The Thing That Is

Still and silent grasslands stretch from the sun’s rising to its setting. With a gentle breeze the endlessly vast ocean of bright green comes to life. The tall grass stirring in the wind could be likened to rolling waves upon the sea.

The endless plains stretched all the way to the horizon and were halted only by the sky. It looked as if heaven was about to step down to embrace the earth.

The cyan firmament above you gleamed like an empty bottle with clouds strewn about therein. They looked like white fluffy lumps of cotton that had silver lining around them and golden beams piercing through them.

It is an awe-inspiring scene. A scene that belonged in a renaissance painting of old. However, in the great green expanse you saw something obstructing the calm. Far off in the distance a blip of white appeared to flutter across the landscape.

Peaceful and content the blip minded its own. And as you had been before (in pt.1&2) it’s alone.

That is, until you showed up.

You couldn’t discern exactly what ‘it’ is. Which is exactly what you wanted to do. This is why, unlike before, you approached it.

Ebbing closer you could make something out. A fleece softer and whiter than any cloud that the sky has ever hosted. Approaching it even closer you made something else out. Two pale pink ears curiously listening to the world.

Although you put two and two together, curiosity drew you closer and closer.

Then you saw it as clear as day.

‘It’ is a lamb. An innocent, playful, and childlike lamb.

This lamb was free to skip around without worry or anxiety. It didn’t seem to be bothered by your presence either.

Furthermore, it was a very playful lamb. Which is contrary to you and me. We often think that playing is for children only. We tend to scold those who enjoy innocuous merriment (or harmless fun). Even when we do play, we have a constant fear of when our playtime will cease.

This little lamb did not wear the shackles that we do. It played until it tuckered out. Only to get back up and play some more.

Marveling at the lamb you thought to yourself out loud, “What are you?”

And to your surprise He replied. Replying with only two words and two words alone.

He said, “I am.”

Eyes full of wonder you stared at the lamb. He stared back.

You sat down. Shocked and applauded no doubt.

As He stared, you asked a follow-up question. “You are what?”

He paused for a moment. To curious you, waiting for even a moment seemed liked hours.

Then He finally answered you by saying, “I am that I am.”

You thought to yourself, He actually responded. You see, no matter how many animals talk to you it will always feel like the first time. Which is why you sat back in shock. Again.

With a bleat He jumped into the air then continued playing.

All the while you watched Him, pondering just as you had done before.

What did He mean by ‘I am?’ He is that He is? A lamb? That would be too obvious. There’s something deeper He’s trying to say.

Whatever that deeper ‘something’ is, it is a mystery.

Like the mystery of the present moment. The present is so close to the past yet so close to the future. It is very a thin line that separates our frozen Was and our foggy Will Be. Yet despite how small it may be, the present is where time meets eternity. Where heaven meets earth.

It’s a mystery. A mystery that humans are not prone to fully comprehend. We cannot hold onto things that we will do in the future. Likewise, we cannot let go of things we have done in the past. At times we have a desire to live a life we have not yet lived. While at other times we have a desire to live the life we already have lived.

We are, in a word, indefinite.

Perhaps, that’s what the lamb meant by ‘I am that I am.’ That He is definite. Definitely definite at that! Whether playful or innocent, He is that and that to its fullest capacity. He is not playing with a secret motive. He is not playing to pass time or ignore a problem. He is playing because He is playful. He is not innocent now despite having or planning to commit evil. He is innocent because He always has been and always will be innocent.

He is no more or less real than He is real.

In other words...

He is that He is.