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This is the story about a place. The place of the 4 piles. This is a story about a place and the people who live in that place. The people of the place of the 4 piles spent their days building the piles. All day everyday the people would put their time and energy into the building up of these piles.
Time Passed and it took a really long time, but eventually some of the piles grew.
Some of the people of the place of the 4 piles got so excited each time that a pile would grow. They would say, “Look at the growth! Look at the change! Our time and energy is meaning something is doing something.”
The people of the place of 4 piles thought that they all agreed that the way they would live their lives and work together was to build the piles, but over time some of the people in the place of the 4 piles started to ask questions. They started to wonder if there was more. They were unsettled by the piles. They started to wonder if there was a different way to live a…. different way to work together… to make meaning. There were not many people asking these questions at first but those who were asking the questions began raising their voices and some would listen. They said to the questioners, “Look, if we move the piles that would be different. They can take a different shape and that is a new reality.” And the questioners thought, “I guess.”
So the building of the piles continued.
Well, one day, one of those people who were wondering ..their hearts continued to tug…they woke up each night feeling a sense of something else…something more.
So, they woke up one day and thought I must say something!!! So they made their way to the place of the piles and started shouting to others, but no one listened. And after awhile, they decided that they needed to peak under the piles and so they worked and worked while everyone else worked to build the piles…they worked to peak under the piles. But doing this work alone eventually the pile came crashing down. This one person realized that they could not do this on their own.
So, the next day, they came back and gathered a few and asked for help. They asked for help in peaking under the piles. The few who had gathered said, “Look, we saw you try yesterday and it crashed. And the piles we built were affected. Parts of them came crashing down too so the building that we have done, all that work has been diminished. We won’t help you peak under. All that is under there is the stuff of the piles and we all know what that looks like.”
Time passed and the building of the piles continued. And the piles started to grow again.
One day, that one person heard that there was a person at another pile who had started to peak, so they went and found them and said, “Hey! Let’s work together!” But the others said, “No! this is the way things are.”
But the two had found each other and started hearing about others. So one morning very early before the others came to the land of the 4 piles to do the work of building the piles, four of the people came together around 1 pile and they began to peak. The pile remained but they discovered a new perspective underneath it.
They began to wonder what was under the 2nd pile. Under the 2nd pile they found color and new life.
The third pile uncovered smoothly because now they had the hand of it. And underneath they found wonder and awe.
By the time they got to the 4th pile, others were starting to arrive at the land of the 4 piles for their pile building and they found all the piles in different places. The piles were still there but in their midst they saw something different.
As the people started to lift and peak under the 4th pile, many started to help in the lifting and the peaking and the pile moved and celebration emerged.
Over time, the people in the place of the 4 piles went about their life and their work slightly differently. Some continued pile building. The piles remained and they had a role. Some piles grew and others fell.
Some continued to unearth other things found under the piles. And other perspectives joined. Other colors and all sorts of new life.
It was not regular or predictable. And wonder and awe emerged and would dance and play in the place. And through it all was a sense of celebration. The celebration did not eliminate the struggle but it became part of that place. Part of the people in new and curious ways.
And so I wonder…
I wonder if you have been in the place of the 4 piles or maybe it was 2 piles or maybe it was 200 piles. I wonder what it looked like? I wonder what it felt like? I wonder who was there with you?
I wonder if you are there right now?
I wonder what would emerge if a pile was overturned? What might be found?
I wonder where you witnessed curiosity?
I wonder where you see God in this place?
Amber Mattingly 