Build

Then the voice spoke from the high mountain, commanding, “Build!”

And so they built.

One man used all the best techniques of his time, hired the most skilled workmen and the greatest of architects, persevered through setbacks, was clever about the financing, worked like a dog . . . and when he was done he had made a great mansion. Then a wind came from the mountain and passed over the mansion and from within the wind the voice said, ‘let this be a dwelling place for your line forever.’ And when the wind had passed over the mansion had been made by miraculous power into something that would last forever.

Another man lacked both the money and the skill. He tried as hard as he could. He bought supplies when he could. He asked questions of his friends and neighbors who were craftsmen–he followed their instructions as best as he could– and exchanged work with them as he was able. In time he had built a house. It was sturdy in its way. Also unintentionally quirky. It could have been better. He was never done. As he learned more or had a bit more time or money, he would rip out some part and start over again. As he lay on his deathbed in the house a wind came from the mountain and passed over the house and the voice from the within said, ‘let this be a dwelling place for your line forever.’ And when the wind had passed over the house had been made by miraculous power into a mansion that would last forever. His last sight was on the great and majestic hall that was still recognizably a scaled up and magnificent version of the room he had built himself. He passed into the eternities with a wide grin upon his face.

One man fasted and prayed. He fasted and prayed and added a stone. He fasted and prayed and added a stick. Little by little he built up a something unlike any ever before seen. It looked more like an organism than a structure. It branched out in unexpected ways. It touched the soul. One day he felt something in his heart and said, ‘it is finished.’ Then a wind came from the mountain and passed over the dwelling and from within the wind the voice said, ‘let this be a dwelling place for your line forever.’ And when the wind had passed over the home had been made by miraculous power into something that would last forever.

Another man dwelt in the hall of his ancestors. When he heard the voice he decided to start where he already was. He cleaned up the place. He cut some of his expenses and used it on repairs. He added, judiciously, a few minor improvements. Then a wind came from the mountain and passed over the hall and from within the wind the voice said, ‘let this be a dwelling place for your line forever.’ And when the wind had passed over the hall had been made by miraculous power into something that would last forever.

Another man also lived in a great estate he had inherited from his ancestors or perhaps he had already had it built or built it himself and he said, ‘I have no need to build,’ and so he did not. In time the earthquakes came and the storms and time itself came and there was no dwelling place.

Another man went up to the mountain and studied a rock outcropping for many days. He felt it and sketched it. He beheld it in sun and in rain. He heard the subtle groans of the rock in the frost. He saw the cracks where the insects came out, and the cracks where they did not. He felt where the coolness was even in summer, and the rocks that warmed in the winter sun. He took a little hammer and tapped to hear the deep echoes that thrummed. It is said that he also prayed much, though he did not know it. One day he took a hammer of a very particular weight and build, and with a very particular blow that he had practiced much, he struck a very particular spot. The rock cracked. The crack ran back and back and split and split. There was a rumbling. With all the weight of the cracked rock behind it the rock in front tumbled out and down the slope and then all the cracked rock came thrashing out after. Left behind was a natural-seeming hole flanked by two pillars that led to a great planar cathedral of stone. it was rough and peculiar. Then a wind came from the mountain and passed over the stone and from within the wind the voice said, ‘let this be a dwelling place for your line forever.’ And when the wind had passed over the cave had been made by miraculous power into a perfected great home that would last forever.

One man saw his unskilled neighbor building a shabby little house that became a great miraculous mansion so he did not try very hard himself. Mine is at least as good, he thought. The Voice and the Mountain will make up the difference. But they did not. With time his dwelling was no more.

Others refused to build, or even tore down. They wandered without a dwelling forever.