This year I want to make a clean start and talk about something I am very ashamed of. I stole something. I know… I feel horrible. When I tell you what I stole, you will probably hate me. It was a toy ring that belonged to a four-year-old girl named Trisha. The ring’s her most precious possession, given to her by her big brother on the same day that he died. I have tears in my eyes just saying it. Trisha’s brother was just fourteen when he was hit by a car, and he was everything to her: her best friend, her protector, her hero, her big brother. Whenever she misses him she gets that ring and kisses it. When she is done with it, she puts it back in the box, and says bye-bye to it.
But I didn’t know the story behind the ring when I took it. I hope that when you understand why I stole it, you will not be too disgusted with me. When my best friend Carter and I first met The Guardian in Dead Forest, we were tested before we were sent on our quest. While sitting around a campfire the first night in Dead Forest, I fell asleep. Or maybe it wasn’t asleep; I’m not sure. All of our experiences were so strange in our travels beyond the dead forest… Anyway, I found myself in a bed trapped in a strange bedroom. It was night, and a violent electrical storm was raging. The only light was from flashes of lightning that appeared outside one small window. To make a long story short, I found a door that opened to stairs that led down to a basement. A strange flickering light came from below. To make things even creepier, a woman’s voice was calling my name from the basement. I was terrified, but I had to go down and see if there was a way out. The basement was furnished with an old couch and a coffee table with an old portable TV sitting on it. The TV was the source of the light, and the voice came from a beautiful woman on the TV. The woman spoke kindly to me and told me that she wanted to help me. I was desperate and willing to do almost anything she said. She pointed to a wooden box on the table and told me to find a ring with a plastic, blue jewel. When I found it, I noticed the jewel was cracked. It was a worthless, broken, toy ring, but the woman said that it was like a key. If I took the ring, I would be able to leave. I knew the ring wasn’t mine, but it was just a little thing of no value, so I did it. I put the ring in my pocket. Then something strange happened. A secret door opened revealing a passage. Knowing that it was the way out, I took it, and found myself in a very dark place. When I looked back for the door, it was gone. I felt around for a wall or door or anything to grab onto, but there was nothing. I walked in total darkness for what seemed like hours, and still there was nothing. I panicked and began to scream and run in all directions, but there was only dark emptiness. Then I tripped and fell. All around me was the sound of cruel laughter. It was the Adversary mocking me. He was mocking me because it was all a cruel plan to tempt me into making a wrong choice. I thought that taking the worthless toy ring would get me out of the place where I was trapped. It did, but it did not set me free. It just put me into an even worse place. Then later when I learned from the Guardian the story behind the ring, I realized a horrible truth. When the Adversary tempts us to do the wrong thing, we not only bring pain to ourselves, but we become instruments of pain to others. I hurt myself by stealing the ring and I hurt that sweet little girl who already had so much pain in her short life.
Well, that’s what would have happened if I had not discovered the remedy to my error. Reaching into my pocked for the ring, I acknowledged my wrong doing, and swore that if I had the chance to make things right, I would put the ring back. Then it happened. The hidden door appeared right before me. I ran back into the basement and replaced the ring. Then I found myself back in the dead forest with Carter and the Guardian. I learned two very important lessons from that test. First, is that when we do wrong we not only hurt ourselves, but we hurt other innocent people as well. Second, the remedy for righting our wrongs is to admit that we did wrong and then do all we can to make things right again.
It is time for me to go to bed. I feel better now that you know what I did. Now maybe after hearing the whole story, you will not think too badly of me. Good night.
But I didn’t know the story behind the ring when I took it. I hope that when you understand why I stole it, you will not be too disgusted with me. When my best friend Carter and I first met The Guardian in Dead Forest, we were tested before we were sent on our quest. While sitting around a campfire the first night in Dead Forest, I fell asleep. Or maybe it wasn’t asleep; I’m not sure. All of our experiences were so strange in our travels beyond the dead forest… Anyway, I found myself in a bed trapped in a strange bedroom. It was night, and a violent electrical storm was raging. The only light was from flashes of lightning that appeared outside one small window. To make a long story short, I found a door that opened to stairs that led down to a basement. A strange flickering light came from below. To make things even creepier, a woman’s voice was calling my name from the basement. I was terrified, but I had to go down and see if there was a way out. The basement was furnished with an old couch and a coffee table with an old portable TV sitting on it. The TV was the source of the light, and the voice came from a beautiful woman on the TV. The woman spoke kindly to me and told me that she wanted to help me. I was desperate and willing to do almost anything she said. She pointed to a wooden box on the table and told me to find a ring with a plastic, blue jewel. When I found it, I noticed the jewel was cracked. It was a worthless, broken, toy ring, but the woman said that it was like a key. If I took the ring, I would be able to leave. I knew the ring wasn’t mine, but it was just a little thing of no value, so I did it. I put the ring in my pocket. Then something strange happened. A secret door opened revealing a passage. Knowing that it was the way out, I took it, and found myself in a very dark place. When I looked back for the door, it was gone. I felt around for a wall or door or anything to grab onto, but there was nothing. I walked in total darkness for what seemed like hours, and still there was nothing. I panicked and began to scream and run in all directions, but there was only dark emptiness. Then I tripped and fell. All around me was the sound of cruel laughter. It was the Adversary mocking me. He was mocking me because it was all a cruel plan to tempt me into making a wrong choice. I thought that taking the worthless toy ring would get me out of the place where I was trapped. It did, but it did not set me free. It just put me into an even worse place. Then later when I learned from the Guardian the story behind the ring, I realized a horrible truth. When the Adversary tempts us to do the wrong thing, we not only bring pain to ourselves, but we become instruments of pain to others. I hurt myself by stealing the ring and I hurt that sweet little girl who already had so much pain in her short life.
Well, that’s what would have happened if I had not discovered the remedy to my error. Reaching into my pocked for the ring, I acknowledged my wrong doing, and swore that if I had the chance to make things right, I would put the ring back. Then it happened. The hidden door appeared right before me. I ran back into the basement and replaced the ring. Then I found myself back in the dead forest with Carter and the Guardian. I learned two very important lessons from that test. First, is that when we do wrong we not only hurt ourselves, but we hurt other innocent people as well. Second, the remedy for righting our wrongs is to admit that we did wrong and then do all we can to make things right again.
It is time for me to go to bed. I feel better now that you know what I did. Now maybe after hearing the whole story, you will not think too badly of me. Good night.
Kat, those are very important lessons, and I am glad you were able to make things right. But there is something else we need to understand. There are some things that cannot be put right again. Taking a person's life, reputation, or loved one can never be fully restored. We can do damage to our bodies that can never be repaired, and there are so many other things that can never be fixed. We must be careful not to fall into temptation, revenge, jealousy, acts of rage, and doing things out of fear. Some things can only be fixed by forgiveness.
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