Richard stumbled into the Tumble Weed mini-mart.  He picked up several bottles of water and a few bags of chips.  He had stopped at the Tumble Weed numerous times and could have picked up the water and chips with his eyes closed.  He wasn’t quite sure why he kept showing up here. He wanted to get off the beaten down circular trail.  But, every time he tries to step off onto a less traveled path it is too steep to climb and he just keeps falling back down to the bottom.

Even though Richard drank copious amounts of water, his mouth was constantly parched and he was chronically dehydrated.  Finally in despair he sat down on the trail.  Hot, dirty, tired, and dehydrated, he gave up.  If this was all life had to offer he would just sit there and let the sun finish dehydrating him.  He fell asleep and dreamt he found a book under an oddly shaped tree.  The book contained the directions to the fountain of eternal life.  He awoke with a new excitement.  He knew where that tree was. It was at the cross roads he passed by every day he wandered the circle.  He finished off his bag of extra salty chips and reached for a bottle of water.  He paused for a moment, noticing for the first time the R on the bottle was actually a D that had been tampered with.  It didn’t say Rehydrator, it said Dehydrator.  All this time he had been drinking a dehydrator.  No wonder he was always so thirsty.

Richard excitedly started down the trail to the cross roads.  He found the book exactly where his dream said it would be and ponders the title, “The Book Of Love.”   He isn’t sure how a book of love will help him to find the fountain of eternal life, but he opens it just the same.   He follows the instructions and carries the book with him to the first path off the circle and looks in amazement.  This is certainly not the same path it has been in the past.  He sees a road sign he has never seen before despite all the times he has passed by this road.  “i will go before you and level the mountains” (Isaiah 45:2).  He held tight to the Book of Love and took a step off the beaten path.  As soon as his foot hit the dirt on the new path he was joined by a man dressed in white.  He wondered how anyone who traveled these paths could remain so clean.  They walked along the path, his new friend going first and helping him over the rough spots as they came along.  Sometimes they stopped and sat in the shade while the man in white explained things from the Book Of Love.  Whenever Richard was thirsty his new friend gave him water to drink from his canteen.  Richard had never tasted anything so refreshing.  He noticed his skin becoming plumped up and hydrated.