Latest Parable

The Window at the End of the Universe

My cosmic quest for the fabled Window at the End of the Universe was over. Suddenly, it appeared before me suspended in space. Like a pilgrim finding the Grail, I stood staring slack-jawed at the Window fearing it was a mirage or a figment of archetypal desire. Yet I dared hope.

It was real. 

I pulled out my tattered list – The List – all the questions I had going back to Adam about life, the universe, and everything. Are we really the leftovers crud of stars, a laughable cosmic oops, or are we destined for something more? 

First question. “Assuming God exists and is good, why is there evil in the universe?” And the quirky I gotta know questions like, “In the light of evolution, kindly explain the duck billed platypus; was it just a weekend fun-with-spare-parts project, or what?” The List ends with my most recent, and perhaps, most honest entry, the dreaded mother of all questions that endlessly reverberates unanswered in my skull, “Why?”

“Window,” I began, “I have searched the width and breadth of the cosmos to find you for I have many questions to ask.” 

And like something dreadful from a Kafka novel, the Window opened and spoke. I expected a cosmic thunderous roar but was instead surprised by a quiet, gentle Voice.  

“Seeker, seeking me is not a question of Where, but Why. Your final question is the one that summoned you before me. When you search for me with your whole heart, well, here I Am.”

I decided to skip over my ‘just what the heck is a platypus – really?’ conundrum and get right to it. It was surreal. I was standing before a 3-as-1 window made of an old hewn wood frame with three stacked sheets of glass within that One frame, all suspended on nothing; a window in space. 

Faltering, I began my interview. “Window at the End of the Universe, are you really a window?” 

Window replied, “I AM, and I AM also a Door. If it helps, I AM also the Window at the Beginning of the Universe. People think of me as the Window at the End of the Universe because you have a beginning and are constrained by the rules of time. I AM Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End; Infinite and Eternal. All things are finally summed up in Me. Simply put, I AM.” 

Grasping for courage I did not possess, I called out, “Window, Beginning or End, I am a seeker of truth, I am have come…” 

And the Window laughed a laugh utterly terrifying to my soul. Not because it was menacing, nor even frightening, but because it seemed birthed from unfeigned Joy, even Love. It was like standing before your true love for the first time naked and unashamed. Still, I felt ridiculous, absurd. 

Laughing, the Window said, “Seeker of Truth? Amusing! Most of your life, you’ve been an Avoider of Truth. It’s only now that you’ve gotten honest with yourself that we are here. My drawing you here is an Invitation.” 

I paused for a moment to make sure I understood what had just been spoken. “Window, wasn’t it my Why question that summoned me before you?” 

With just a hint of mirth, the Window said, “Yes, Your question is the vessel I used to draw you to myself.” 

The conflict of free will and sovereignty began to darken my mind as an unexplained fog began to seep in from nowhere. Nervously, I replied, “But I have so many questions to ask…” 

“There is only one Question and it is a question I will ask you. Answer my Question, Seeker, and it will answer all your questions,” the Window said. 

A nameless blackness was beginning to gnaw at my faltering courage. “Whoa. Hold on. I was searching for you but, in reality, it is you who drew me? I have a list of questions but you have a question to ask - of me?”  

What a strange turn of events. I was hunting the Truth and now the Truth was hunting me. And what was this ghoulish, shadowed mist? Still, I knew the answer to the age old riddle of the Sphinx and hoped I might yet be able to match wits with The Window. 

“Very well, Window. Ask your question,” I said. Without fanfare, the Window transformed before me into a Door. 

And the Window turned Door said, “My Question is a simple Invitation. I invite you to pass through The Door to rule and reign with me forever. Will you accept?” 

The darkness brought foreboding, nameless fear as a legion of shadows skulked in anxious anticipation. So this was not a contest of wits, but of will. I needed to face the cold truth: Just what was on the other side of The Door?

“Window, I mean, Door, just what are you – really? And I am asking with my whole heart.” 

The Window turned Door at the Beginning & End of the Universe gently replied, “I AM Love, and more. I AM Light, and still more than that. I AM an All Consuming Fire that ignites with eternal flame those to whom I join to myself yet I do not consume them. The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it ever entered into the heart of a man what I have prepared for those who love me.” 

After what seemed an eternal silence, the Voice said firmly, “Seeker, I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I AM The Door and if you will but take one step of faith through Me, you will find I AM the answer to all your questions. Come. Taste and see that I am good.” 

Slithering shades now swirled madly about, enshrouding me with fear, blinding me to all but their presence and peril, whispering of ominous terrors, dark and sinister. “Save yourself, Seeker. Flee! You cannot look upon what is behind that accursed Door, and live,” they moaned with a despair of the damned.

And their beguiling spell was suddenly broken. Flee? I was through with running. Resolutely turning my back on the darkness, I faced The Door at the Beginning & End of the Universe as brilliant Light flooded through the opening, exposing and vanquishing the darkness. A wave of unbridled Joy swept through my soul.

As I reached for the Door, I recoiled at the stream of living blood which stained both sides of the frame. Looking again, these bloody marks were as ancient lacerations each from a lone hand print. And blood flowed down from the center stain on the top cross beam.

Fear gave way to Joy as I stepped through the blood, through The Door. I saw the Truth of Who was behind the 3-as-1 Window turned Door. The three bloody marks formed a living river of blood in the shape of…. a Cross!

Bryan Hupperts
© 2008

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