In a far away part of the world, deep in the depths of an underground cavern in a corner of a large room filled with cobwebs is an old oil lamp covered in dust. For thousands of years the people of the earth have searched for this wonderful old lamp in which lived The Genie. Legend has it that if one were to rub the lamp The Genie would appear to give the possessor of the lamp any three wishes of his or her delight. Many lives had been lost pursuing the lamp.
In another part of the world stands a tall clay crock; it is empty except for a sticky deep purple substance at it’s very bottom; covered with dust, and bugs and spiders; the purple substance is what is left of a gift which was never really opened. The giver of the gift is more powerful than The Genie… than any genie, and the gifts he gives are much greater than the imagination of all the minds that have ever roamed the earth. Still, the world searches for the lamp while the sticky goo at the bottom of the clay crock goes unnoticed.
One day the lamp was found. The owner immediately wished for WEALTH beyond the richest of the world. And it was so. But as he let go of the lamp to reach for his gold, the lamp fell into the hands of another. The second person asked for BEAUTY above all others. And it too was so. Setting the lamp on the vanity as she raised her hands to her face while admiring herself in the mirror, the lamp was taken by still another. This being the last wish, The Genie began to plead with the owner to be set free. “But wouldn’t this require my only wish?” asked the owner of the lamp. “Yes,” responded The Genie. “But I would be eternally grateful for I have been stuck in this lamp for a very, very long time.” “But there are things I really want,” cried the owner. “In fact, the list is far too long to be answered by my one and only wish.” “I am sorry, but I must decline your request for I wish…I wish for”…“STOP!” cried The Genie. “Please, I beg you. Give me my freedom! Being cooped up in here leaves me so sad…so alone.” But the owner, with the word freedom still ringing in his ears, made his wish for POWER. Instantly The Genie returned to the lamp, never to be seen again. The powerful man carried the lamp for years hoping that one day he would find a way to call upon The Genie for still more gifts. But it never happened. One day his frustrations got the best of him, and he tossed the lamp into the old crock that stood outside a small village which was the site of pilgrims from all from all over the world. As the lamp sank slowly into the purple goo, the words of the pilgrim’s guide could be heard, “Now this old crock was one of those which Jesus used when he turned the water into wine at a wedding which was taking place on this very spot.”
As the purple goo covered the lamp The Genie made a wish of his own, “I wish…I wish I had someone grant me a wish as I have granted to others.” At that, a soft Voice responded, “You have.” Puzzled about the voice and thinking he was hearing things, he asked, “Who is there?” The Voice responded, “It is I, the one who gives to all the perfect gift they need.” “Oh,” cried The Genie, “Let me be free! “Is that what you really want?” asked the Voice. “Oh yes. Yes. Please let me be free.” Then the Voice responded, “All you have to do is slide your finger through the spout of the lamp and into the purple goo which surrounds you. Draw your finger back and press it to your lips and you shall be free.”
And so, The Genie did as the voice had suggested. Drawing back his finger he pressed it to his lips and suddenly the inside of the lamp filled with light; a light brighter than he had ever seen. But still he was in the lamp. “You said I would be free, but I am not. All you did was fill my little world with light, but I am not free.” “Oh yes you are,” cried The Voice. “But I want to be free like the others I gave gifts to.” “Really! The man who asked for wealth lost all purpose in life. There was nothing he could not have. He very quickly lost interest in everything. He had no goals, no hopes and therefore no future. He died alone in the midst of people gathered around him for their own self-interest. The woman who wished for beauty above all others became isolated from those too common to feel comfortable in her presence. All her old friends aged and disappeared; she watched her own children die, yet her beauty remained. But while her skin remained taut and youthful, her heart shriveled and wrinkled, and she became a prisoner of the wish she once desired.” “But what of the man who wished for power, surely he is free?” asked The Genie. The Voice continued, “No, not even he is free. With his power he commanded that all the people of the earth believe as he did. He punished everyone who lived differently, worshipped differently or thought differently. In time he would remove every contrary thought from the face of the earth. He died a mad man, the result of living as a prisoner of self. I told you that you are free and you are free indeed. As long as you live in the light, a child of new wine. You will be free no matter where life takes you for, I live in the light, and I am the new wine and you will never be alone again.” And with that The Voice moved into the lamp, and The Genie too became as the light of Easter that filled the lamp.
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” …(Luke 1:68”
Father
Bill Myrick
Merciful God:
Take from us our eyes that we might see;
Take from us our ears that we might hear.
Give us new hearts that we might know.
For the sake of the One who multiplied paradox upon paradox,
Even unto the ultimate paradox
Of showing us that only from death comes life;
For the sake of the one who came that we might
Become who we always have been.
Even Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.
John W. Groff, Jr.
