Ward's Sward… Where the Grass is Always Greener

Our family in San Antonio, TX

Surprisingly, the searing flames did not come.  Instead, Patrick’s eyes were drawn toward hundreds of flames marching toward them in the darkness of the nearby grove of trees.  These flaming torches, along with the crunching of twigs and dry grasses, drew steadily onward until they reached the clearing and stopped.  Suddenly, there was a shout, “Run, boys!  GO!!!”

            That was just what the boys needed to bring them back to their senses.  With the dragon still slightly mesmerized by the hundreds of flaming torches, Patrick and his friends sprinted off toward the grove of trees.  Once they were in the safety of the trees and their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Patrick could finally see all of the men who were holding the torches.  Manchu and Shing quickly spotted their fathers and ran into their waiting arms.

            At that point, Patrick glanced back toward the Great Wall to get a good look at the dragon.  It was just as scary-looking as the other boys had described it.  The fire-breathing dragon was now partially hanging over the side of the wall, his head weaving back and forth, looking for his lost prey who had disappeared into the darkness with the flaming torches.   While Patrick kept an eye on the dragon, he also tuned his ear in to what the men were saying.

            “We can’t lose the silver mines.  It’s our only way of making a living.”

            “But, we can’t stay here any longer, either.  Everyone is frightened and we can’t leave our womenfolk and children behind while we’re working in the mines.  It’s just too dangerous!”

            “Yes, I say that we pack up and move far away from here while we still can!”

            At that point, an elderly man stepped forward and said, “Gentlemen!  Gentlemen!  Do you not trust our gods?  We have just come back from making our petition to them.  They will send down fire and destroy this wicked beast.  Wait and see.”

            This silenced the other men.  Some bowed their heads in shame, while others turned to gaze upon the dragon, half expecting it to turn to charcoal right before their very eyes.  But, still, it thrashed about angrily and spewed forth its blaze of fire.

            Patrick turned to Shing, who was standing nearby and whispered, “Do you really believe in these gods?”

            “Well, sure… I guess,” answered Shing.  “That’s all I’ve ever been taught.  What else is there?”

            “Well… there’s the God that made the world and all things therein,” Patrick answered, a little amazed at himself for remembering a passage that he had memorized quite awhile ago.  Continuing on, he quoted, “seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things…” 

            By then, Patrick’s voice had increased in volume as he gained confidence… and an audience.  He continued on, “… And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:  For in him we live, and move, and have our being.”

            Everyone was silent as the old man made his way over to Patrick.  “What are you blathering on about, boy?” he asked.

            “It’s a quote from the Bible, sir, telling us about the One True God,” Patrick answered.

            The elderly man gave a sharp laugh and then demanded, “What is this Bible that you speak of?”

            A timid voice from behind Patrick answered, “Sir, I have seen one of those books.”  Manchu stepped forward in the faint light of the torches and continued, “A man traveling through our village showed me one.  He told me of wonderful stories that were in it, of a God who is very powerful and can deliver us from evil.  When I kept asking him questions, he… he… gave it to me… and said that I could keep it.  I was afraid and hid it.”

            “Manchu is right, sir,” Patrick said, defending him.  “The Bible is filled with wonderful stories!  But they are not just stories… they really did happen!”  He was surprised at his own boldness, but for the first time in his life, he was beginning to realize that he wasn’t alone.  Like the verses he just quoted, he truly believed that the Lord was real and that He was right there with him.  With that realization and newfound strength, he continued on, “My God is real!  And, I believe that He can deliver you from this dragon!”

            The elderly man laughed again and demanded, “Then let your God send fire down from heaven to destroy this dragon!”

“Oh, He has done things like that before,” Patrick quickly answered.  “But, sometimes He works through people.  Sometimes He uses us to show His mighty strength and power.  He has even given us different talents to be used for His glory… no matter how small these talents may seem sometimes.”  He had to smile at this remark that came unexpectedly out of his own mouth.

The elderly man was about to speak again when he was interrupted by a shout, “The dragon just climbed over the wall and is headed this way!”

            As Patrick turned to run with the rest of the men further into the darkness of the trees, a gnarly old hand grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks.  Twirling around, he was forced to look up into the elderly man’s eyes.  This time, however, he didn’t see the anger and mockery from a few seconds ago.  Instead, he saw fear and desperation.

            “Can you help us, lad?  Can your God really save us?  I am so tired and weary anymore and don’t know what to believe.  Our gods do not answer.  Our time is up.  If your God is real, please… I beg of you… call upon him!”  The elderly man then fell down upon his knees and began to weep.

            Patrick knew that he couldn’t leave this man alone.  He was also very aware that the other men had stopped and fixed their eyes upon him.  He knew that he had to make a quick decision… and make the right one.

            Patrick prayed.

            It wasn’t a half-hearted, silent prayer either.  It was spoken out loud and with meaning as he petitioned the throne of God, asking for strength and courage to fight the dragon and that God would get the praise and glory from the victory.

            Just as Patrick finished his prayer, he saw the dragon charging directly toward him.  Remembering his baseball, he pulled it from his pocket and with a quick, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!”, he threw the ball at the dragon.

            With a loud crraaack! the ball hit its mark… right between the dragon’s eyes.  The great monster fell with a THUD to the ground.

            “Quick!  Does anyone have a sword?”  Patrick shouted back toward the men, who were slowly creeping out of their hiding places.  One of the men ran to Patrick and handed him a sword.

            Patrick grabbed the sword, ran to where the dragon was and slew it.

            Cheers rang out as the men, along with Patrick’s two friends, came and crowded around him.  The elderly man broke through the crowd and fell down at Patrick’s feet. 

            “Thank you!  You are a brave warrior,” the man said.  Taking Patrick’s hand, he continued, “You have saved our people and we are greatly indebted to you.  Whatever you ask shall be yours.”

            Taken aback, Patrick humbly answered, “Oh, but it was God Who saved you and your people!  I couldn’t have done it without Him!  He gave me the strength and courage to slay the dragon.”

            “I… I want to know more about your God,” the elderly man confessed.  “You must come to my house and teach us… maybe stay for a few days.”

            “Oh, I would love to, sir,” Patrick admitted, “but I really need to be getting back.  I’m sure everyone is wondering what happened to me by now.”  And then, remembering Manchu’s hidden Bible, he continued, “You know, you’ve got all you need to learn about God.”

            Turning toward Manchu, he asked, “Would you be willing to share your Bible?”

            “Oh, yes!”  Manchu exclaimed with a bright smile on his face.

            “Manchu’s Bible will tell you all you need to know about God and His Son, the True Savior,” Patrick instructed.  “I will be praying for you all!  Now, I must find my way back to the mine.”

            “We’ll show you the way,” Shing said.  “Follow me!”

“Thanks!”  Patrick said.  He took one last look at the fallen dragon, sighed, and sent up a prayer of thanks to his loving Father.  Then, he turned and followed Shing, Manchu, and the rest of the men. 

As they neared the thicket of trees where the others were still hiding, the group of men stopped to express their gratitude toward Patrick for helping them out, said their good-byes, and then stepped into the shelter to be reunited with their families.  Shing and Manchu led Patrick on to where they had first met him.

“Well, I guess this is where we part,” Patrick said, as they stopped by the silver mine.  “I’ve really enjoyed meeting both of you!  Maybe some day we’ll see each other again.”

“Yes,” Manchu agreed, “we would like that very much!  It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, too!”

“Do you need a light for your journey home?” asked Shing.  “My dad gave me his torch and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I passed it on to you.”

“Oh, no, I’ll be fine,” Patrick answered.  “Thanks!  Good-bye!”  He waved at his friends as they turned around and headed back down the path.  He watched them go until they disappeared from his sight.

Patrick was surprised at how dark it had gotten.

“Maybe I should’ve taken the torch,” he thought to himself.  But he knew that the mine shaft wasn’t too far away.  He’d just have to feel his way around until he found it.

Knowing that the shaft was off the path to his left, Patrick turned and slowly moved his feet as he held his hands out in front of him.  All of a sudden, his foot struck a rock, making him trip and fall… fall… fall…back into the long, twisting tunnel once more.

“Patrick, are you okay?”

“Huh?  What?  What happened?” Patrick mumbled, as he peered up into the familiar faces of the people bending over him.  He couldn’t remember climbing back out of the hole, but here he was… lying on the grass in the warm sunshine.

“You had us scared, Patrick!”  Samuel exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Joshua joined in, “you fell in some kind of an old coal mine.  We had to get Mom and Dad to help pull you back out.  It sure took us awhile, too!  How are you feeling?”

Sitting up and feeling a little dazed, Patrick wondered if he had dreamt the whole thing.  He still had his headache.  And, reaching up, sure enough, there was the bump on his head.  He’d have to sort it all out later, but for now, he had quite the story to tell! 

“I guess I’m okay,” he answered, “but wait until I tell you what happened!”

“You can do that while we’re eating breakfast!” his friends’ mom interjected with a smile.  “The waffles are probably cold by now!”

“WAFFLES!  Yum!  Let’s eat!”  With that, Patrick rose to his feet, staggered a little and then headed for the house.  Waffles were his favorite… warm or cold!

All through breakfast, and in between bites, Patrick told his fantastic story.  The others listened attentively, not knowing exactly how to respond.  They knew that Patrick had injured his head, but he did make it seem so real!

Finally, when Patrick finished, his friends’ dad spoke up, “That is an amazing story, Patrick!  I know that God works in mysterious ways, even through dreams.  I’m just glad that He was able to help you work through your fears.  In fact, when you were telling your story, it reminded me of the phrase, ‘slaying the dragon’.  That is when a person learns to overcome their inner demons of fear, self-doubt, and negativity.  God taught you how to do this… by using His Word and through His power.”

Slaying the dragon,”  Patrick repeated slowly and then exclaimed, “Oh!  I just remembered!  Our baseball team is playing the Dragons tomorrow!  You know, I might just be able to ‘slay’ those Dragons, too!  In a figurative sense, that is,” he added and everyone laughed.

“Yes,” Patrick continued, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  And, my baseball comes in mighty handy, too!”  They all laughed as he reached into his pocket for his baseball.

Out it came… along with a rock that fell and clattered to the floor.  A rock that had a shimmer to it… almost like silver.

THE END    

            Everything happened so fast that Patrick lost all sense of whether he was upside-down or rightside-up.  He remembers falling, twisting and turning, bumping and banging, and then finally seeing the bright light of sunshine up ahead.  To add to this welcome sight were the hands reaching down to him from the entrance of the hole.  As he grabbed onto them and was pulled up, he shut his eyes to protect them from the sudden exposure to the brightness.

            Oh, how good it felt to be lying on solid ground again!  After coughing to clear his lungs from the dust and brushing the loose soil from his eyes, he opened them to a sight that quickly took his relief away.

            The two boys standing over him were NOT his friends, Samuel and Joshua!  Blinking again in disbelief, he now could clearly see that these boys were… Chinese!

            A little dazed, Patrick slowly stood up and backed away.  “Where… where am I? And, who are you?”

            A little perplexed themselves, the two Chinese boys just stared back.  Finally, one of the boys broke the silence, “Did you hit your head when you fell into the mine shaft?  You are in China, remember?  I am Manchu and this is my friend, Shing,” he said, pointing over to the other boy, who nodded.

            Remembering his manners, Patrick extended his hand again and said, “My name’s Patrick.  Thanks for coming to my rescue!” 

            After shaking hands with both boys, Patrick began shaking his head, as if to waken from a dream, but quickly stopped since it made his head hurt.  He put his hand to his head and found quite a goose-egg of a bump.  “China, huh!?!  This is all very strange!  And… and what do you mean about falling into a mine shaft?”

            “We were running from the dragon and heard a noise coming from the shaft.  Manchu and I stopped to check, thinking that one of the others had fallen.  Are you hurt?” asked Shing.

            Patrick quickly looked himself over and shook his head, “No… only my head aches.  Other than that, I guess I’m mainly just a little shook up, dirty… and totally confused.  But, I know that I never fell into a mine shaft.  I was just digging in the…”

            “Hush!” interrupted Manchu, quickly looking around.  “We need to keep moving… and stay quiet.  Now, let’s go!”  He grabbed Patrick’s hand and all three boys ran down a narrow path and then turned to go into a nearby thicket of trees.

            Once the two Chinese boys felt that they had reached a safe destination, they all stopped to catch their breath.  Looking around, Patrick could see that there were others gathering there also, mainly women and children.  He whispered, “What’s going on?  You said you’re running from a dragon?  What dragon?  Aren’t the dragons of China just a myth?” 

            Looking at him and rolling his eyes, Shing said, “You must have really hit your head hard.”  Continuing on, he explained, “Yes, there are dragons… well, at least one of them is still around.  It’s not as brightly colored as you might see in ancient paintings, but it’s just as fierce-looking.  He is very big!  Smoke comes out of his nostrils and flames shoot out of his mouth.  He is also covered with thousands of scales sealed tightly together to make a strong shield.”

            “Whoa!  He sounds pretty scary!” exclaimed Patrick.

            “Yes,” Shing admitted.  “The men of our village have tried to kill it with their swords and spears, but they have failed.  There is only one weak spot on the dragon and that is right between his eyes.  We have lost many of our men trying to hit just the right spot.  The dragon only gets more angry and ferocious!”

            “That’s too bad,” Patrick said softly, looking around.  “I was wondering where all the men were.”

            “Oh, not all of our men have been killed,” corrected Manchu.  “The rest of them have gone to the temple to pray to the gods.  They are asking that the gods intervene for them and send down fire to destroy the dragon.”

            Patrick thought about this for a little while and then asked quietly, “What happens if your gods aren’t able to get rid of the dragon?”

            “Then our whole village will be destroyed and…” Manchu hesitated before continuing on, “our enemies will get possession of the mine.”

            “Oh, I think I see,” Patrick said as he began to piece together their situation.  “Your enemy has sent the dragon to conquer your people.  But, what mine are they after… and why is it so important?”

            “You ask too many questions!”  Manchu said in exasperation.  Turning to Shing, he suggested, “Let’s go show him.  Maybe it will all come back to him if he sees it for himself.”

            Shing nodded and all three boys ducked back out of the protective overhang of branches to the small path out in the clearing.  Seeing that there was no sign of the dragon, the Chinese boys cautiously continued on their way.  Patrick wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but he felt that he could trust his new-found friends, so he followed on.  Part of him was a little afraid, but, yet, part of him was a little excited about the prospect of this new adventure.  Perhaps he’d even get to see the dragon!

            The boys followed the trail for about a mile when they came to a big wall.  No, not a “big” wall, but…

            “The Great Wall of China!” Patrick gasped in shock.  “I’ve seen pictures of it and read stories about it, but, WOW!  This is great to be able to see it in person!  It’s so… so… HUGE!!!”

            Both Chinese boys laughed at his response.

            “You know,” Shing said after awhile, “I’m starting to think that you really aren’t from around here.  Here, follow Manchu and me and we’ll show you something that you’ve never seen before in any of your books.”

            Walking along the bottom side of the wall, Patrick noticed that the walls were actually becoming shorter.  This part of the Great Wall was only around 2-3 stories high.  Continuing on, they followed the winding walls around to where the lowering sun was shining directly onto the side of it.

            Patrick stopped abruptly and stared.  “It’s… it’s silver!” he exclaimed.

            “Yes,” Shing gleamed, “not many people know about this part of the wall.  When the Great Wall was being built, transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources.  Rammed earth was used for construction in the plains, while stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges.  Here, in our country, stones were taken from our silver mines.  Over the years, due to decay, it’s getting harder to see the silver part of the wall.”

            Reaching into his pocket, Shing brought out a couple of rocks with shimmering streams of silver branching through them.  He held them out for Patrick to see.

            “Wow!” exclaimed Patrick.  “Those are beautiful!”

            “These are from the mine.  Go ahead.  Take one,” Shing offered.  “I can always get more.”

            Patrick gingerly picked one of the pieces up, turned it around in the fading sunlight to see it shine and breathed a soft, “Thank you.”  After examining it for a little while longer, he slipped his newly acquired treasure into his pocket with his baseball.

            Meanwhile, Manchu continued where Shing left off, “The Great Wall worked well at defending our country from the northern invaders for many years.  However, when they found out about our silver mines, they decided to change their tactic to gain possession of them.  That’s when they brought in the dragon from the deep.  He is able to scale walls and go places that would have been impossible for the invaders.”

            Just at that moment, all three boys froze as they heard a commotion overhead.  As loose rocks began to fall all around them, Patrick could tell that the dragon had returned without even looking up to see.  He cringed as he heard the heavy breathing above his head and felt the warm air flowing down his back.  He wanted to run, but his legs refused to move.  At any moment, he was expecting to be flambeed.

(to be concluded…)

            “PATRICK’S HERE!!!”

            Even before Patrick reached the front stairs to the Ward’s house, he heard the shout and saw the door fling open.  Both Samuel and Joshua bounded down the stairs and greeted him in unison with “Good morning!”

            “You’re just in time for breakfast!”  Samuel announced and then grabbed Patrick’s arm.  “Come on!  Let’s go inside and play hide-and-seek while we wait for Mom to finish cooking.”

            “No,” argued Joshua.  “It’s too nice of a day to be inside.  Let’s play outside while it’s still cool.  I heard it’s supposed to get pretty warm out today.”

            “Sounds good to me!” Patrick agreed.  “I even brought my baseball.  Maybe we could play catch.”

            “Okay,” Samuel said a little hesitantly and then took off running.  “Race you to the backyard!”

            The other two boys followed closely behind as they sprinted off toward the backyard. 

            Stopping by the trampoline, Patrick fished his baseball out of his pants pocket and threw it underhanded to Joshua with a “Here, catch!”.  Joshua then threw it to Samuel and then back it went to Patrick.

            After playing a three-way game of catch for a few minutes, Samuel grew tired of it and headed for the garden to dig in the dirt.  He had been creating a wilderness for his plastic dinosaurs among his mom’s tomato plants and thought of a new design to add to it.

            Meanwhile, as the other two boys continued throwing the baseball back and forth to each other, Joshua commented, “Hey, Patrick!  You’ve got a great pitch!  Have you guys been winning all of your baseball games?”

            Patrick, who was the pitcher for the Little League team, paused for a second and then lowered his head and answered, “No, and the coach blames me.  I’m afraid he’s going to put me in as catcher instead.”  He looked back up at Joshua and said, “I really want to pitch!  I feel it in my bones.  I know that I have the talent for it.  It’s just that…” and then he lowered his head again.  “It’s just that I get so nervous with all of those people looking at me, just waiting for me to mess up.  And, then, I usually do.  I just don’t know what to do.”

            Joshua walked over to Patrick and they both sat down on the cool grass, tossing the ball back and forth.

            Patrick continued, “We have a game coming up this Saturday.  The coach said that he would give me one more try.  If  I don’t do well, he’s going to switch me to catcher.”

            After Patrick caught the ball, he looked straight into Joshua’s eyes and announced, “We are playing the Dragons this Saturday!  They are the toughest team in our tournament!  There’s NO WAY that we can beat them, and… and I’ll get the blame for it!”  His gaze dropped down at the ball still lying in his hands and then he slowly stuffed the ball back into his pocket.  “I might as well give up and quit now.”  

            Joshua thought for a moment and then quietly asked, “Have you asked God to help you?  I mean, have you prayed about it?”

            “No, I haven’t,” Patrick answered.  “I never thought that baseball would be that important to God.  I’ve never seen it mentioned in the Bible,” he added with a smile.

            Joshua laughed and then said, “Not directly, you goof!  But, God has given you the talent of throwing a ball, so I guess He’d surely help you use it.  Have you ever heard of the verse that says something about Christ giving us strength to do all things?”

            Patrick’s face lit up and he answered, “Yes!  We just memorized that verse last week!  Let’s see if I can remember it.”  Shutting his eyes, he quoted, “‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’”  His eyes popped back open and he looked very pleased with himself.  “There!  I at least did one thing right!”

            “Good job!”  Joshua reassured him.  “But, now, as my dad always says, you need to apply it.  It’s good to memorize verses from the Bible, but they are there for us to use in our own lives.”

            “Hmmm… I never thought about that.”  Patrick was silent for a little while and then spoke, “So, do you suppose, like the verse says, that Jesus will give me strength to use my talents when I need to… and not be afraid?  Even when others don’t think that I can?”

            “I don’t see why not,” answered Joshua.

            Just then, a shout came from the garden.  “Hey, you guys!  Come on over here and look at this!”

            Both boys jumped up and ran over to where Samuel was playing.  Surprised, they found him in a deep hole, with only his head showing.  The recent rains had left the soil very soft and easy to dig.

            “Cool!”  Patrick exclaimed.  “Can I dig some?”

            “Yeah, sure… if I can get out,” Samuel laughed.  He dug the toes of his shoes into the sides of the hole as he pulled himself up, out of the dark pit.

            Patrick then jumped in and shouted, “Here, give me the shovel!”  After Samuel handed the dirt-encrusted tool down to him, Patrick began to dig.

            It wasn’t long before Patrick stopped and breathlessly exclaimed, “I think I hit something metal!”  He tapped the shovel all around his feet, trying to measure how far the metal extended.  All of a sudden, there was a loud cracking sound and Patrick disappeared out of the other two boys’ sight!

(to be continued…)