Can I tell you a fable?

In the world, long ago, a Walled City stood beside a lovely river. An Evil Prince ruled over the city. He held the City in the cruel grip of an iron fist. The people were slaves to the Evil Prince's every whim and he delighted in tormenting his subjects. He held no regard for their lives. The people were constantly in fear and cried out for relief from the horrors of the Evil Prince.

Nearby lived a Good King who ruled his kingdom with great love and compassion. The Good King heard of the plight of the Walled City and their condition touched his heart. The Good King sent his armies, led by his one son, to free the Walled City and its enslaved people. The battle was fierce but the forces of the Good King defeated the evil prince. This battle, however, was not without cost. The Good King's son gave his life in the battle.

The people of the Walled City loved the Good King and they pledged their allegiance to the Good King and became part of his kingdom. The Walled City prospered and the people became rich with the wealth of the world. The Good King knew that the Evil Prince would not give up his fight to have the Walled City. Therefore, the Good King sent emissaries and trained warriors to the Walled City to teach them how to defend themselves against possible attack.

The Evil Prince hated the fact that he had lost part of his empire and he began to plot to destroy the Walled City and all of its people. The Evil Prince knew that he couldn't win the city by force, once the Good King trained the people to fight. So he began to scheme to overthrow the city from within its own walls. He called together all the wise and evil underlings that served him and asked them for their ideas.

One, a Prestigious Puppeteer, said, "I will go and I will present wonderful puppet shows that will entrance the people. They will spend all their time sitting in front of my puppet stage and they will not want to be trained to fight."

Another, a Super Sportsman, said, "I, too, will go and I will show the people the fun and the pleasure of recreation. I will teach them to hunt, to fish, to ride on the waters, to fly down the snow-covered slopes and enjoy all the wonders of nature. I will teach them to hit a white ball with iron sticks and they will never want to be trained to fight."

Yet another, a Master Merchant, said, "I will, also, go and I will bring all kinds of goods, merchandise and wonders from around the world to offer to the people of the Walled City. They will want them. Then they will work, trade and do business for endless hours just to buy the things I offer. They will be much too tired to receive the training they need to fight."

One, after another, they came with their ideas to prevent the people from the Walled City from receiving what they needed to defend themselves from the Evil Prince.

They did not convince the Evil Prince that the plot would work. He said, "I think, that the people are of the Walled City are too wise for your deceptions but go ahead and try."

When the Good King's emissaries and warriors came and offered the people the training they needed to defend themselves against the Evil Prince, the people, with one accord, agreed. They said, "Yes, we become trained and we will become strong and the Evil Prince will never again enslave us."

The Good King's emissaries and warriors opened training centers and invited the people to come and become mighty in the Good King's way. At first, many came, then as the weeks passed, some of them came, sometimes. When the Good King's emissaries and warriors asked why they didn't come to be trained. They would tell them that the people wanted to come but there was just so much to do.

One would say, "My family needs time to see the puppet shows. Do you see that new one? It is about a funny puppet and his friends. It is so funny and relaxing."

Another would say, "I work so hard, I need to unwind. I must spend some time hitting the white ball with the iron sticks."

Another said, "I want to train but I must work. I want my family to have the things I didn't have under the Evil Prince."

Then one day, the Evil Prince attacked the Walled City once again.

The Good King said, "Don't be afraid, I have sent my emissaries and my warriors to train the people of the Walled City. They have all the power, training and ability to defeat the Evil Prince."

The Walled City was in flames, nearly destroyed and many people were lost before the Good King came to their rescue again. All the people of the Walled City said, "This time, we are going to listen to the emissaries and the warriors of the Good King." The Evil Prince just smiled.

"Hey.. It's just a fable."

Ed Rutherford 10/25/97