a boy in the dark

         Our story begins quite simply, with a boy and his foolish ways. We open up on the view of a school in the rearview mirror and nothing but an endlessly bright future in the windshield ahead. The boy believes that the future is his for the taking, that with determination, will, and strife, he can do anything. His mind is sharper than the average person’s and not only his understanding of people but also his ability to manipulate those people is something he thrives on. These are the skills he will use to propel himself into the world and show the world who’s in control now. He will do it all on his own just because he can.

         While attending the school from the mirror, our boy conquered its halls quite well. He wasn’t the top of his class but not far off, never the star athlete but far from unathletic, always involved but rarely sticking out, and always in love but never understanding what that meant. He spent his days messing around with friends and never having to worry about homework and tests cause public school was a joke. Since he very rarely ever got into trouble, got great grades, was involved in the school band, and mostly had friends who would have been considered the “good kids”, I doubt anyone ever thought this boy was anything but a “good kid” himself. Even the boy, with all his conceit and self-centeredness, never thought that he might be missing something.

         Our boy in the car, with all his ambitions for power and money, was so sure of what he wanted for both his present and his future. In his present he would live like today was his last day, he wanted to experience every part of life no matter what it cost. He was willing to sacrifice family, friends, and girlfriends if it meant his happiness level increased. Going into college, the goal was to join the frat, meet the girls, and PARTY. Sure, school work would get done when there was time, but the degree was only going to matter so that later on he’d be bankin’. There was no God to be seen anywhere in the plan cause the boy was teetering on the edge of atheism. He may have gone to church every Sunday but his attention span during a sermon was close to 70 seconds. The plan sounded full proof, right? Riiiiight.

         Turns out, the plan never goes as planned, and luckily for the boy, this plan turned upside down on itself. When a boy who’s lived the majority of his life with the same set of friends, has never had to try in school, and always had most everything handed to him, suddenly is dropped into a school with no friends, a hard major, and no structure to hold himself up by, the boy loses it. Life didn’t make sense and everything was depressing. The boy began to realize that maybe he didn’t have it all together, maybe he couldn’t do it all on his own, but what could help him? The question really was: who could help him?

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29