Dragon

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The first Man to come down into the Cave found there treasures and riches all unimaginably amazing! Then, the Man met the Dragon of this Cave. This sly Dragon offered him a Key. The Dragon said that if he took the Key from the Dragon’s teeth then he would be the Ruler of this cave and own all the treasures within it. And so, the man beguiled by wonders and dreaming of riches took the Key from the Dragon’s fang. And then the Dragon laughed and hissed for he through cheating won a secret vow: the man was now indebted to him, and was bound to repay the dragon with his life, and the cruel Dragon would own, terrorize, and feast upon this man and every being born of his body forever.

And so more filled the cave–the children of this Man, and at the end of every cave dweller’s life, like cattle fattened for slaughter, they were fed to the Dragon, to die a hideous, horrendous, and unwholesome, gruesome death, where they would be swallowed up, tortured, and tormented forever in repayment of the bargain. And so those who lived in the cave lived under the fearful tyranny of this Dragon.

And then one day, there was born into this Cave, a Child, born not of the seed of the first Man, but rather born of the One who made the cave itself, the One to whom even the Dragon owed its allegiance. When this Child came of age, the Dragon offered him the same Key he offered to the first Man, but this One refused. This Wholly Other, unfettered to the Dragon, joined the cave dwellers by living in this cave that was ruled by the Dragon, and showed the cave dwellers how to live as if they were not enslaved to the Dragon.

Well, those more powerful cave dwellers and those who were more entrenched and entangled in the Dragon’s ruling ways sought to destroy this Outsider, this Wholly Other One, who threatened their ability to control the treasures of this cave in their own little minds and their own littler worlds: even though he was offering them freedom from the Dragon if they would follow him. Others did follow him, but once they recognized what it meant to follow him, even they cowered and shrunk back because their hearts were too full of fear of the Dragon, whose rule alone they had known their whole lives.

There was a final showdown, when in order to get rid of this Wholly Other One, who had come among them, those who ruled the cave surrendered him and delivered him up as a sacrifice to the Dragon to feast upon him. And the Dragon came to swallow him whole so that he could be tormented just like the others. Only this time, he wasn’t just swallowing whole any old slave, but this particular one was the Son and seed of the One who owned this cave–the One destined to inherit this Cave. It was a tantalizing temptation to tasty to resist, and the dragon snapped his jaws upon this Wholly Other born in this Cave.

Those who followed the Wholly Other One, were incredibly astounded and downcast. They had lost their only hope of ever defeating this Dragon.

However, like the Dragon, this particular Wholly Other also had a secret: the One who made the dragon, was Himself now inside the Dragon to unmake him. And so, he dug deep inside the Dragon, all the way through his entrails making a pathway out of the dragon’s belly and out the other side. Only this time, because he had already been through the Dragon’s jaws, the Dragon could no longer bite into him and could no longer harm him, because he had fully surrendered to the owner of the Cave, and by so doing, he made a pathway through the dragon, so that any who followed him now, if they would go through the dragon, they would not be trapped and tortured forever suffering torment, but they would instead be free indeed to live in the Cave beyond the time of the Dragon, even in the time when all dragons would all be cast into a pit, never to trouble the seed of any ever again.

And so now, for every cave dweller there remains the choice. Play into the Dragon’s claws, pursuing the treasures of the cave and seeking to preserve your own life as best you can, the jaws will clamp down, and you will go the way of all Cave Dwellers to death and torment. Or if you will follow him who made a pathway through the Dragon, and surrender yourself not to the Dragon, but to the one who has overpowered the Dragon, then you will find his way through the Dragon to the other side where it can never harm you again.

Male and Female

Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl who lived in an underground village. It was dark where they were. It was a cave. They heard stories of the outside, and wanted to go and explore. The people in this village had a custom that a male and a female would be intended for each other, and when they had reached 12 years old, both of them would work together to reach the surface. They were given no more training than this.

I see a lad digging through the surface, his muscles strengthening as he keeps simply going in one direction. He has a little candle to see by. Behind him is a lady who takes the dirt he digs through, and shores up the tunnel they make together. She stores the dirt, she strengthens the wall, she carries the light, she does all that she can to assist him.

They breach into the light, the man first, then the woman. They make a home together in the sunland. The man goes and hunts and makes advances in the world. The woman makes the home, and nurtures and helps.

They go back into the tunnel and return to the village when they have a child.

The Column

Deep and dark in the cave time carved
A sprinkling sound skipped off cold stone walls
A spire that hangs from the high ceiling calls
Down to the answering stalagmite love-starved

Wishing quietly for gravity’s haste
To break his prison bars which anchor hold
The dripping rock that has grown in the cold
Weathered only by water’s mineral taste

Iteratively aching to loose each drop
Truncating his comfort for the love for which he longs
Translating his care into stories, deeds, and songs
Interpreting echoes growing nearer every stop

Night how cruel to cast sun-hiding shade
Recalcitrant to tell the story of the lover’s act
Return my Love who from me love attract
Never-ending lest I dwindle without your aid

Dampness felt as calcium splats the tip.
An answer echoes close in the stalactite’s ear.
Again! Could it be the cherished one is near
Devoted to respond to his steady drip?

Lips moistened by the fall and growth of love
Come now to lightly touching until at last
Connection! As the two rocks now stand fast
Lodged as one: a bridge from below and from above

Enter now, O climber in the cave
Transfixed by this monument to faithfulness
Telling the power of earth’s fruitful thankfulness
Enmeshed with Heaven by all the gifts He gave.