Barbie Loflin

I found that old metal serving spoons made wonderful scepters and came in quite handy as shovels, most capable of digging moat trenches around sturdy trunk roots, and Dixie cups can fill that ravine quite readily after many trips to mama’s kitchen. I discovered that small plastic dishes look most appetizing laden with big old acorns harvested from the oak nearby, and that crazy squirrels are not afraid to come and retrieve their stolen bounty from little red headed girls who scream and run at the sight of them.

In my kingdom I found that stray dogs love lonely laps, and that mothers yell really loud when they find nothing but your legs sticking out from under the neighbor’s collie. And did you know that if you lay on the ground with your hands behind your head and squint just a bit, – sunshine through willow branches looks just like heaven exploding all around you? Dust mites floating on effervescent rays become mini Glenda’s passing through on their way home to Oz, and tree frogs become sentinels calling forth into neighboring reptilian lands.

It was pure magic. There was nothing like it upstairs in my bedroom or in any other place I had ever been. Huge, vast, limitless and intimate, it was a mine. And it was right there in my front yard all along. I can remember thinking, how long has this been here and why didn’t anyone tell me? And then I remember this special kind of excitement just knowing that it was all right there at my fingertips. All I had to do was come out of my safe little room and take a few steps, reach out my hand and sweep aside the branches, and step behind the curtain.

And the kingdom awaited.

(Let those who have an ear, hear…)

Seems like forever ago, but I still feel the sense of drawing. Just the thought of the lazy willow blowing in the breeze makes me long for home, spoons, drooling dogs and tin foil crowns.

Oh, but dear ones, I have found a more wonderful kingdom. With one sweep of the heart I found myself behind its curtain. And like the first, I found myself asking, how long has this been here and why didn’t anyone tell me? For in this kingdom, there dwells a true, honest-to-goodness King. And He is good and kind and powerful. Beautiful to behold and easy to serve. The King Who rules this Kingdom carves mountain ranges with a breath and fills oceans with words. His voice sounds like many waters and His heart pounds melodies. He can speak floods and paint rainbows, heal wounds and scatter stars across night skies. He walks with the pauper and feeds the hungry, covers the naked and comforts the mourning. Yet He is enthroned in majesty, surrounded by praise and exalted by The Elders. High and lifted up, yet touchable and accessible.

In His Kingdom, less is more and the first is last. In His Kingdom rulers serve and servants rule and in His Kingdom, filthy rags are made righteous – scarlet sins become snow white. In His Kingdom lions lay down beside lambs and there is a tree whose branches truly do provide healing for all of the nations…

It must be a willow.