A Tale

Once upon a time, there was a politician who awoke one morning to realize that what he did every day was not good work and he needed to change his ways. He went to his followers and his staff and told them he could no longer serve as a politician holding public office. He explained that he had come to realize that the things he had been doing were corrupt, immoral, and did not represent good deeds in his personal life. He needed to change. Therefore he was resigning, effective immediately, and he was going on a personal pilgrimage to find his true calling, to find the truth in his life.

His staff and followers were appalled. How could he do such a thing? Who cared about his personal feelings about corruption, morality, or good deed? This was politics. A call was placed to someone in a position much higher up in the party. the situation was explained. Back room conversations were held. He simply could not be allowed to do such an outrageous thing. Men were dispatched to convince him, by whatever means necessary, to change his mind.

The persuaders arrived, ready to convince him of the errors of his ways. They went to talk to the politician. However, he was not in his office when they arrived there. So they went to his home, but he had not been there since his announcement. He was not giving a speech, or kissing babies, or making promises to old people. No one could find him anywhere. So an announcement was made that the politician had suffered a terrible accident and could no longer serve the people in office and, therefore, his aide would bravely carry on in his behalf and serve out the remainder of his term. All was right again. They lived happily ever after.

The man stood in the park watching the children play, the adults strolling on the pathways, viewing the birds, the squirrels, and just taking in all the sights and sounds. He was happy, and he felt good about himself.