An allegory, long, but best read in one sitting
Ken Stoltzfus, Winter 1978-79*
I – A Beautiful Young Lady
A beautiful young lady
who seemed to be perfect in every way
was captured by a vicious and wicked man
who took her away into captivity.
A strong young man knew of her beauty and worth
and determined to rescue her
After much careful planning
and at considerable risk
he rescued the young lady
and brought her to freedom
Her heart was filled with gratitude and love
and she accepted his proposal for marriage
He said,
“I want to prepare a perfect place for us to spend the rest of our lives together
“I will go away for a while
and get our place ready
then I will come back again
and we will be united for life
“Until I come
you may stay with my family
where you will have everything you need
“You will have food
and clothing
and shelter
“You will be protected from the cold and storm
and from evil men who would be attracted to your beauty
and misuse you
“I ask only that you keep yourself pure for me
and set your heart on the things that would make us both happy”
The young lady promised to keep herself for him
until he came back
She eagerly awaited his return
But
as the days turned into weeks
and the weeks into months
she began to lose her first-love
She would leave the safety of his family’s home
and wander the streets of the city
making friends with the people there
She became aware of the desires of her body
and began to give herself to men
who were interested only in a fleeting moments pleasure
At first she was conscience-stricken
and felt remorse for what she was doing
but she looked around her
and saw that “everyone else” was doing it too
And so
as time went on
and the groom tarried his coming
she became more and more at ease in her waywardness
She even began to take money from men
who were eager to indulge themselves in her beauty
She told herself, “I need this
to buy the necessities of life”
But she could never quite forget the young man’s words
“If you stay with my family
you will have everything you need”
One day the young man returned
with anticipation in his heart
. . . . . . . . Continued
Read/download/print it all as a pdf at: www.10minas.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/270.pdf
*Minor grammatical revisions Oct. 5, 1987
Ken Stoltzfus
Jan. 13, 2023