Houses

The villagers were frightened of the old man that lived in the woods in a cave.  No one ever ventured there.  They all imagined him to be a murderer, a thief, and all the worst that he could be.
My curiosity got the best of me, so one day I got up the courage to go there.  What if the villagers were wrong?  What if he were harmless?  What if he were like John the Baptist?
I found the opening to his cave and called for him.  My heart was racing with fear, and my knees were shaking.  He heard my voice and walked toward me.  As he saw me, his kind eyes and warm smile welcomed me to his home.  He led me inside and offered  to share his supper with me.  He was overjoyed to talk to someone.  His openness and kind demeanor made it easy for me to ask how he could live under these conditions.  
It took a while for him to answer, but through his smile these well chosen words flowed out.  “Aren’t you and I the same?  In your dreams at home, don’t your four walls open up and let your spirit run free?  The comfort that your house offers you, isn’t that the same comfort that protects you from the elements that live outside?  Isn’t it outside where your spirit lives and thrives in?  Isn’t your house your larger body?  Does it live and breathe and wander through fruited planes and mingle with the aroma of the jasmine?
These things for you are not yet to be, for your home is your castle, for fear of nature’s fury that can shake its roof tops.  My home is whatever Mother Nature wishes to do to me.  I put my trust in God whether or not nature will be kind or angry with me.  I chose to live with its many temperaments, because they draw me closer to the Almighty; where I can feel his breath on me.”
When we finished eating, I excused myself and prepared to go back home.  He told me not to feel uneasy about living in a house, because I was conditioned to rely on it for security.  There is nothing wrong with it.  It was my forefathers’ and my choice to do so.  On my way home, I thought to myself; everyone should have the freedom to choose their own lifestyle.  The old man that lives in the cave is far from being evil.  When I tell the villagers, it will ease their tension and erase the fear of him.  I’m glad I went to visit the old man in the cave today.