The Tower Builders

There was a man who wanted to build a tower into heaven. So he moved to a village of tower builders. The people there reassured him that if he worked hard, he could reach the home of the One Who Dwells Above. As he looked around he saw that there were many types of towers. Some were simple but others included side rooms that were dwellings for those in need. Still others included all manner of complicated structures that made no sense to the man at all. But none seemed very tall, and no matter how hard their owners worked, the towers seemed to crumple and fall back down. Now the man began to build, but the next morning the top of his tower had fallen over and lay in rubble at the base.

After a few frustrating days like this an older man came up and asked, "Have you considered the elevator?"

"What is that?" replied the man.

"The One Who Dwells Above knew that we would never be able to build a tower to heaven," stated the older man. "So he came down at great cost to Himself and built an elevator up to His presence. And those who take the elevator will one day remain there with Him forever."

"Do not listen to him," said a villager standing nearby. "Those elevator people are lazy and do not work hard to build things like we do. Surely the One Who Dwells Above is not at all pleased with them.

So the man went back to his work.

But the man became curious. So he walked over to where the elevator people lived. And he saw the elevator that went up out of sight. But around the base he saw buildings. Some contained places to help the needy. Others were complicated structures that made no sense. Some even seemed to be attempts of the people to build their own towers. But there was no question of the builders being idle.

"Why do you build these buildings," the man asked a passerby,  "if you believe you can go right into the presence of the One Who Dwells Above through the elevator?"

"If someone goes up in the elevator into the presence of the One Who Dwells Above, they are changed," replied the passerby. "Then they want to build out of love for the One Who Dwells Above and for their neighbors."

So the man went away puzzled.

But the next week the rains came and the man's tower collapsed.  And as the man stood there wet and discouraged, he felt something pulling him. And he remembered the love of the One who had reached down to build the elevator. And he left the scattered remnants of his own efforts and stumbled through the muck to the village of the elevator people. He hesitated for a moment before the door of the elevator . Then he pushed the button. And his life was never the same again.