A Dark Parable

By DRC ~

I’ve spent my whole life trying to find God - seeking Him, crying out to Him, and begging Him to reply. Countless times I’ve asked God whether He exists, but He never answers. I’ve also spent my whole life looking for evidence of His existence. In hindsight, this was a little foolish. Romans 1:19-20 says that God’s “eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen” in nature. It says God’s existence is plainly obvious to everyone. It shouldn’t take two decades of searching to find Him. Merely a seconds thought should be enough to see God’s nature.

If God created the universe, I want to learn about Him. If God loves me unconditionally, I want to love Him too. Unfortunately I can’t even tell that He exists. According to the Bible, this is because God has intentionally deluded me [John 12:40, Isaiah 6:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12]. He has twisted my mind so that I cannot see His “plainly obvious” truth. He has forced me to believe He doesn’t exist and will now condemn me to hell for it. I spent my life crying out to Him as the Bible instructs, and this is what I get.

Atheists have a three-word-solution to this problem, and it is very tempting indeed. Yesterday I was thinking about all these things and a dark parable appeared in my mind…

There was once a small boy who was starting his first day of school. His father drove him there in the morning and before opening the car door, the boy said, “Dad, do you love me?” His father didn’t respond. The boy was puzzled and didn’t know what this meant.

Years later the boy, now a teenager, was starting his first job. As he was leaving for his first shift he asked his father, “Dad, do you love me?” The father did not respond. He didn’t even blink. This worried the boy but he decided not to let it get to him. He was growing up. He had a new job. He had a life to live.

Years later the boy, now an adult, was moving out of home. He had packed his belongings and spent a few minutes looking at his childhood toys one last time before they would be donated to charity. He had learned and changed. He was moving on. As he turned to walk out the front door, he asked his father one more time, “Dad, do you love me?” There was silence, but then the father stood up. He walked over to the fireplace and the grown boy watched intently as he lit a fire. Without saying a word, the father took the boy by the throat, pushed his head into the flames and held it there for eternity.

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