- Allegories
- 6 mins
In a place far away, there was a beautiful land named Efas with rolling green hills and sparkling blue creeks that flowed through the green and colorful flower filled meadows. The meadows were filled with birds singing their songs and happy children ran and played without a care in the world. Nearby, King Amator’s castle stood, large and graceful, overlooking the entire land.
He was a good and kind king and loved the people of Efas very much. He loved the old and young alike, but had a very special place in his heart for the children. King Amator’s eyes would dance as he watched the children play. Being a playful king, he was even known to join in the fun and skip across the sparkling blue creek with them. His long, red robe would swing in the breeze as he would swing the children around and around. His crown would sometimes fall lopsided on his head when he played and all the children would laugh in sheer delight. Whenever King Amator came out, all of the children would flock to him – even Amorette.
Amorette was a shy little girl with long blond hair and blue eyes who lived in the land of Efas. She was more quiet than the other children. Nothing about her stood out in particular except that she would stand quietly at the edge of the meadow and watch. She wasn’t particularly unhappy, she just wanted to be able to run and play like the other children but she was afraid.
Although she loved King Amator, she doubted that he even noticed her. Sometimes she would skip from her house to the meadow with every intention of playing with the kind king, but when she would get there she would freeze. She would stop, go sit on her lonely rock and watch the other children laugh and play.
The other children seemed to do so many things well. They could cartwheel across the grass, sing beautiful songs and make astonishing art..Amorette couldn’t do any of those things. In fact, Amorette couldn’t find one single thing that she could do well.
She had tried so hard, but when she tried a cartwheel, she fell. When she tried singing, the sound of her voice startled her so much she plugged her ears with her fingers. When she tried to paint a beautiful picture it looked nothing like she had imagined. To make matters worse, Amorette was very lonely.
While the other children seemed to make friends easily, Amorette did not. She would sit alone on her rock by the creek and long after the other children had left the meadow, she would run through the sparkling blue creeks alone and unnoticed. She decided that it was better this way because then the other children wouldn’t see when she fell. Amorette so badly wanted to play with the others, but she decided that being alone and unnoticed was better than being noticed and being a disappointment.
She would sit on the edge of the stream as King Amator would laugh and play with the children. Amorette would look at King Amator and wonder what he would see in a girl like her. Certainly she would be a disappointment to him.
Afterall, she had heard how great he was and how those who would spend time around him would glow with happiness. Not only that, they were very brave – not afraid of everything like she was. They were creative and made beautiful things and most of all, they had fun together.
Amorette was none of those things. She was not brave, she was did not think she was creative and she was so shy she couldn’t talk to others. For these reasons, Amorette decided she could never be noticed by King Amator. She would just have to be content watching him play with the others. Maybe someday she would try real hard to be brave, creative and friendly so that she could have the courage to speak to him.
One day as Amorette was sitting on a flat rock by the side of the stream with her chin resting on her hands, she watched King Amator and the other children as they skipped rocks and ran across the the creek playing a giant game of tag. Suddenly, King Amator turned and looked at her. When his eyes caught hers, Amorette froze and felt that there was no one else but her and King Amator.
Amorette stared. King Amator had the kindest eyes she had ever seen. His eyes were deep, brown and piercing. She felt as if he was looking at her like he knew every thought she had. He began to walk toward her. “Amorette. Amorette! Look how beautiful you are! My dear, sweet girl! Why are you afraid?”
Amorette stammered, “There is nothing special about me at all. Everyone else has something special, but not me.” She began to shake and tremble out of fear that the kind king would walk away. It would be much better she reasoned for him to have not noticed her at all than for him to decide that she was not worth talking to. If that happened, she didn’t think she could ever come to the creek again.
King Amator looked tenderly at her,
“Oh Amorette, Your fear has kept you from being able to see what I have put in you. I have given you a gift that only you can give and that is the gift of who you are. My love unlocks that.
I do not want you to be who others are. I want you to be who YOU are. You don’t have to sing like others, create like others or do other things like others. You see, Amorette, when you are trying to be who others are or who you think you should be, you will always be fearful because that is not really you. It’s like trying on shoes that are way too big. You can’t really walk well. You need shoes that fit. Who I made you to be will fit. When you know my love for you and that it doesn’t change, it won’t matter who others say you should be or even who you think you should be. You will be able to be simply who you are. You don’t have to earn my love because it is already there for you. You just have to learn to believe it and know you are safe in it.
My dear Amorette, I saw you fall and I loved you still. I saw your painting and I loved you still. To me, it was beautiful. I saw you sing and I loved you still. I love to hear you sing. I saw you sitting on your lonely rock in your shame and your loneliness and I loved you still. What you can or can’t do does not change my great love. In fact, my love is so powerful there is nothing you can do to make me love you less and nothing you can do to make me love you more. That, my dear girl, is what will make you brave.”
Amorette’s heart began to beat faster. She was loved and nothing she did or didn’t do could change it. She began to see that she didn’t have to sing like the other children, paint beautiful pictures like they did or cartwheel across the grass. Those were things that THEY could do well, and it was okay that she could not. It wasn’t those things that made the children loved by King Amator, but rather those were things they did BECAUSE they were loved by King Amator. They could be who they were.
The next day, Amorette skipped out to the stream where the children and King Amator were playing. King Amator smiled at her. Amorette’s heart filled up with a happiness she had never felt. She decided to try something she had never tried before. She began to dance. It didn’t matter if she fell because she was deeply loved.
At first her dance was halting and slow, but as she kept dancing her feet felt lighter. Her dress began to twirl around and her leaping became higher. The children gathered around and laughed in delight. “Look at Amorette dance!” they cried. Suddenly all of the children began to dance and King Amator joined in. Amorette could do something special after all, but she needed to know she was loved by King Amator first. His love made her brave.
Amator – one who loves
Amorette – little love
Scriptures:
I John 4:18
Ephesians 3:14-21
