How It All Began
NOTE: This “Parable of Konner Fuller”, Parts 1 & 2, is a lengthy excerpt from my unpublished book, Shana of Mamooda, and is published as an homage to our LORD JESUS, the “Master Teller Of
Parables.”
Before I begin this lesson, lets define the word “Parable”. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a “PARABLE is a usually short, fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious precept”.
Chapter 1-1
So, with that in mind, let me introduce you to:
THE PARABLE OF KONNER FULLER, RECORDED ON A VIDEO CUBE IN THE 28TH CENTURY BY TOMA JON LEA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLICS OF THE EAST (AKA REPUBLICA), FOR HIS PRESENT AND FUTURE FAMILY.
VIDEO CUBE RECODING BY TOMA LEA
“Sometimes in the course of human history, events happen that would never have been foreseen by anyone. My dear family, I’d like to tell you of one of those events in more detail than you already know, and I’m recording it for all of you so you can share this story with your own families when you feel the time is right for you to do so. I’m telling this story—this parable, if you will—partly because I was directly involved in it, while some of you were indirectly involved. A few other people know about these events—a few of my friends, and some of our family, know a bit of this history, but not all these details. I’ve been reluctant for many years to narrate the total facts of this amazing, yet sad and emotionally distressing story due to the extreme distress these events caused many people, especially me. But I am recording it now, and I’m going to try to read to you what I’ve written and still maintain control of my emotions. I couldn’t have done this when I was younger and closer in time to these events, but I believe I can do so now.”
PART 1 OF THE PARABLE BEGINS:
“There was a Fuller family that lived in Barg City (capital of Republica), in a beautiful home. This family had two sons: Jakwin, the oldest, and Konner, the younger one. Their father was an executive of a large food distribution business, and their mother was a talented writer of children’s adventure stories, whose books and vid cubes were known and loved all over Republica and the Great Northern Continent. They were a successful and wealthy family who gave their two sons just about everything they desired. Perhaps they gave them too much of the material, and not enough of themselves.
Chapter 1-2
“Jakwin, at age twenty-two, was serious, a good student, and intelligent. His brother, Konner, at age seventeen, was his opposite--flippant, rebellious toward his parents and teachers, worldly, a spendthrift addicted to drugstiks and joy juice. Despite his faults, his parents loved him, and while they tried to admonish and correct him from time to time, Konner never paid them much attention, except when he wanted some material thing from them, such as money, or clothes, or fast and expensive autocars, to the speed of which he seemed addicted. He refused to apply for one of the many teen time jobs always available around Barg City, preferring instead to spend his time with young people of like mind, of which there were always some to be found.
“The older brother, Jakwin, grew to despise Konner, and moved away from his parents to another Province when he was twenty three, warning them of dire consequences if they did not turn Konner from the road he was speeding along. And by the time of his nineteenth birthday, Konner seemed to be heeding his father’s constant prodding to change, at least somewhat. Konner’s father, Samwell Fuller, was a member of Second Baptist Church of Barg City, and was thought to be a Christian man. His mother, Meena, was not a Christian, by her own admission, and never belonged to any church, although she never discouraged her two sons from attending church with their father. Jakwin accepted our Saviour into his heart as a young teen, but Konner always refused to do so, claiming that he needed no ‘supernatural power’ to help him through life. By the time he was sixteen, he had stopped attending church with his father and his brother, and had dropped out of the private school to which his parents had been sending him.
“Upon his nineteenth birthday, Konner came to his father and said, ‘Dad, it’s customary for parents to give their children a share of the family wealth when they turn nineteen. I’d like my share now. I know you and Mom are wealthy, and I know how much you gave to Jak when he turned nineteen, so I’d like that amount, plus you’ve always told me you’d buy me a new autocar when I turned nineteen. I’ve found a wonderful sport model at the Dorgin dealer in Andria. It’s only 34,000 dols. When can you come and look at it with me?’
‘The contrast between these two brothers should be apparent, by now. The lack of complete parental authority in this home, and over the life of the rebellious younger brother, should also be obvious. So it was, that a week after Konner Fuller turned nineteen, his father had bought him a new Dorgin Javelin, and had opened a savings/investment account for him in the amount of 150,000 dols. Konner felt he was riding the clouds to the top of the world. Unfortunately, it would turn out to be a short ride from the top of the world to the depths of Sheol and beyond. Konner Fuller’s life of indolence and rebelliousness was about to end. A Power Higher than himself was about to take control of him, but many years would pass before Konner would ever admit this.
Chapter 1-3
“Not long after his nineteenth birthday, the young Konner told his parents he was leaving “to see the country”, and didn’t know when he would return. For the next three months, Samwell and Meena heard little from their youngest son, until the day when they received a call from a public attorney in a far-away city, informing them that their son had been arrested for public intoxication, public fighting in a less-than-reputable drinking establishment, and for offering money to several “ladies of the eve”, as he called them, all of which violated numerous laws. The attorney told the young man’s parents that his temporary release money amounted to 5,000 dols, and also informed them that Konner claimed he had no funds.
“Samwell went to that city and paid the release money, and a court appearance date was set. The charges were serious, and could result in imprisonment if Konner was found to be guilty. His father arranged for someone to drive Konner’s new autocar home with them. On the return trip, Konner seemed contrite, and admitted that he had been living a wild life. He promised his father that he would reform. Two months later, Konner had returned to the scene of his law breaking, and stood trial, his father by his side. He was given a three-year probation, and had to pay a fine of 15,000 dols, which his father made him pay out of his remaining funds.
“The young man’s brother, Jak, visited him and his parents at this time, and tried his best to persuade his brother to abandon his sinful life and become a Christian. Konner seemed to have some interest in his brother’s pleas for him to change; but his mother continually sided with her youngest son, always offering excuses for his behavior. Konner admitted much later that during this time, in the three months he was living his “wild adventure”, he had spent more than half of the money his parents had given him. But he did apply for several jobs, even though he failed to show up for the appointments he made.
“Seven months after his nineteenth birthday, Konner disappeared again, taking his fast sports car with him. His parents didn’t try to find him, having concluded by this time that their son was incorrigible and would never change.
Chapter 1-4
“As Konner himself admitted years later, this became his period of greatest rebelliousness and dissolution, as he squandered all of his remaining funds in sinful living, debauchery, and drug-induced intoxication. He soon became desperate, with no funds to purchase food, fuel, drugs, or joy juice. He managed to get a job working with a hard man who raised beef cattle and hogs, and spent the next three months cleaning out the filth from the barns that housed these animals and the pens where they ate. The farmer lived nearby, but refused to admit Konner into his house or provide any food or drink for him, informing him that he was now an adult and had to care for himself. He became an object of derision on the part of others who worked for his employer, none of who offered to help him in any way. He slept out in the open with a few blankets if the weather permitted, or in his expensive sports car if it was raining, or in the barns if it was cold enough.
“A month before his twentieth birthday, Konner Fuller decided to return home to his parents, telling himself that it was better to do that than stay where he was and perish from hunger. He had mortgaged his expensive sports car by this time to obtain funds with which to survive, and it was the only material object that remained of his old life. With his last 200 dols, he purchased enough fuel to return to his father’s home, some clean clothes, and a little food. He also purchased several containers of joy juice, which he determined to consume after he arrived back in Barg City. He also determined to ask forgiveness of his parents, and admit that he had been an unworthy son. He suspected that if he said the correct words, his father might find him a job with the company for which he worked.
“So it was that on the twenty-second day of Fall, in the year A.D. 2701, shortly before newpm, Konner Fullar found himself ten miles from his father’s home in Barg City. Pulling into a large rest area, he used its facilities, then decided to relax for a time before completing the short distance to what he hoped would be forgiveness, a shower, and a clean room. In his usual lack of wisdom and discernment, he opened one of the containers of joy juice and began to drink its contents, enjoying the familiar feeling of warmth and relaxation induced by the potent alcohol. Within thirty minutes, he had consumed the entire container, and opened a second one. By the time that he had emptied half of this second drink, he needed to use the public facilities again.
Chapter 1-5
“Emerging from his vehicle, he took a few steps and fell to the pavement, his head spinning from the effects of the strong alcohol content of the beverages he had been consuming. He resolved to eat some food and discontinue drinking, but by the time he had staggered back to his autocar, it was the joy juice he reached for, not the uneaten sandwiches he had previously purchased. He consumed the fluid remaining in the second container, which raised the alcohol content in his blood to dangerously high levels. Telling himself he felt fine and in control, as long as he didn’t have to walk, he started the engine of his Javelin, and backed out of the space in which he had been parked. A blaring horn, and the sound of tires screeching jolted him. He had backed out almost into another vehicle driving past him. Its driver was yelling at him, and Konner began yelling curses and obscenities back at that other man.
“With tires smoking, Konner sped away from the rest area, feeling so in control that he opened the last container of joy juice and began sipping from it. His brain was so drugged that he disregarded safe driving rules, emerging into the fast lane of traffic without even looking, and barely missing an onrushing vehicle. By the time he merged onto the Jon Moor Expressway, he was only three miles from the safety and security of his father’s home. He smiled, and tried to think of the best words to say to get back into his parents’ sympathies, but he was unable to think of any words at all.
“The roar of the powerful turbine just behind him was comforting, and he pressed the accelerator even harder, basking in the thrill of the hi-speed of which his Javelin was capable. He almost missed the exit to the road to his father’s home, but took it at the last second, cutting off another vehicle, which caused him to smile. Unfortunately for the future of several families, by the time Konner reached the end of the exit ramp, he was traveling over ninety miles per hour, and instead of coming to a stop, as required, he continued in his drug-induced state past the flashing stop light, and directly into the driver’s side of another vehicle that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The impact was heard for several hundred yards, according to witnesses, and both vehicles exploded into flames.
Chapter 1-6
“Emergency Responders from the Fire Suppression Station nearby had the flames out within three minutes, and several emergelances arrived to take the injured to a neaby MedCener. The unconscious Konner was removed from his demolished vehicle, severely injured but alive. The driver of the second vehicle, a beautiful blond woman, was unconscious and somewhat burned over her upper body. The Meds, with difficulty, removed her from the twisted wreck of her sedan, trying desperately to save her life. They began injecting fluids into her, and were shocking her heart, injecting heart ‘activators’ directly into her heart, doing their best to keep her breathing until they could get her to their MedCenter.
“Konner was receiving the same emergency treatment, his limp, severely injured body trying its best to maintain its life force. His emergelance sped off toward the MedCenter, and the one containing the blond woman also rushed toward the same destination, the Meds inside trying desperately to save her life. By the time that both emergelances arrived at the MedCenter, only the man responsible for this tragedy—this arrogance of uncaring and irresponsibility—was still alive. The beautiful woman in the other emergelance—the owner of a successful interior decorating business in Barg City and Richmon, the wife of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Republica, and mother of three wonderful children, had succumbed to her injuries. The Meds removed her lifeless body, in tears themselves over their inability to save her, and dreading having to notify her family that their world had just ended.”
THUS ENDS PART 1 “HOW IT ALL BEGAN”, OF THE PARABLE OF KONNER FULLER
PART 2: “FORGIVENESS FROM THE SOUL”, WILL RESUME NEXT WEEK.
