The Light of Truth — Page 169
PARABLE OF THE CHRISTIANS AND THE ATONEMENT from seeing what is right and true. Thus, the covetous and hasty one does not search the valleys and hills, but rather—as soon as he hears the liar's word-he rushes towards the shimmer of a mirage. However, when he reaches it, he finds nothing but a desolate valley, so the fire of thirst rises and pounces on him like jackals, and burns his heart the way fire incinerates a cloak. Overwhelmed by distress, he collapses to the ground, and his soul flies off like a bird and joins the dead. The parable of these people who rest upon the cushions of the Atonement out of complete ignorance and naivety-is that of a foolish group of people who converted to Christianity. They had been overcome by a lack of wealth and abundance of children, until their only harvest was poverty itself, and the dust-laden ground became their bed; berries of the bush became their food; their appearance became like an elderly man approaching death; and they were compelled due to their extreme suffering. Providence ordained hardship and suffering for them, and so, a gaunt old man came to them, whose impostures were intri- cate and outer appearance vile. He carried the marks of poverty and privation. His torn shoes and tattered clothing conveyed his condition. He came [to the Christians] wearing shabby garments with a rosary in his hand resembling the rosary of a monk. He was a wretched beggar—unkempt and dingy-who had endured poverty and distress to the point that he devel- oped a hunched back and looked jaundiced. His clothing was visibly torn in many places. His appearance conveyed that he had achieved nothing. He was naught but skin and bones, ren- dered lean by travel. It was in this pitiful condition, and with remarks he had masterfully prepared, that he infiltrated their circle. He sought to deceive them through his flowery speech, so he greeted them, and then he began to speak. He asked: ‘Shall I show 169