The Greatest Father

In the endless expanse before time had meaning, the truth of ‘the greatest father’ remained hidden from mortal eyes. I break my silence now to share this tale of divine instruction gone astray, of how three brothers came to divide the world. As the final witness to untainted truth, I violate ancient decrees to reveal how it had to be, and how it shall be endlessly. - MJM

Before mortality embraced the relevance of time dwelled ‘the greatest father,’ whose presence carried the scent of ancient forests and morning stars. So magnificent were his powers that he forged three sons in his likeness, each birthed from divine thought into radiant beings. His love for them knew no bounds, manifesting in a realm of crystal spires and gardens that bloomed with flowers of light. He created for them a world of such opulence that misfortune, agony, and uncertainty remained foreign concepts, mere shadows beyond their understanding.

From the moment of their creation, each son absorbed their father’s teachings with passionate devotion. They learned to feel the pulse of the natural world in their veins, to welcome diverging ideals as one welcomes different notes in a celestial symphony, and to cultivate compassion as vast as the cosmos itself. Their father’s wisdom flowed through them like golden light, illuminating their understanding.

Yet ‘the greatest father’ held firm to one belief: his sons must learn to embrace their uniqueness to become truly magnificent leaders. To cultivate this, he devised a plan both subtle and profound. In the depth of night, when starlight painted shadows across crystalline halls, he would visit each son in secret.

Into his first son’s chamber he would step, his footfalls lighter than falling snow, his presence carrying the warmth of summer winds. Gathering his eldest in arms strong enough to shape worlds yet gentle enough to cradle dreams, he would whisper promises of destiny. “You, my brightest star,” his voice would resonate like distant thunder, “possess courage and wisdom beyond your brothers. You alone understand the true path.” The son would drink in these words like precious nectar, storing them in his heart alongside the sworn promise never to speak of these midnight visits.

The firstborn, eyes gleaming with pride and certainty, would drift to sleep clutching his secret knowledge. Then their father, after placing a kiss soft as moonlight upon his brow, would traverse the grand corridor where gems caught and scattered light like frozen rainbows. In turn, he would visit his second son, then his third, repeating the same tender deception, planting the same seeds of assumed supremacy.

As years flowed like rivers into seas, the brothers grew into their perceived destinies. Each departed their celestial home, venturing into the mortal realm to spread what they believed was their father’s singular blessing. At first, they taught his words with pure hearts, but success bred certainty, and certainty bred adaptation. Small changes crept into their teachings like ivy climbing a wall, each brother convinced his variations better served his followers.

Their domains grew vast, their followers countless as grains of sand. Communities arose around each brother’s teachings, each certain their leader alone held the true path to divine wisdom. When these communities met, their certainty turned to conflict. What began as philosophical debates in marble halls devolved into whispered accusations in shadowed corners. Suspicion festered like wounds untreated, erupting into violence that stained the earth red.

From his divine vantage, ‘the greatest father’ watched his sons’ followers clash with weapons forged from misunderstood and often deceptive teachings by others.. He witnessed temples built to house simple truths become fortresses defending rigid dogmas. His tears fell like stars as brother turned against brother, each certain of his righteous cause, each blind to the possibility of shared grace.

Most devastating was their failure to see the simplest truth: that they could have ruled together, shared their father’s infinite bounty, united their wisdom to create something greater than any could achieve alone. Instead, they clutched their perceived uniqueness like shields, defended their differences like territories, and transformed their father’s lessons of tolerance into battle cries.

Now ‘the greatest father’ stands in his realm of crystal and light, watching his children’s children wage wars in the names of their divided truths. His heart, vast as the cosmos itself, aches with a question that echoes through eternity: “Has the time come to start over?” His eyes, ancient and knowing, scan the battlefield below where followers kill in the name of unity, and he whispers with infinite sorrow, Should I begin: “Again!”

AW Schade; a Marine, Vietnam 1966/67, retired corporate executive and author of the award-winning book, Looking for God within the Kingdom of Religious Confusion. A captivating, comparative, and enlightening tale that seeks to comprehend the doctrines and discord between and within Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Secularism. What the seeker discovers, transforms his life forever!  https://www.amazon.com/author/awschade]