©Copyright 2001 by Douglas Christian Larsen -- all rights reserved. Please feel free to use these stories in storytelling to children, or for bedtime reading, or for use in church or Vacation Bible School, or for simple entertainment purposes, but please do not rewrite, repackage or include for sale or resale in any form without express permission of the author (and he's pretty easy-going).
Now this is a story which really needs some help from you -- what I need you to do is to use your imagination! Do you like to use your imagination? Do you know how? You need to SEE everything in your mind, that's how you can help me!
Picture a little stream flowing here, pretty bubbling waters flowing over rocks -- this is out in your backyard, isn't that neat? Wouldn't you like to have your own flowing stream out in your backyard? And what's about the coolest thing you can do in a little stream?
BUILD A DAM!
Anybody ever build a dam before? You find a wide part of the stream, and then pile in big rocks, and then smaller rocks, and then tiny tiny pebbles -- then you pack mud into the pebbles, so the water can't flow through. And then you have a big pool that you can splash in, perfect for sailing little leaf-boats, or skipping rocks.
Well, this day, you notice something very strange after the water stops running. There on the other side of the dam, on the drier side, where the stream isn't flowing any more, you see a patch of something red in the mud . . . do you know what it could be? Anybody know?
You're right! CLAY. Some red clay -- the kind you can squish between your fingers, kind of sticky, and you can make shapes like a ball, or a little house, or animals, or just about anything your imagination can think of! Today, you get a special idea!
You form a little ball, and shape it delicately with your fingers, you make a little bump for a nose, and little lumps for eyes, some tiny ears, a line for a mouth, and you mold some hair for the top -- and here in your hand you have an amazing little head! Isn't it incredible? Just LOOK at it! It looks so real, in fact, it looks a lot like yourself!
Wow! This is really cool! So you quickly make a little body for the head, with perfect arms, and legs, hands with fingers, feet with toes -- and you pause to look at your job, and it is INCREDIBLE! But it looks like a tiny version of YOU!
You love this little thing, this little clay person in your hand. And you think, "If only this tiny little guy could BREATHE!" Wow, wouldn't that be something? So you bring your face close to the palm of your hand, and you smile, and say: "I love you, little clay guy!" And then you put your lips together, like you'ree about to whistle a tune to the clay, and then, softly -- wwwhhhhhhoosssh!
You breathe over the little clay person.
Oh my goodness, but do you know what the little clay person does? He opens his eyes. Look at him, here on your hand, so perfect, a little version of yourself, a tiny YOU! And he looks at you -- AND HE SMILES! Then he sits up and waves at you!
So you place him gently upon the ground, and he begins to jump and dance and dash back and forth -- he runs to the little pond you have made and he tosses pebbles into the water, and you hear his sweet little voice laughing and singing.
Oh, you feel such LOVE for this little person, this little clay person!
But then you notice something sad, very sad . . . the little clay person pauses, looks around -- it seems as if he is searching for something . . . or maybe someone. Yes, that must be it! The little clay guy is lonely. He needs a friend!
This has to be a special friend, so you take the little clay man into your palm again, and you sing to him, until he yawns -- oh, just look at all his perfect little clay teeth! And he smiles at you, waves, and falls gently asleep. You take a piece of clay from his side, and begin shaping a tiny little object -- a HEART! A perfect little heart.
You get more clay from the clay bed and form another clay person, building it around the tiny perfect heart you made from the first clay person's side. This clay person is a little woman! And when you breathe upon her she smiles, laughs, and then nudges your first little clay man, and he wakes, sees his new companion, and screams with happiness -- they hug, and you place them upon the ground, and they begin to play and dance and sing and splash in the water.
So you make more and more little clay people and they play together happily and sing together and dance together, and you love to sit and watch their fun and games. What a great place this is, out in your backyard by the little stream of water.
Oh boy, look at all these little clay people -- oh here they come, a whole bunch running this way -- oops! I better watch out! I don't want to step on them, whoa! And here they all go, back this way, running and yelling and having fun!
Then, something happens
You see, right over there, on the other side of the stream, the neighbor kid, Butch, who used to be your very best friend. He used to come over to your house all the time, and play with you, and you would sing songs together, until the one day when he started to get jealous about your toys. Soon he wanted your toys, and then he wanted to live in your house and own all your toys -- and he wanted you to go live somewhere else!
Well, your Father wouldn't allow that! Your Daddy told Butch to leave, and to never come back. It was a sad day, because you loved your buddy, Butch, and you often want him to be your friend again, but poor Butch just can't stop wanting to take all of your toys away!
And now you see him -- look at him over there! He's staring at your little clay people, and oh no! He's smiling that terrible smile! In fact, right now, Butch is crawling on his hands and knees, he's pretending to be a lion, and he's roaring and licking his lips while he stares at your little clay people!
From his side of the stream, Butch bends down and whispers in one little clay person's little clay ear. And you see a funny look come over the precious little clay face. It's not a nice look. None of the little clay people ever made a face like this before: the little clay eyes get very narrow, and the little clay mouth turns down -- and suddenly you know your little clay person is ANGRY.
"Please, no!" you call, because you love and adore your little clay people, oh so much! But the little clay person with the angry face ignores you -- in fact, it seems that when the little clay people listen to Butch, they cannot listen to you! They can only listen to you, or to Butch, not both at the same time.
Then something TERRIBLE happens.
The angry little clay person charges over to another little clay person, and hits him on the head! Oh no! Such a terrible mean thing to do! They had all been so happy, and now this! Oh no! Look what happened! A little clay head has come off! And it's rolling this way!
Butch is whispering to more and more little clay people, and they are running around like crazy little Gumbies! Fighting, screaming, crying!
You get down on your hands and knees and plead with the little clay people: "Listen to me! I created you! I love you! You must listen to ME, not to Butch!"
A few cock their little clay heads, and they listen. They come running to you, they group about your feet, and when the bad little clay people come close, you protect those that listen to you, and don't let anything bad happen to them.
Soon, it is clear that only a few listen to you -- all the rest have chosen Butch. And they are not happy. They are not singing. They are not loving. In fact, it seems that all of them only want to do BAD things. Little clay heads are rolling everywhere! Poor little clay people, you love them even when they are mean and bad and cruel to each other -- but it hurts you so badly, their meanness, that you begin to cry.
How can you stop all the hurting? How can you end the suffering of all the mean little clay people. You are now sorry you even made them in the first place. Ah, but then there are the good little clay people. The ones who love you so much. At least you have them.
So you come up with a plan. You place a log in the red clay patch and you shout for all the clay people to hear: "Get on the log! If you get on the log, you will be saved!"
Immediately the good little clay people climb upon the log, they hear you, they believe you, and they obey you . . . oh, but you are so sad to see that there are only eight of them!
Thousands of the mean little clay people keep on fighting, keep on knocking off little clay heads -- they will not listen to you! In fact, now they are shouting out: "Butch made us! Butch made us! Butch LOVES us!"
And Butch laughs. Because he doesn't love the little clay people, not the good ones, not the bad ones. He just wants to hurt you -- hurt you by hurting the little clay people you created.
So you do the only thing left to do . . . you break apart the dam you so lovingly built. And all the water from the little pond comes roaring down over the little clay people, washing them all away, dissolving them again into the mud from which them came.
But you are happy to see that the eight little clay people on the log are all okay! They were safe from the water, and they wave and smile at you, sitting on the log, riding upon the splashing stream. "We love you!" they shout.
So, back to work you go. You build up the dam again. And when the red clay is shining in the sun, you again shape together little clay people, and everything is good again
until Butch comes crawling back, again roaring like a lion!
Soon, so sadly, there is a large group of little clay people fighting each other, doing terrible things, and again there is a small group of good little clay people, who hear your voice, who love you, and always desire to make you happy.
But even the good little clay people are sometimes bad. Sometimes they just seemingly can't help themselves! They listen to Butch. But when they see how they have hurt you, they say they are sorry, and they ask you to forgive them.
What can you do, you wonder. How can you save these little clay people that you love so much? You think about it and think about it. You talk about it with your Father, and He is sad, and He loves the little clay people as much as you do. Finally, you BOTH decide, there is only one way to save the little clay people.
YOU will have to become a little clay person, and live with them, and save them from the terrible things they do. If they accept you, they will be saved, if they reject you, they will be lost -- kind of like when the dam came down and all the water came washing through: all those who climbed upon the log were safe!
So you become a little clay person. You walk with them, and tell them the truth -- the truth about YOU, and the truth about Butch, and the truth about your Father. You tell them of a beautiful home where they can live forever -- live forever, not as clay people, but as REAL people, just like you! You tell the little clay people how your Father at the Real Home loves them, just like you do!
Some of the little clay people are so happy to see you! They recognize you immediately, because you are the one who has talked to them, you are the one who has kept them safe, you are the one who created them! These little clay people hug you, so tightly, they love you and never want you to leave them.
But some of the other little clay people get angry when they see you. Some of them don't like you, because they like Butch better. And some of them don't like you, because they were expecting you to be different, because they never quite understood you when you talked to them.
Thank goodness, some of the mean little clay people change their minds. They listen to you, and think about what you say, and then they feel sorry for all the bad things they have done, for all the little clay heads they have knocked off of little clay shoulders. They feel so badly, they begin to cry, and they ask you to forgive them, and love them.
You smile! Because THIS is who you came to save! The mean little clay people. They CAN change and stop being big meanies -- they CAN change and stop their naughtiness and become GOOD little clay people. You smile, and laugh, because you are so happy!
But most of the mean little clay people want you to go away. They want you to stop telling the little clay people about your Real Home, and about how every little clay person in the world can live with you and become Real if they accept you, and love you, and obey you because they love you.
They grab two sticks and tie them together with strings, prop it up in the mud, and then they grab YOU and tie you to the little cross, stick you in the mud.
"You go away!" they shout. And they laugh at you and spit on you and call you terrible names. "We don't want you!" they shout. "You DIDN'T make us!" they scream, even though you DID make them. They throw rocks at you, and hit you with sticks, all the while yelling and screaming and laughing.
"I love you!" you tell them, as everything gets very dark. "I love ALL of you! Each and every one, whether you are good or bad!"
And the ground shakes, because your Father is watching, and He is very sad about the mean things they are doing to you.
"Forgive the mean little clay people!" you shout to your Father. "They're just not very smart!"
And then you feel strange. You feel your clay dissolving, and it hurts. You look at the mean little clay people and the good little clay people, and you love them so much! You want to tell them again how much you love them, but it is too dark, and you feel too strange, and it hurts too much. You are sad, but also happy, because you know your plan to save the little clay people is a good plan, even if it had to hurt. You only have strength for three more words:
"It is finished!" you shout, and then everything feels funny, and the only thing your eyes can see is darkness, like the darkest night you have ever seen.
But you are not afraid. Because you know your Father loves you, and that He will take care of you. In the darkness, you are only sleeping. Sleeping, without any dreams, without any nightmares. You rest, because you are so tired.
And then your Father wakes you up.
"Get up Sleepy Head!" your Father calls. "Get up and tell the little clay people the Good News!"
You wake up, and you yawn. Ooh, you feel so different. And you know what? You're not quite the same as you were before. You look and there are clay stains on the palms of your hands, and clay stains on your feet, and on your side. And you know these clay stains will be there forever, as a reminder of your gift to the little clay people.
Your good little clay people are so happy to see you! How they had cried and cried when you were stuck on that cross stuck in the mud. Now they are happy to see you again!
"I had to go through all of this," you tell your precious friends, "so that you little clay people can LIVE!"
They are very excited to hear this! Like getting presents on Christmas, only much better! They clap their hands, and they sing, and they hug you.
"But now I have to go away," you tell them, and your little clay people are sad. "But don't be sad," you tell them, as you begin to move backward, away from them, "because I'm coming back, very soon! Just the same way I am going now. And when I come back, very soon, you all will see me, and you will be happy, and I will grab you all up into my arms, and hug you, and change you into REAL people, and you will live with me forever in my Father's House!
"It is now possible, because of the time I spent with you, and because I went into the dark, dark sleep for you!"
Your little clay people smile, because they are happy about the Good News, but they cry too, because they are watching you go away.
And now you stand over them, watching them again in their little clay patch. You have the clay stains on your palms and on your feet and upon your side. You are Real again, no longer one of the little clay people, and you miss them already.
"Good-bye, my loves!" you shout to them, and they all wave. "I have to go into my Father's House, and sit down with Him for a while -- we need to talk about some serious things for just a while -- and then I'm coming back, my little clay people, so WATCH for me!"
You walk away from the stream, toward your House, and call again: "Remember: my Father and I loved every single little clay person so much that I BECAME a little clay person, and if you believe in ME, you can live FOREVER! If you love me, little clay people, remember the things I taught you, and follow them! Remember me by remembering my rules! Love me by keeping my words!"
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7 (NKJ)
Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
Job 33:6 (KJV)
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Isaiah 64:8 (KJV)
Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Romans 9:21 (NIV)
Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, syaing "Stop, you are doing it wrong!" Does the pot exclaim, "How clumsy can you be!"
Isaiah 45:9 (NLT)
As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats those who fear Him; He knows of what we are made, He remembers that we are dust.
Psalms 103:13-14 (NJB)
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Art et Amour Toujours
These stories were created for children and are best acted out, with drama, passion and a sense of fun & mystery. These are parables that teach deeper truths, but first and foremost they should entertain and keep the child's attention. At the end of each story are scriptures which support the story, enabling the parent to open scripture to young children.
