The boy could not understand why the man standing next to him seemed so exuberant. True, the man had just closed a deal on the tract of land that stretched out before them, but why did that make him so happy? It wasn’t very good land—mostly thin, rocky soil covered in brambles and briars and scrub pines. There was a small spring on one corner of the property. Perhaps that was its primary source of value. Apart from that, he simply could not imagine why the purchase of this piece of land should bring the man such joy.
“I know it doesn’t look like much,” the man said to the boy, as though he could sense the unasked question in the youngster’s mind. “But I’m not seeing what it looks like now. I’m seeing what it will look like a few years from now, after I have had time to clear the brush and plant lawns and gardens and put up some buildings. And then there’s that spring. I have big plans for it.”
The boy didn’t say so, but he didn’t believe that piece of unsightly, barren property could be transformed into the dynamic and productive study center and spiritual retreat which the man described. His family had lived next door to this property for years, and they had no reason to believe it would ever be anything but a haven for thistles and weeds and small rodents. He shook his head as he climbed onto his bike and began to pedal home. Grownups, he thought to himself. Sometimes he just couldn’t figure them out.
Still, the boy watched with great interest as the new owner began to make improvements on the scrubby land. He cut weeds and uprooted briar patches. He hauled away rocks and hauled in topsoil. He dug footings and poured foundations and raised buildings. He planted gardens and landscaped the grounds. He designed paths for walking and built a chapel for praying.
As each facet of the work was completed, insofar as it was possible to do so, it was put into service. The meeting rooms, the classrooms, the dining hall, the chapel—each represented an important component in fulfilling the Center’s ultimate purpose. And each was utilized, if only to a limited degree, as soon as it had reached a state of minimal readiness.
The completion of the task was not easy. It was very expensive, and it took many years of hard work. Through his adolescence and into his young adult years, the boy watched the project develop. At last the work was pretty much done, the owner’s goals for the property achieved.
The finished buildings would accommodate spiritual pilgrims and disciples who could come there for learning and worship, for renewal and restoration, for healing and companionship. The completed chapel awaited those who would gather there to sing and pray and receive the Eucharist. The fully-equipped kitchen and dining hall stood ready to meet the needs of the faithful for sustenance and fellowship. The sleeping rooms were cozy and comfortable. The landscaped grounds invited weary pilgrims to rest, and the spring now flowed into a small, peaceful lake.
After forty years of costly and meticulous preparation, the barren land had become a Center for study and worship and spiritual retreat. People could come here to have their hope renewed, their faith restored, and their love rekindled. It had been a long, difficult process to prepare this parcel of land to serve the purpose the owner had foreseen when he purchased it forty years earlier. Now, however, the work was done and the time had finally come to make use of the transformed property to the fullest.
The boy, who by this time had grown into a fine, responsible adult in his own right, again stood with the now-elderly owner at the same spot where the two of them had overlooked that scrubby parcel all those years ago. It was now the entryway to the Center, through which every pilgrim and student and seeker would pass when, at last, they began to make full use of this formidable resource. On this occasion, however, the “boy” watched in disbelief and amazement as the owner closed the large, heavy gate which stood at the Center’s entrance. He locked it securely, looked out one more time over the fruit of his labor, and then, without explanation, simply walked away.
Author’s Note: There is no deep meaning or underlying moral to this story. It is simply an attempt to verbalize the perplexity I feel as I contemplate the state of my vocation at this moment so late in my pilgrimage.
