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Leaving Normal
By Loren Rosser
There was once a city, by the name of Normal, that stood in the Land of Joy.
There was a high wall around Normal that the civilians called Comfort, because
of the security that it seemed to give. The civilians of Normal rarely ventured
out beyond the Wall of Comfort. Some, however, would climb the wall and look
over into the Land of Joy. In doing so, they would say to one another, "My, my,
my, isn't that a beautiful land? Wouldn't it be wonderful to live out there?"
But then one would usually speak up and say, "Maybe not, because there is no
Wall of Comfort to make us secure." Then they would nod in agreement and climb
back down to the monotonous, dismal streets of Normal.
The people would rise in the morning, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, eat
dinner, and then go to bed. Then they would rise the next morning and repeat
the same routine. This went on five days a week. Saturday, the people of
Normal would rise, mow their lawns, clean their houses, and maybe take up a
recreational activity like tennis, bowling, golf, or simply go to the theater
and watch a movie. Sundays the people would rise up and go to church where they
would all sit in a building and listen to a man speak about the Land of Joy.
And they would all say to each other, "Yes, one day we'll go there." Then they
would go home and begin another repetitive week in Normal City.
One Sunday a new person came to Normal Church, and her name was Faith. She
heard the speaker talking about the Land of Joy for the first time. The people
responded with their Normal, "Someday we'll go there."
Well, Faith was so excited to hear that someday they were going to this Land of
Joy beyond the Wall of Comfort that she jumped out of her seat and cried out
with great excitement, "When?!"
Suddenly the people
looked confused. They mumbled to each other, "What did she say?"
The speaker looked at
Faith with her eyes full of curiosity and asked in the voice of a great orator,
"What was your question young lady?"
Faith burst out once
again, "When?"
The speaker looked just
as confused as everyone else. He then cleared his throat and asked Faith, "When
what?"
"When are we going to
the Land of Joy?" she asked letting her excitement bubble over.
The speaker stammered
for words. The congregation sat puzzled. The speaker regained his stature and
stated in a regal tone, "When it's time."
All the congregation
looked at each other and nodded in agreement stating to each other, "Yes, when
it's time."
Faith piped up once
again, "When is it time?"
Once again bewilderment
swept over the congregation. The speaker was a little quicker to respond this
time. He looked up to the ceiling and in a voice of mystery said, "On that
special day."
All the congregation
nodded in agreement and said in a voice of mystery and awe, "On that special
day."
Faith was now the one
looking puzzled. She asked in a confused voice, "When's the special day?"
The speaker was now
becoming a little agitated. He adjusted his neck tie and spoke flatly, "It's
when it gets here."
Faith looked at the
speaker ever so kindly and said, "Today's special. Why don't we go to the Land
of Joy today?"
A low questioning murmur
arose amongst the congregation. The speaker swallowed hard then asked, trying
to conceal his annoyance with the young lady, "Young lady, what is your name?"
"My name is Faith." She
responded with glee.
"Well Faith, you
obviously don't understand. To live in the Land of Joy we would have to live
beyond the Wall of Comfort."
Faith's countenance
fell. "But I don't understand. If the Land of Joy is so wonderful why are you
so afraid to go beyond the Wall of Comfort?"
The congregation began
to shuffle around. Some looked at their watches, others stretched, some ladies
picked up their purses. Then the speaker's face broke into a smile, "Oh look at
the time. It's time to end this meeting."
"But wait!" Faith
called out above the shuffling, "You haven't answered my question."
One woman in the
congregation leaned over and whispered to her husband, "Things were moving along
fine until Faith showed up."
He nodded and whispered
back, "I wonder if she's any relation to that guy Zeal who was here a few years
back. You remember how he shook things up." His wife gave a nod of agreement.
One man, a member of the
city council, arose and turned to the young lady. "My dear Faith, in answer to
your question, we like it behind the Wall of comfort. It keeps our city
organized. It gives us a strong sense of consistency." The people once again
nodded in agreement with their peer.
"But sir," Faith spoke
back, "from what I've heard here about the Land of Joy is that it's a land of
freedom, peace, and full of wonderful beauty. Why would you want consistency
instead of that?"
One of the church board
members turned and addressed the young lady. "I understand you excitement, but
we must be realistic. Yes the Land of Joy is a wonderful place where we would
all like to be, and someday we will go there. But you see, going now would not
be practical. The Land of joy is a very broad place. With no Wall of Comfort
there are so few restraints. Who knows what people might do?"
Faith responded to the
board member rationally, "They might become free."
One woman shot back at
Faith in a bitter tone, "Freedom makes you do strange things, like dance and
shout and other humiliating things. No thank you Faith, I'm happy right here
behind the Wall of Comfort."
"I'm sorry ma'am, I
don't mean to be rude, but I must ask you, are you really happy behind the Wall
of Comfort, as you say? I mean, it's crowded here and everything is gray.
Nobody can be who they really are, but instead, everybody is trying to be like
everybody else. The pollution here in Normal is so vile that the smog blocks
out the sunlight. And with the bread and water shortage nobody's hunger or
thirst is ever satisfied. I just don't see why you all insist on staying here."
The people were
squirming now more than ever; scratching the back of their necks, wringing their
hands, tying their shoes, whatever they could do to pretend they didn't hear
Faith.
Faith turned to the
people and said, "Well, I don't care what you say, I'm going to the land of
Joy. If you wish to come with me you can."
"Now!?!" a woman shouted
in shock.
"This moment!?!" a man
spoke out.
"Today!?!" another man
thundered.
Faith said, "Why not?
The Land of Joy is just sitting there beyond the Wall of Comfort waiting to be
occupied. Today's better than tomorrow, because your tomorrow seems to always
be coming but never gets here. And we can't go back to yesterday, because if we
could it would have been better to have gone then. So, I have decided that I,
Faith, must go now."
Faith made her way from
her seat to the center aisle and walked to the back of the church then turned to
the congregation, whose eyes had been following her all along, and said with
great conviction, "Good bye everybody. Now I'm going to walk down the streets
of Normal to the Wall of Comfort and climb over the wall and enter the Land of
Joy, and there I shall abide." She took three steps then turned back to the
people, whose eyes were now bigger than ever, "Oh, by the way, if anybody comes
looking for Faith, tell them that I live beyond the Wall of Comfort." Then with
a playful wave she sang out, "So long." Then she walked out the back of the
building.
For the first time since Faith showed up the people sat motionless in silence.
Then one man asked sheepishly,
"You think she'll
actually do it?"
Then an old man
responded gruffly, "Certainly not!"
A young woman responded
in agreement, "Yeah, I'm sure she'll get to the Wall of Comfort and realize how
ridicules it is to climb over and decide to stay in Normal."
"Certainly she will."
Another woman agreed. "She'll never do it. This girl, Faith, I'm sure she's
all talk."
An adventurous lad
jumped to his feet and said exuberantly, "I know! Let's go look out the back
door and see if she actually does it.!"
"You mean watch her
confirm our sound reasoning by not doing it." A sophisticated looking man
uttered patting the lad's back.
"Whatever." The lad
said, "But let's go see."
The speaker turned to
the people and said, "I don't see any reason why not." He stepped out from
behind the pulpit and walked down the aisle to the back door. The people
scuffled out of the pews and streamed into the aisle following him. The speaker
swung the door open and looked down the dingy street that laid directly before
him. His eyes scanned the street.
Then the lad's voice was
heard, "There she is!" He pointed to the end of the street. The people crammed
into the doorway to see.
"I don't believe it!"
one man said in amazement, "She's reached the Wall of Comfort already."
"This is unbelievable!"
an elderly woman cried, "Now Faith is trying to climb the wall!"
"Inconceivable!" a man
voiced coldly a moment later, "Now Faith is actually doing it. She's climbing
the wall!"
Yet another moment
passed as they all watched packed in the doorway when another masculine voice
was heard, "This is most doubtful, but now Faith is half way up the wall."
"Where did she learn to
climb like that?" a middle-aged mother pondered out loud.
Then a church board
member cried out in disbelief, "An utter impossibility! Now Faith is climbing
over the top of the Wall of Comfort!"
All the people gasped in
sheer shock and astonishment. Then Faith disappeared from their sight. The
crowd stood cramped in the doorway in silence with their mouths hanging wide
open. The speaker said in almost a whisper, "She actually did it."
The people continued to
stand in shock. Then finally, some people began to break away from the group
and return to the pews to get their things so they could go home. Eventually,
the whole group had dispersed from the doorway. As the people scrambled out the
door to go home and others were returning to the pews to pick up their
belongings, the city council member's voice could be heard above the commotion,
"My, oh my. That Faith is a doer."
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