A Parable (Inspired by the Book of Hebrews)

Once upon a time, in a different universe, on a small habitable planet, lived a group of self-aware beings called... the Piddledumps. They were somewhat like us, only they had three legs and one arm and they were purple. Now, the Piddledumps were a people whom God loved. He had also created them with the capacity to love Him. Piddledumps, however, were very strong willed and they wanted to do what they wanted to do even if they knew God wouldn’t like it. They constantly sinned against God, so He made a way for those little Piddledumplings to be forgiven.

God said, “One day I will show you a better way, but for the time being I want you to stand on your head for three days every time you sin against Me.” Now, some of the Piddledumps just ignored God, but those who really loved Him tried to follow this new rule. In fact, after awhile some of them spent so much time on their heads they forgot how to stand right side up. Thus, they became known as Piddledumplingupsidedowns.

Over time, the Piddledumplingupsidedowns actually began to take pride in their new name, because they figured it showed just how devout and special they were. After awhile though, standing on their heads became less a sign of repentance from sin, and more a way of just trying to look better than the other Piddledumplings who didn’t stand on their heads.

Every once in awhile God would find one of the Piddledumplingupsidedowns who seemed to understand things a little bit better, and speaking through him, God would try to help the rest of the people see that what really mattered was not standing on one’s head, but loving God and living for Him. The standing-on-the-head part had mostly been instituted so they would understand sin and long for the day when God’s promised better way would arrive. He kept telling them to prepare for that day, but instead the Piddledumplingupsidedowns came up with their own ideas about what God’s better way should look like.

Finally the time came, and God shocked everyone by becoming a Piddledump Himself. He did this in order to better communicate with all the other Piddledumplings, and also so that He could make a way for them to be forgiven forever. If it wasn’t enough that God became a three-legged, one-armed, purple Piddledump, He also allowed Himself to be killed in order to satisfy the justice His holiness demanded for the sins of the other Piddledumplings. In fact, He was killed upside down in order to fulfill God’s former mandate to stand on one’s head for forgiveness of sin. He explained that those who received His gift of grace by faith would no longer have to stand on their heads to please God.

A few of the Piddledumplingupsidedowns began to understand. They accepted what God had given them and started to learn to walk on their legs as God had intended. It was an amazing thing to see. Many of the Piddledumplingupsidedowns, however, couldn’t embrace the change. They didn’t believe God’s promise had come true. They were very fond of standing on their heads.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Piddledumps... the ones who had never stood on their heads... also had their chance to receive the forgiveness of God, even though they had always ignored Him in the past. Some of them just laughed at the idea of God in the form of a Piddledump, rejecting what He had said and done, but many others accepted His gift and learned to live life His way. God called all those who received His sacrifice Piddledumplingrightsideups, and He promised them an eternal home in heaven, where nothing would ever have to stand on its head, again.

The End