AND THEN…
AND THEN…
BY JOHN TUFT
The sun was going down when the drumming began. As the fiery orb slipped behind the western ridges the sounds of drums began high up the slopes in the dense forests. In the soft light of dusk the rhythm seemed almost comforting. But in the darkness it began to feel threatening. When the night becomes one endless shadow, people tend to let their fears run wild. The mystery of the drumming became the preoccupation of the residents. Day after day, as the sun began to set the drumming would start up. People started going inside their homes as soon as the drumming began. If they had to go out at night, they armed themselves with weapons and torches. There was talk of building defenses, perhaps a wall to encircle the town. The drumming became a Great Mystery and religious and political thinkers began to look for ways to find meaning in the drumming, and ways to justify their fears.
In the town there lived a 6-year-old boy named Benji. Benji had a streak of curiosity about him that was always wondering how things work. Benji liked to read, jump on trampolines, play video games, and had a particular penchant for doing math problems. When the drumming began, Benji asked his parents about it. “Is it some kind of signal?” he asked, “or maybe some people are dancing.” But the adults all insisted that it was an ominous sound, something that unnerved them. “But how do we know that?” he persisted. “Shouldn’t we go see what it is?” The adults insisted that such thinking is foolish. “If it frightens us so much, why would we want to confront it?” came their reasoning.
And so it came to pass that Benji decided he would find out what was frightening the adults so much. After all, it could just be noise, like their explanation for thunder in a storm. It could be giants, even friendly ones. It could be dancing bears or elephants doing rhumbas. The clear-eyed boy snuck out of the house one night and headed into the forest. Several hours later he returned, sneaked back into the house and lay still until dawn, wondering about what he had discovered. He knew that he had to do something before the adults caused any more harm. But he was only a child, what could he do?
That morning, Benji asked his mother for some good stiff paper and markers. Then he set out to make signs and posted them all around the town. He put them on utility poles, stop signs, store windows and on the windshields of cars. Each sign read: The people of the 3Cs want you to dance. And then…
The people of the town were at first amused at this childish endeavor. Then, as the nights of drumming continued, they became annoyed. Then, outraged. The little boy had pricked their fears. The elders of the people summoned Benji and his parents to appear before the Great Council. On the appointed evening, the meeting was moved outside because of the crowd. A bonfire was lit and the elders sat on one side. The boy was placed in front of the fire and the townspeople arrayed themselves in a semicircle across from the great elders. Benji was not certain what all the fuss was about. They could just as easily go into the forest for themselves without all of this great production. But human beans are a fickle lot.
The President of the Great Council rose. “Young man, explain yourself. You have caused great distress in your own town these days. Why did you go into the forest? What is the meaning of your message that you are spreading so maliciously? You are too young to bring so much dishonor upon your family.” The little boy stood straight and tall, speaking in a clear voice as the sparks from the fire flew toward the stars. “I was curious. I wanted to know. In the forest I found the people of this town that have been sent away over the years. People that you are afraid of. People that you are ashamed of. People that believed that the tool of convenience we call money is stopping your ears and blinding your eyes.”
The crowd grew restless at these words. “We are not afraid of anything.” Benji looked around. “Then why was I the only one to go into the forest to see about the drumming?” This made the people angry, and they shouted insults and names little boys don’t need to hear. Tears formed in Benji’s eyes. “When people didn’t look like you or act like you, you made them go away. When people didn’t have enough money to live, you shunned them like they were invisible. When they didn’t love who you thought they should love, you sent them away. All of them found a home in the woods. The drums are inviting you to come to them and dance.”
This exploration of their fears proved to be too much for the people. They picked up rocks and stones and wanted to hurl them at the boy. The Great Leader demanded silence. “They want us to dance? This is childish. What are the 3Cs? The devil’s formula to destroy us?” Benji’s lower lip began to tremble as he answered, “Compassion. Community. Creativity.” The crowd jeered this and thirsted for blood. The Great Leader struck his staff upon the ground, demanding to know in a loud, angry voice, “And? And then?” The first rock struck the child on the forehead and blood streamed down his face, driving him to his knees. The crowd pressed in, throwing rocks and beating the child with such noise that only those closest could hear him murmur, “And the…and then, love.”
May you each be blessed in your own journey through this Holy Week…
Words are magic and writers are wizards.
