There had been so many attacks on the once beautiful vineyard that those dwelling within it became uneasy. Some attacks had come from within and many from without. The vineyard owner had asked them to trust and keep giving Him a share of the fruit, even when it had been hard won. Though the vineyard and it’s structures always remained standing the elders decided it needed more protection.
Fear of enemies outside and in meant much investment was needed in the watch tower that stood in the centre of the Vineyard. It’s original purpose was to give a wider view and help anticipate any advancing trouble, clearly, it was felt it was no longer fit for purpose and new plans were drawn up copying watchtowers from outside the vineyard. They, after all seemed to manage perfectly well without any help from a apparently absent landlord. The Landowner was erratic it seemed in His protection so a more reliable system was needed.
So the new tower was constructed and it seemed to have become the focus of all the activity. All hands were kept busy building the stronger defences, but as one foe was defeated another breach came and another investment of time and resources went into making sure that it never happened again.
The children were taught in classes the importance of building defences along with a little history lesson on the vineyard owner.
All the while the vines in the vineyard became neglected and wild. No one had time to prune weak branches so the plants wasted their energy on unproductive growth. No one fed the vines, so there was little sweetness in the fruit. If it was ever harvested and pressed the sour grapes overpowered the sweet ones. The wine press was used only once in a while, with so little fruit it too fell into disrepair.
Ohh but how big the tower was. So big and so very, very tall. The cornerstone from the original watchtower was buried somewhere in its foundations, but sadly, no one could quite remember where. It was said that it had a plaque on it with the vineyard owners name upon it, a sweet ancient nostalgic custom. Some of the older workforce still remembered seeing it, but it got mentioned less and less as the generations died out. Some still claimed to speak with the Landowner but they were regarded with much suspicion.
The new structure however, didn’t keep out the enemy, he was present all along within the walls, he became the foreman for the great building project. His name was fear but his glossy business card bore the title, Corporate efficiency.
Occasionally when the work had finished for the day, there were tales told round a charcoal fire of how the vineyard owner had once sent his only son demanding the share of the fruit for his father. He had been killed in some horrid misunderstanding but the story always finished that He would somehow one day return. This always sent a shiver of fear through most of the workers. Others laughed it off as ridiculous, but even they still experienced a little prick of longing that they quickly dismissed as a weakness.
On one of those very evenings, one of the children spoke an innocent truth.
“Why don’t we just give the owner what He is due? Then we don’t need to fear him”
The silence was awkward, if they just gave the owner his due then much of what kept them occupied each day would become pointless. What would they do? What importance would they have if they had no tower and wall building to do. The futility of their lives loomed big and dark, for most it was too frightening to even glance that way.
It wasn’t that the owner wanted everything, just a small amount really, but what he wanted was fruit from the vineyard and that, well, that was scarce these days and didn’t seem worth the effort, it seemed a little beneath them when they had the capabilities of building such fabulous walls and watchtowers. Anyway, after so long without paying anything the debt was unimaginable, they would never be able to catch up, and now, no one truly believed the legend that the Son had paid it off in full. No, It was safer to pretend there was no debt at all.
Some dismissed the idea as the silly musings of a child, but others were clearly niggled.
“Let’s form a committee and discuss it” said one of the elders. So they agreed, an agenda was drawn up, a committee formed and a meeting arranged.
“ First on the agenda” said the Elder, as they gathered in the base of the watchtower “How do we silence the children?”
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