TREES ETCHED against an evening sky, rustled softly beneath a pale moon. In the growing darkness a lifeless face, illuminated in the moonlight, stared vacantly into the abyss above. Coagulating rivulets slowly bubbled from the bare chest and trickled down, seeping into the earth with silent screams. A dark sulking figure crawled into the shadows of a vineyard’s twisting vines. Its rage now spent, It heaved a deep trembling sigh and closed its eyes.

The plan had worked. He had been so gullible, just followed like the dummy that he always was. Echoes of guttural laughter seemed to shake the curtain of leaves. Too easy… it had been just too easy… over so quickly… too quickly… not even a challenge. Maybe it should have taken a little longer, perhaps some cat and mouse game, some taunting jibes to make it seem more worthwhile… a little more… maybe… But no, it was better this way… much better. Now it could be forgotten and that sweet, innocent face wouldn’t bother him anymore. There would be no more comparisons, no more looking like a fool. Now he could have peace… yes, peace. The anger would be gone, and so would the seductive voices egging it on day and night. There had been a warning. He had said it could be mastered. But this was easier. Revenge was sweet. All the hurt, disappointment, envy, and jealousy were slaked with a wrath that intoxicated the soul.

He slept… a dreamless sleep that awakened only with the dawn. Drenched with dew, he shivered in the cool morning air. Thick eyelids resisted the light and soiled hands tried to rub away the heaviness that wanted to pull it back into that place of nothingness. Bleary eyes came to focus on the pruning blade still clenched in a callused hand. With unreasonable terror the blade was pressed deeply into the soft soil and disappeared. Yet, the trembling, blood-smeared hands could not be buried. Wash… they had to be washed! Stumbling… running crazily through the saplings down to the stream, falling to his knees at the water’s edge, plunging those stains into the cold, clear water. Now fully awake, scrubbing furiously. Grasping white sand, rubbing, rubbing until fresh blood coursed dangerously close to the surface. There wasn’t enough sand. There wasn’t enough water! The sharp coldness rose quickly to chest height. Scrubbing, scrubbing, everywhere, desperately trying to wash away that sweet, innocent, white face that seemed to cling to everything.

Once more exhausted he crept out of the water and sat trembling on the bank. The sun began to warm the cold skin and dry the soggy clothes. Gathering strength, he stood up and turned to go… go where? Where was there to go? Home? What would they say? The questions. There would be so many questions. Then he saw Him… sitting there quietly on a rock, watching, waiting…

“Where is he?” He simply asked.

“I don’t know! How should I know! He’s big enough to take care of himself!” he snapped.

That was the end. He was never there again. The daylight faded into night. The moon waned. The stars disappeared and the night never ended, ever.

~

TODAY… during this Holy Week, I think of our crushing need for a Savior. Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” From Cain killing Able to WWIII, “We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). God came… and we step into the Vine Light as this Holy Week unfolds. . .