4. Purpose

This post is an installment in the “Let Me Tell You a Story” Series. It ought to be read in order and in context. For the introduction to this story, click anywhere on this text. There you will also find a table of contents.Let me posit something else here, if you will. This gift ought to have mattered immensely to people. It matters because it denotes purpose; that they were not just random things who became aware of themselves. It is not common for someone to undertake an action with no purpose. It would not be common, for example, to see someone enter a forest, chop down a few trees, chop them into smaller pieces of lumber, and then return to his home without ever wondering or doing anything with those pieces of lumber. Surely the cutting of the wood would serve a purpose: firewood, furniture, paper, or just to sell in the market. If the person cutting the wood simply carried the action and left, surely we would consider the behaviour bizarre at worst, or peculiar at best. Some purpose is demanded of the lumberjack, even if it is simply for pleasure!The King, similarly, was not making or putting together random things. No. He was purposefully designing these people. They were meant to function in a particular way, and they were meant to be something. That “thing” that they were meant to be, was him. He implanted himself into them and gave them the ability to be like him. Yes, they were made of different material. Yes, they were not him naturally, but that was not an obstacle.Would you mind if I gave you another analogy? Think of a car. A car was designed to be something: a car. It’s a vehicle. It transports things and objects. It is made of certain materials to serve a certain function, a specific purpose. These people are like the cars in the sense that they were designed with a purpose and identity. A car is a car. It’s not just metal and gears. It’s a car. Likewise, these people were not just elements from the periodic table of elements, they were more than elements: they were people.I am telling you all this background story because it is so important for understanding the rest of the tale. You see, this King, as we said, did not have to make anything. Yet, he wanted to. It was his goodwill to do so. What he wanted, though, was to elevate these people above everything else in creation. He wanted them to live in a deep relationship of love - both with him and with one another. He gave the people his own identity, so that they would have the ability to run things effectively and to learn. He gave them his own DNA, just like our parents give to us. We take of our parents’ characteristics by virtue of being their children. Similarly, this King implanted, gifted into these people his own characteristics. Not randomly, but with purpose.So his desire was a relationship with them, and their identity was him. They were supposed to look and function in a certain way, a person was a person because the King made him a person. The person did not exist on his own, but was only in existence because the King lovingly brought him into existence.The King’s love was clear to the people. He told them that they’re his children, and that if they want, they can live with him forever. He tells them of his own gifts, the characteristics that are in him and now in them, that he’s willing to teach to them and how to use effectively. He tells them that even though this Kingdom is his, he wants to share it with them. He wants them to rule with him. The people themselves were not very intelligent, but this did not matter to the King. He loved them as they were and was happy to teach them whatever it is that they needed. So, he brought them into his palace, and he put them in charge of everything. He let them make a lot of choices. He gave them all the freedom in the world, because he loved them so much.One wonders how or why anything could have gone wrong.