The Two Brothers

As the traveler was walking along, he started to reminisce about the people he had met over the years; some were on their journey to the King’s palace. He broke out in a smile. He was thinking about the two brothers who always traveled together. Now, they were not really related by physical blood; it was a bond far greater. They were always together looking out for the other’s well-being. When you first mee them, you would think they are trying to out-do the other with the degree of kindness which is frequently exchanged between themselves. After a while, however, you realize they are not trying to out-do the other person, but are looking for new ways to express their care and appreciation they have for each other. The old traveler used to wish he had such a friend to share both the joys and sorrows of the journey, but after a while he was satisfied to travel the road alone. However, he always relished the occasion to journey with a fellow traveler. He especially liked meal time. He was rather a good cook and enjoyed the expression on the face of the person when they first tasted the meal he prepared.

Back to the two brothers. He smiled again. One was thin and very tall. Lanky? His hair was jet black and thick. He always kept it slicked straight back. His name was Leegale. His friend Kinder always called Leegale, Lee for short.   The Kinder was average height not fat but not thin either. The shorter one was always first to move a heavy limb or rock which was blocking the way. I think Lee’s back hurt him at times, but you would never hear him using that as an excuse when work needed to be done. When Kinder moved a log from the path, Lee would always say, “I will get the next one”. Kinder would just faintly smile and acknowledge his friend’s intent. They worked well together. For instance, there was an apple tree along the path and they always would  pick 3 apples each. They wanted to leave some for other travelers. Nothing is better than a sweet apple on a hot day. Because they only took three apples, they would look for the deepest, darkest, reddest candidates to pick. Kinder was average height and the pickings were not as good as up higher in the tree. He would sometimes look up higher than he could reach, but then he would have to adjust his expectations. On one occasion, Lee watched were Kinder was looking. Oh, he sees that big, dark red delicious apple without one blemish on it just up on that left branch which was well over seven feet off the ground. Just looking at that apple made Lee’s mouth water. He then went right over to the apple and picked it. Quite to the dismay of Kinder, I might say. He then took that red, juicy apple and raised it right up to his mouth. Opened his mouth and start to take a big bite, and then he let out the most unusual laugh and handed the apple over to Kinder. Who could ask for a better friend in this life, I thought. I especially remember that laugh.

As I said, I liked being around these two “bothers”. In some ways they were as different as night and day. However, when it came to following the Master’s commands, they both had the same steadfast heart. You would have especially noticed their difference when they came across a fellow traveler, who claimed to a servant of the Master but was not living the way their Master had told all of them to live. I remember one occasion.  This traveler’s  frist name was Over  and his last name was aken. Lee got straight to the point and pointed out the sin of this erring traveler. He would pull out his scroll and read exactly to the failing brother what he was doing incorrectly and pronounce judgment on this traveler’s failure. Lee made sure he spoke the truth so there was no misunderstanding about  Mr. Taken’s fault. Kinder had a different approach. He showed the erring bother were he was failing but did it in such a way that made the brother not to become defensive and caused him to want to change. Kinder would remind him of his loving Master and how His Son had provided the power and ability to obey the Master’s will. Kinder would admit his own failure and share how he was able to overcome his failure triumphantly. Kinder prayed for the fallen brother and prayed for humility for himself lest he also stumble into a similar type of sin. While Leggale had become less ridged over the years, his spiritual character was nothing like Kinder’s. He even recognized their differences and thanked his Master from giving him such a good brother to share the spiritual journey of life and to balance out the kind of situation I just described. Kinder’s love for other people made Lee want to change. Some other time, I will tell you what Kinder had told me about himself when he first started his journey.