Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: PEACE (12/02/21)
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TITLE: Land of Discontent | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laurie Bahlke
12/09/21 -
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“Thank you.”, the boy shyly said before he turned to leave. The old man said nothing in return.
Daniel looked back again and said, “Peace be with you.”
The old man looked up from the cash register. “Whadya say, son?”
“I said, Peace be with you.”
“Why? Why would you say such a thing?”
Daniel looked around nervously, “No special reason. I just read it in a book and thought it sounded nice.”
Daniel had been practicing those words all day, waiting for the moment to say them out loud. His mother would have scolded him and reminded him not to use words that he didn’t know the meaning of but the word peace, made him feel relaxed and warm inside.
The old man coughed and after catching his breath, asked Daniel, “What book did you find this word”?
“I don’t know,” replied Daniel. “Just a book that described a man who fell in love with people like us, even though they had cursed him, beat him, and in the end, killed him. The man, Jesus, often said peace be with you. The cover was missing, and I guess torn off a long time ago. I showed it to my mother once before she died, and she said it was from a time long ago. She read it in the Age of Contentment, which means that people felt pretty good about life and themselves. Until everything fell apart, she said. Before the time when the sun went black, the waters began to dry up, and before the time when people stopped believing in something bigger than themselves and before they traded in their souls because contentment became too big to rein in and in its place, discontent grew instead. Before she died in the winter’s cold, she whispered to me that I should read that book every day and that maybe I could find peace again. I thought she meant that peace was someone I should look for but when I leaned in to ask her this question, her eyes grew wide, and I knew she was gone.”
By this time, the old man had walked from behind the counter and over to Daniel, placing his hand on Daniel’s shoulder.
“So ever since,” Daniel continued, “I say, “Peace be with you,” thinking that someone will know Peace and direct me to her. I betcha Peace is beautiful and like my mother. Every time something went wrong, or I felt broken, mom told me it would be okay, and only then would I feel brave and able to lock the ugly sounds of discontent out of my mind, and only then, could I fall asleep. I betcha if we could find Peace, she would light the sky again and the waters would be blue once more.”
The old man had started to cry.
“Hey mister, do you know Peace?"
The old man shook his head. “I did once and that’s why I’m crying. I was one of those who didn’t know how heavy the cost of trying to have everything would become. Look around ya, discontent is my home now.”
The boy looked around the shop. It was dimly lit, and not well organized. It seemed like a sad place and every time Daniel had ever been there, the man was alone and barely spoke or reached out to him, unless it was to take his money.
“Well mister, I better go.”
Quickly, the old man reached out to the boy. “Don’t go,” he pleaded. “I want to hear more about that book you found and what that man did. I once heard that He loved even those who lived in Discontent and that He could make all things new.”
“Thank you but I can’t stay.”
The man bowed his head downward and another tear slipped from his eye.
Daniel softened. “Hey Mister, how about you come with me? You could read the book to me and explain some of the big words.”
The man smiled warmly, and he knew that Peace had found him, in a young boy named Daniel.
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