The Magical City

There was a poor man who left his village, weary of his life, longing for a place where he could escape all the struggles of this earth.  He set out in search of a magical city--the heavenly city of his dreams, where all things would be perfect.  He walked all day and by dusk found himself in a forest, where he decided to spend the night.  Eating the crust of bread he had brought, he said his prayers and, just before going to sleep, placed his shoes in the center of the path, pointing them in the direction he would continue the next morning.  Little did he imagine that while he slept, a practical joker would come along and turn his shoes around, pointing them back in the direction from which he had come.  The next morning, in all the innocence of folly, he got up, gave thanks to the Lord for the day, and started on his way again in the direction that his shoes pointed.  For a second time he walked all day, and toward evening finally saw the magical city in the distance.  It wasn't as large as he had expected.  As he got closer, it looked curiously familiar.  But he pressed on, found a street much like his own, knocked on a familiar door, greeted the family he found there -- and lived joyfully from that day on in the city of his dreams.  This old Hebrew story reminds us so clearly that there is no perfect place on this earth or mountain top to escape to ... but that Jesus lives with us where we are at.