKER: Nay Sayer does not accept me.

ETERNAL HOPE:    No, but he feels less lonely in your company.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Then I must hurry to him.

ETERNAL HOPE:    Yes, you must be the vessel of My love for him.

(Truth Sayer hurries down the path.  When Nay Sayer hears her footsteps behind him, he slows his pace.  When she come alongside him, he growls, but he falls in step with her.  They exit.) 

         

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Was Truth Sayer one of the children who was not allowed to play?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  Perhaps she was.  Perhaps, because she is in covenant with Eternal Hope, she understands the pain of not being allowed to play. She senses the pain through the heart of her beloved.

COMMENTATOR ONE: I understand that pain.  I have been one who was not allowed to play.

COMMENTATOR TWO: You understand that pain.  But can you understand the pain of those who rejected you?

COMMENTATOR ONE:     I want to understand.

Scene 6

(Truth Seeker and Nay Sayer enter.)

NAY SAYER: I’m hungry.  I’m weary.  This isn’t what I expected when I chose to walk beside one who is in covenant with Eternal Truth.  My gods feed me.  My gods do not make me labor.  My gods give me what I ask for.  Is this the way Eternal Truth shows His love?  You are as hungry and weary as I.

TRUTH SEEKER:  When I am truly hungry, He feeds me.  When I am truly weary, He gives me rest.  He feeds more than the hunger in my stomach.  He feeds the hunger in my spirit as well.  He gives me more than rest for my weary limbs.  He gives also me rest for the weariness of my soul.

NAY SAYER: I don’t care about my spirit or my soul.  I care about my stomach.

NAY SAYER: Look, Nay Sayer, look over there.  See the manna fields white and ready for harvest.  Eternal Truth has guided us into the way of His blessing.  Come, help me gather manna for our dinner.  Then we can fill our stomachs and rest our weariness.  Eternal Truth as never left me without sustenance.

NAY SAYER: We have to gather our own food?  What kind of blessing is that? My gods place the food before me.  They do not expect me to gather my own.  Gathering my own food is beneath me.  Go quickly now.  Gather for both of us.  I will settle in the shade of this grove and rest for both of us.

CHORAL ONE:  Truth Seeker was taken aback for a moment.  However, she knew that love often demands sacrifice, so she agreed.  She went into the field to gather for both herself and Nay Sayer.  As she filled her bag, the breath of Eternal Truth touched her.  

ETERNAL TRUTH: (off stage) Truth Seeker, let’s visit about the nature of love.  Think for a moment, and then answer this question for me.  Is giving something that will bring harm an act of love?

TRUTH SEEKER:    No, my Lord.  That would not be love.  If I give this manna to Nay Sayer, will it harm him.  Is it poisonous or unhealthy?

ETERNAL TRUTH:  My child, the manna is most healthy.  The manna is life-giving.  The manna itself will not harm Nay Sayer.  It is the act of giving it to him that is harmful.

TRUTH SEEKER:  How can that be?

ETERNAL TRUTH: Is Nay Sayer capable of gathering his own manna?

TRUTH SEEKER:  Physically, he is capable, but his gods have taught him that he shouldn’t have to gather manna.  His manna should be gathered by others and placed before him because gathering manna is beneath him.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  Then his belief system has impoverished him.  His gods have both enslaved him and left him destitute.  The only way he can survive is to enslave others and leave them destitute.

TRUTH SEEKER:  I don’t understand.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  Think once again.  If you give him manna today, how will he secure the manna he needs for tomorrow?

TRUTH SEEKER:    I will have to gather manna for him tomorrow.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  What will happened if you cannot gather manna for him tomorrow?

TRUTH SEEKER:  He will go hungry.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  What if he desires to eat both the manna you gather for him and the manna that you gather for yourself?

TRUTH SEEKER: Then, I will go hungry.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  He is young and impoverished now.  What will happen if you continue to gather manna for him until he is old?

TRUTH SEEKER:  He will be old and impoverished.

TRUTH SEEKER:    What if he continues to eat both your manna and his until you also are old?

TRUTH SEEKER:  We will both be old and impoverished.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  He will then have enslaved you and left you destitute just as he is enslaved and destitute.   One more question.  If you continue to give all the manna to Nay Sayer until you have no extra, what will happen when you meet someone who is physically or emotionally unable to gather manna?  What will you have to give to someone who is truly needy?

TRUTH SEEKER:  If that happens, I will have nothing to give to the truly needy.  Oh, Eternal Hope, I understand.  If I give to someone who is not truly needy, it will keep him impoverished, it will impoverish me, and it will impoverish the one who is truly needy.  It is not an act of love to give manna that I have gathered to one like Nay Sayer who is able to gather his own manna.

ETERNAL TRUTH:  In love, Truth Seeker, you must close your ears to the spirit within Nay Sayer that seeks to keep him impoverished.  Close your ears and open your heart.  Demand that he gather his own manna.

TRUTH SEEKER:  And if he refuses?

ETERNAL TRUTH:  Let him continue to feed on his deception.  Perhaps it will create a hunger in him that will set him free.

CHORUS ONE: Truth Seeker continued into the field.  She gathered for herself and extra to put aside to bless someone who was truly needy.  She brought her bag of manna back to the grove where she had left Nay Sayer.  She sat down near him, opened her store and ate.  Nay Sayer watched for just a moment before giving into his temper.

NAY SAYER:  Where is my manna?  You have much manna.  It is selfish of you to refuse me manna that you have received so abundantly.  Is that a manifestation of the love of Eternal Hope?  I am sure that He is disappointed in you as His servant.  You have most assuredly broken covenant with Him.

TRUTH SEEKER:    The manna is abundant, Nay Sayer.  You need only to walk through the field and gather for yourself.

NAY SAYER:  I cannot gather for myself.  I wasn’t created to gather for myself.  It is not my destiny to gather for myself.  You were created to gather for me.  It is your destiny to gather for me.  If you do not gather for me, you will not fulfill your destiny.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Nay Sayer, my destiny is to show you the love of Eternal Hope.  His love will not enable you to depend upon others for what you should do for yourself.  It is that dependency that keeps you impoverished in body, soul and spirit.  Set yourself free.  Gather some manna so that you may eat and be satisfied by your own efforts.

CHORUS TWO:      Nay Sayer growled at her and crawled away mumbling to himself.  He mumbled and whined continuously through the night.  Truth Seeker covered her ears against the tirade of anger, disappointment and fear.  She cried out to Eternal Hope.

TRUTH SEEKER:   Can’t I give him just a bit of manna so that he will eat and I can sleep?

ETERNAL HOPE:    Is it loving to keep him in bondage for your own comfort?  If you do,  you will be no better than the gods who have enslaved him.  I am your comfort and your rest.  I am your strength.  Do as you have done before and speak my words from your spirit into your soul.  Then you will not be in anguish over the grumbling of Nay Sayer.

TRUTH SEEKER:  It is not love to give what will bring harm.  It is not love to give what will bring harm.  It is not love to give what will bring harm.”

CHORUS ONE:  With the words, her soul found peace, and she fell asleep.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  I did not know that giving something good can bring harm. I did not know that receiving something good can impoverish both the receiver and the giver.

COMMENTATOR TWO:    Eternal Hope truly knows what love is and does.

                                                                 

Scene 7

CHORUS ONE:       In the morning, Nay Sayer arose early and went into the manna field before Truth Seeker had awakened.  He quietly ate his fill and then returned to his resting place to wait for Truth Seeker to arise and greet the new day. (Truth Seeker stirs.)

NAY SAYER: (snarling) How can you sleep when I am weakened with hunger.  Yesterday, I might have been able to gather manna, but today I am too frail to enter the field.  You must gather manna for me or I shall die.

TRUTH SEEKER:  If I must, I will carry you to the manna field, but you must reach up, even with your last bit of energy and pick the manna for yourself.  If you have the strength to chastise me, you must have enough to feed yourself.  Here, let me carry you to the field. (She reaches a hand out to help Nay Sayer.)

NAY SAYER:  Don’t touch me.  If you cared, you would give me the manna that remains in your bag.

TRUTH SEEKER:    That manna is for the truly needy that I shall perhaps meet on the way.

NAY SAYER:  What if you do not meet any truly needy?

TRUTH SEEKER:    The truly needy are always among us.  To take what should be theirs is a sacrilege.

NAY SAYER:   Not where my gods are concerned.  (He starts down the road ahead of her.) (Eternal Hope enters from the opposite side.)

TRUTH SEEKER:  Eternal Hope, why does Nay Sayer not gather manna that is so readily available when he is desperately hungry.

ETERNAL HOPE:    He is not desperately hungry.  He did gather.

TRUTH SEEKER:  When?

ETERNAL HOPE:  Before you awakened.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Why didn’t he tell me?

ETERNAL HOPE:  If you know that he gathered and satisfied his hunger, he will not be able to abuse your compassion.

TRUTH SEEKER:    I don’t understand why he is unwilling to gather for himself the bounty that You have abundantly placed before us.

ETERNAL HOPE:    Apprehend him, and ask him.

          (Truth Seeker gatherS her belongings and rushes down the road to walk again with Nay Sayer.)

TRUTH SEEKER:   Nay Sayer!  Nay Sayer!  Slow down.  I wish to learn more of your heart.

         

CHORUS TWO:  Those words surprised Nay Sayer.  Not even he wanted to learn more of his heart.  He shivered a bit, but he slowed his pace.  Panting, Truth Seeker fell into step with him.

TRUTH SEEKER:    So, Nay Sayer, you gathered manna early this morning.  You are not weak from hunger after all.

NAY SAYER:  How do you know?

TRUTH SEEKER:  Eternal Hope told me.  Why didn’t you want me to know?

NAY SAYER:  I can gather for myself, but I shouldn’t have to gather for myself.  Even if I can gather for myself, it is beneath me.  You are much more suited to gather than I.  You are more experienced in gathering than I.  You are a gatherer.  I am a philosopher.  My reflections add to worldly wisdom.  Gathering interrupts my thinking and deprives society of my meditations.  You must gather for me so that I can spend my time in speculation.  If I am forced to gather for myself, all of society will suffer.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Suffer from what?  Tell me some of the thoughts of your heart.

NAY SAYER:  Well, one of the tenets that I live by is that those who are superior are worthy of the proceeds from the labor of those who are inferior.

TRUTH SEEKER:  How does one become superior?

NAY SAYER:  One simply knows and declares himself as superior.

TRUTH SEEKER:  How does one know?

NAY SAYER:  He senses it in his soul and seeks the confirmation of the gods of the cavern.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Do some recognize you as superior and give you the fruit of their labors?

NAY SAYER:  No.  I must deceive, connive and steal to receive the fruit of their labors.  It is so unfair.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Why hasn’t your deceit, conniving and theft made you wealthy and happy?

NAY SAYER:  Because the gods of the cavern then deceive, connive and steal the fruit of other’s labor from me.

TRUTH SEEKER:  You have failed in your deceit and conniving in your walk with me.  I have refused to gather manna for you.  Do you now plan to steal from me?

NAY SAYER:  Of course.  I will have to steal from you.  Individuals like you deny my superiority and refuse to give me the fruit of your labor.  You constrain me to steal from you.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Will the fruits you steal from me make you rich and happy?

NAY SAYER:  Of course not.  The gods of the cavern will deceive, connive and steal them from me.

TRUTH SEEKER:  If you gather sustenance for yourself, will the gods of the cavern be able to take it from you?

NAY SAYER:  Of course not.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Then why are you not willing to gather for yourself?

NAY SAYER:  Because if I gather for myself, I will no longer be superior.

TRUTH SEEKER:  So, your philosophy is that I should feed your sense of superiority so that you may remain enslaved to the gods of the cavern.

NAY SAYER:  No more.  You confuse me.  I am not enslaved.  Those such as yourself have forced me to deceive, connive and steal.

TRUTH SEEKER:  We can all choose to deceive, connive and steal, but what does it profit?”

NAY SAYER:  No more.

          (The two exit  in silence.)

COMMENTATOR ONE:     Did Nay Sayer’s early morning gathering profit him?

COMMENTATOR TWO:    It profited him for the moment, and that is more than his deception, conniving and theft ever profited him.

Scene 8

          (Late in the afternoon, just before time to again gather the manna of Eternal Truth)

NAY SAYER:  Truth Seeker, do you wish to have more manna for yourself and for the truly needy without so much labor?  It is almost time to gather.  I have a strategy.  I will gather for my needs, and you gather for yourself and extra for the truly needy.  If you then give me the extra, I will give it as an offering to the gods of the cavern, and they will increase its worth.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Do they always increase the worth of your offerings?

NAY SAYER:  I have too little to offer them.  But, if I offer the extra that you gather, it will be enough to encourage them to increase its worth.    My heart is changing.  I want to come into agreement with you.  I want to assist you in your search for truth.  Look deeply into my eyes which are the windows of my soul.  You will see the heart I have for you and for the truly needy.

TRUTH SEEKER:    My dear Nay Sayer, do you not understand that Eternal Hope has empowered me to look into both your spirit and your soul.  When I look deeply into your eyes, I still see the anger in your spirit and the disappointment in your soul.  The gods of the cavern have indeed increased your offering.  You have offered them your anger and your disappointment, and they have increased that anger and disappointment.

NAY SAYER: (weeping)  I am disappointed, Truth Seeker.  I am disappointed that even after this time together you do not trust me. I am angry because you refuse my offer.  You have wounded me, Truth Seeker. I say again that you are not fulfilling your destiny to be a vessel of Eternal Hope’s love for me.  I weep for you.

 

TRUTH SEEKER:  You do not weep for me, Nay Sayer, you weep for yourself.  You weep in self anger and self disappointment.  The love of Eternal Hope causes us to look into our own spirits and souls and to find the truth not only of who we are but also the truth of who we can become. I know those tears.  I know those tears because I have wept them for myself.  (She holds Nay Sayer in her arms.)

CHORUS ONE:   She put a guard on her heart, but she held him in her arms and wept with him.  She wept for his anger and disappointment.  He wept because he both loved and hated his anger and disappointment.  He wept because he both loved and hated Truth Seeker.  He wept most of all because He both loved and hated Eternal Hope.  The gods of the cavern sneered and belched forth their foulness.  Before the eyes of Truth Seeker and Nay Sayer, Eternal Hope had quietly planted another field of manna for their evening meal.  (Eternal Hope enters, dances across the stage and exits.)

          Exhausted from their tears and their journey, they gathered new manna for their meal.  After their silent repast, Nay Sayer lay down in the guise of rest while Truth Seeker gathered extra manna.  Then she nestled down to sleep.

 

CHORUS TWO: As she slept, Nay Sayer slipped to her side, opened her bag and stole the provision for the truly needy.  As soon as he touched it, something strange occurred.  He watched in dismay as the manna disintegrated in his paws.  He watched in joy as it grew again in Truth Seeker’s bag.  He stole it again.  Again it disintegrated.  Again it grew.  Again he stole it.   And thus, he spend the night.  In the morning, in spite of his efforts, he had nothing.  In the morning, in spite of his efforts, Truth Seeker had lost nothing.

         

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Will Nay Sayer learn?

COMMENTATOR TWO:    I hope so.  Truth Seeker hopes so.  Only Eternal Hope knows.

                                                           

Scene 9 

         

CHORUS ONE:  Their journey continues.  As they came to the rim of a mountain and peered into the darkened valley below, Truth Seeker’s bag nearly burst with the extra manna she had gathered.  From the valley below came the cries of the truly needy. 

TRULY NEEDY: (solo from Chorus) Help us.  Someone, please descend into the valley and help us.  We have tried, but we are unable to help ourselves.  Show Your love and Your mercy, O Eternal Hope.  Please send someone to help us.

CHORUS TWO: Truth Seeker hurried to the head of the cleared track leading down into the valley.   Nay Sayer pushed her out of the way and stood in pathway to prevent her entrance into the valley.

        

NAY SAYER: (in desperation) Don’t, Truth Seeker, don’t go down into the valley.  You have only one bag of manna.  It could not possibly meet all the needs of the valley.  It would be wiser to give the bag to me.  It will meet my needs for awhile.  I have been your faithful traveling companion.  I am more deserving.

CHORUS ONE:  Truth Seeker brushed him out of the way and descended in slope.  As she came closer, she heard more clearly the petitions to Eternal Hope. 

TRULY NEEDY:  We are weary, ill, hungry, thirsty, miserable and lonely.  Please, Eternal Hope, send Your messenger to bind our wounds and touch Your living water to our lips.  Send Your messenger to loose our chains and set us free.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Oh, Eternal Hope, thank You for sending me into the valley with Your provision.  While I have nothing to give on my own, I have all to give in you.

CHORUS TWO:      Truth Seeker walked through the streets of anguish.  She touched the ill, comforted the weary, eased the thirst and loneliness.  She gave of the manna within her bag.  She gave to the penniless mother of five; she gave to the bed-ridden grandmother; she gave to the disease ridden reprobate; she gave to the emaciated child; she gave to the unemployed father; she gave to the homeless; she gave to the depressed; she gave to the distressed; she gave out of the love and the heart of Eternal Hope and as she gave, the bag of manna remained full to bursting. 

          As the anguish lifted, the light of love flowed into the valley.  The cries of distress became the shouts of praise and jubilee. 

ALL:   Praise be unto Thee, Eternal Joy.

          Praise be unto Thee

          For Thou art holy, loving and true.

          Thou hast heard the cries of Thy children.

          Thou hast sent Thy healing manna.

          Thou, alone, art our Comfort.

          Thou, alone, arr our Healer.

          Tou, alone, art our Provision.

CHORUS TWO:  From his vantage point, Nay Sayer watched Truth Seeker and those who had once been so needy dancing and singing in the sun-lit valley.  He noticed that even though Truth Seeker had given again and again of the manna, her bag remained full.

NAY SAYER: (aside) Aha, if I gather the manna and then give just some of it away, it will replenish itself.  If I continue to give just a bit of it away,  I will always have enough for myself without having to gather again.

CHORUS TWO:  He took a bag back to the manna field and filled it full to nearly bursting.  He returned to the top of the mountain just as Truth Seeker was ascending from the valley with her full bag. 

NAY SAYER:  Hurry, Truth Seeker!  Let’s move onto another valley.  I have watched you.  I know the secret of the manna.  If I give some away, more will grow in my bag.  I will just have to gather enough to insure that I will have my needs met and just a bit more to give away to make it grow again.  I know the secret.  I shall never again have to gather manna.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Oh, Nay Sayer, the manna harbors no secret.  The manna emanates truth.   You don’t know that truth.  What you think you know will not only enslave you, it will eventually destroy you.  Please, Nay-Sayer, be careful what you do with the manna.

NAY SAYER: (shouting in anger) You just don’t want me to prosper.  You ceaselessly stand in my way.  You do not recognize my superiority.  You refuse to give me of your manna.  You have forced me to gather when it is beneath me. You have forced me to steal from you.  Now you don’t want me to give so that my manna will increase.  Again, I tell you, you are not fulfilling your destiny to be an instrument of Eternal Hope’s love for me.

TRUTH SEEKER:    It is His love for you that prompts me to caution you.

NAY SAYER:  Nonsense.

CHORUS ONE: The two continued on their journey.  Truth Seeker’s heart broke for the blind stubbornness within Nay Sayer.  She wept softly for him, but she could not dissuade him.

         

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Why does heart of Truth Seeker break for Nay Sayer?

COMMENTATOR TWO:    Because the heart of Eternal Hope breaks for him.

                                                                 

Scene Ten

         

CHORUS ONE:  The pathway soon opened into a meadow a bloom with daffodils.  Ash and oaks provided both shade and shelter for the travelers and the creatures who dwell there. In spite of, perhaps, because of the aura of darkness struggling to overcome the light, Truth Seeker’s spirit was unsettled.

TRUTH SEEKER: Eternal Hope, what is this unsettling?  Why is my spirit so disturbed?

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage) You are right to be disturbed.  All is not as it appears to be.

Sit quietly and watch the consequence of greed and deception.

CHORUS TWO:  Truth Seeker sat quietly beneath an oak and watched Nay Sayer as he romped through the daffodils and occasionally disappeared into the trees.  She had never seen him so delighted.  Yet, she detected the faint odors of sulphur and decay.  Often, she felt that she saw something stealthy moving in the shadows.  Yet, it seemed that the flowers, the trees, and the delight of Nay Sayer remained unchanged. 

          Nay Sayer paid no attention to Truth Seeker.  He gave no attention to the flowers.  He gave no attention to the trees themselves.  He gave all his attention to the fleeting creatures hiding in trees.  They looked and sounded strangely familiar, but he could not remember when he had seen or heard them before.  They lured him with gentle voices.

          One spoke from behind as a knoll.

CREATURE ONE: (solo from Chorus)  Come here, Nay Sayer.  Shhhhh.  Quietly share your manna with me and I will give you something greater than manna.

NAY SAYER:  What is greater than the manna?

CREATURE ONE:  I cannot tell you.  Trust me.  Give me some manna, and you will see.

CHORUS TWO:      Nay Sayer quickly gave the creature a bit of the manna.  Before he could check his bag, another spoke.

CREATURE TWO: (solo from Chorus) Please let me tell you the secrets of power and glory.  A bit of your manna is a small price to pay for the secrets of the universe.

NAY SAYER: Oh, the secrets of the universe, the secrets of power and glory.  This is greater than the manna.”  (He dashes to the creature and fills his paws.)

 

CREATURE THREE: (solo from chorus) Psst, Nay Sayer.  Over here.  For a bit of the manna, I will open the door for you to find riches beyond even your heart’s desire.

CREATURE ONE:   Nay Sayer, for manna, I can give you wisdom beyond that of the gods of the cavern.

CREATURE TWO:  Don’t neglect me, Nay Sayer, for some of your manna, I will show you how to become a creature so handsome that none, not even Truth Seeker, will reject you.

CHORUS TWO:  The voices continued to call.  Nay Sayer happily rushed to each with his manna.  The voices hushed when the manna was exhausted.  Nay Sayer wailed when he saw both his empty bag and his empty hands.  The manna was gone, and he had gained nothing–no secrets, no power, no glory, no riches, no wisdom.   He wailed and beat his paws on the ground.  His distress brought Truth Seeker to his side.

NAY SAYER:  Truth Seeker, Eternal Hope has betrayed me.  I gave my manna and received nothing in return.  Is this the way Eternal Hope shows His love?  He does not love me, and He has sent you as a evil angel to destroy me.  Your destiny is not as a vessel of Eternal Hope’s love.  Your destiny is as a vessel of Eternal Hope’s destruction.

TRUTH SEEKER: Nay Sayer, Nay Sayer, I told you there was no secret to the manna.  I told you that you did not understand the truth of the manna.  Come and look at your reflection in this pond.  What do you see? 

          (Nay-Sayer joins her at the edge of the pond.)

NAY SAYER:  Is this my face?

TRUTH SEEKER:  It is.

NAY SAYER:  It is also the face of those to whom I gave my manna.

TRUTH SEEKER:    Nay Sayer, when given in the spirit of Eternal Hope, the manna blesses both the one who gives and the one who receives.  You did not give your manna to the truly needy.  You gave it to your own selfish desires.  Given selfishly, the manna profits no one.   You have nothing left, Nay Sayer, except your unsatisfied selfish desires.  Eternal Hope has not betrayed you.  You have betrayed yourself.  You have given your manna to the devourers.

CHORUS TWO:  Nay Sayer wailed anew.  The stench and hideous laughter of the gods of the cavern pervaded the meadow.  The sky darkened.  The trees dropped their leaves.  Their silhouettes appeared as gigantic monsters with multitudinous hands reaching out, reaching out, reaching out, but never grasping.  The wind wailed the desperation and hopelessness of Nay Sayer.  Eternal Hope’s voice warned through the rising pandemonium.

ETERNAL HOPE: (off stage)  Run, Truth Seeker.  Leave this place at once!

          A terrifying roar of thunder pelted Truth Sayer with sulphurous rain  as she pleaded with Nay Sayer to leave with her. 

TRUTH SEEKER:  Come, Nay Sayer.  Come away from this place.  The gods of the cavern are lashing out.  Come to a place of safety that Eternal Hope will show us.

NAY SAYER:  “No!! The gods of the cavern may be cruel, but I know what to expect from them–cruelty and misery.  I don’t understand Eternal Hope.  I know enough truth to see that Eternal Hope wants more for me than I want for myself.  I don’t want the responsibility of being more than I am.  I hate my bondage, but I won’t give it up. I hate my anger and my disappointment, but in them I know who I am.  I don’t like who I am, but I have come to accept it and the affliction that goes with it.  When I call on the gods of the cavern, they give me what I want.  I suffer for it, but I have come to expect and accept that suffering.

TRUTH SEEKER:  Eternal Hope, what am I to do?  He refuses to come with me.  How can I be a vessel of Your love if I leave him behind.

(Eternal Truth enters)

ETERNAL HOPE: Come, My child,        

Come, dance in the cosmos with Me;

          Then even those who refuse to dance will be blessed.

           Even those who are afraid to reach, those who do not respond

           And those who slumber will be blessed.

           Deny the call,

           And none will be touched with Truth.

ALL:   In the driving rain, thunder and lightning, Truth Seeker responded with words that she had spoken to Eternal Truth before she had begun her journey. 

TRUTH SEEKER:  You have sent to me a night vision, a cloud that rises above and, yet, blesses all that is beneath.  Oh, Eternal Hope, I desire to be one through whom others will be blessed. How can that happen if I leave Nay-Sayer in his misery?

ETERNAL HOPE:  If you come away from this place, you will find your Joy and you will become part of that cloud that rises about the ordinary.  Then the truth you will experience will reach down and bless even those who, as Nay Sayer has done, have rejected me.   If you stay, the gods of the cavern will devour your gifts just as they have devoured Nay Sayer’s.

CHORUS ONE:  Truth Seeker touched the forehead of Nay Sayer.  Growling and sputtering, he pulled away from her tenderness.  Truth Seeker sobbed as she left him there in the storm and followed her heart out of the turbulence, away from the devourers, and into her tomorrow.

COMMENTATOR ONE:  Is it too late for Nay Sayer?

COMMENTATOR TWO:  No, my child, it is not too late.  Eternal Truth’s  love can redeem our past, strengthen our present, and secure our future.