A Story of Human Decency (The Time is Now)
The time is now...
The year was lost to the world - time was lost to the world. In the midst of this great confusion a child was born. He entered the confusion not from a womb, but rather from a heart. He was peace if there ever was any, and was given the name Erric.
Over the years he moved from crowd to crowd, moving this mountain and parting that sea.
Erric did what he was best at - he loved. What was most important was that his love was decent. It was not an act; it was not fixed; it was not meant to further his own image.
Erric knew that this was the proper way to love. As a child he was approached by a star who spoke these words:
“Time be crossed and time be fallen. Time be lost and people be lost behind it. You my child will show them the truth. Others speak of love but do not pose it. Others laugh of love but do not humour it. Others cry of love but do not drip it. Others fight of love but do not keep it. You will show them, my young Erric. You will show them.”
“Show them what?” Erric asked in a humbled whisper.
“Decency. You will show them the decency in love.”
“But how?”
“Show them the blue in the sky, the green in your eye. Show them the rip of a wave, the cry of an elephant. Show them the palm of a friend, the shoulder of a mother, the words of a sister. Most importantly, show them their hearts.”
“I will try for you star,” Erric replied, and that’s just what he did.
A true gift to the world, Erric tried his damnedest to keep his word. He lifted the fallen when they could not fall further. He grounded the flyers when they could not get higher. He hugged the children when they could not feel lonelier. He soothed the world when it could not get bloodier.
Erric became a man, and continued to stay true to the promise. His love was decent all the way.
It was not until his thirtieth birthday that Erric first became discouraged.
He was sitting in a city park, next to a man in a black suit who smelled of liquor. The man said nothing, turned to Erric, laughed, and tossed his burning cigarette into the air. It fell to the ground, among the grasses.
That night Erric cried to himself. The star heard his cries and returned to his bedside.
“Oh dear star, there is no decency in the world. My battle has long been lost, before the hands of time met their new grip, before I was given to the world.”
“You must not give up, my child. Your love is decent.”
“My love may indeed be decent, but there is no decency in the hearts of those around me. I showed them the red of the rose, the green of the grass. I showed them the whip of the wind, the cry of an eagle. I showed them the face of a friend, the arms of a father, the words of a brother. Most importantly, I showed them their hearts. I have received nothing in return, I have seen nothing in response to my gift.”
“There is your error,” the star cried. “There is where they have all erred.”
The star returned only nights later, and heard Erric’s further thoughts.
“I’ve figured it out star,” he began. “Human beings are not capable of such decency. They have an innate desire to live, survive, and stay alive. They have an instinct to further gain, to fight, to wash the rain. They have a personal interest in getting ahead, building higher, soaring beyond what they can see, or hold, or feel. Decency is lost in those things, lost as much as time itself.”
“Then speak to me. Tell me your conclusion my child.”
“Human beings - it is not in the nature of their lives or love for decency to exist.
“Very well my child, very well.”
And with a whip of wind, a crash of water; through mountain fields and ocean graves; over city parks of green and rural fires of red; below the stars of sky and beneath the dark of night, the once child-like Erric returned to his place of birth - to the human heart of a man.
The final voice of the star echoed in the night:
“Erric was wrong in words, wrong in thought, wrong in spite. Decency in love and life must be found by man himself. Then, and only then, will the time be right, the time be strong - for those who speak of love to live it; for those who laugh of love to fancy it; for those who cry of love to pour it; for those who fight of love to hold it; and for men tossing burning cigarettes into the air to find their decency.”
by David B. King (2000)
