Go Up The River...

The village was situated on the banks of a great river. Every morning, some of the villagers would go down to the river’s edge to draw water. One morning the villagers arrived at the riverbank to find the body of a small child that had washed up on the bank. The child was dead, but there was no visible injury to the body or any indication as to how it had died.

Saddened, the villagers reasoned that the child must have come from one of the other villages further up the river. They bore the body respectfully back to their village and ceremoniously buried it.

The next day, upon arriving at the river, the villagers discovered the body of another dead child. Bewildered, they returned to their village with the body and buried it, but the very next day, another body had washed up on the river bank.

On the third day, three bodies – two women and a man – washed up on the river bank. The following day there were five bodies. The villagers were in a panic. They began to organize committees to handle the ever-increasing numbers of bodies that were washing up on the banks of the river. There was a Transportation Committee that was responsible for bringing the bodies to the burial yard; a committee of grave diggers to dig new graves; a committee that oversaw the care and safety of all the workers, and even a team of counselors to help council those deeply affected by all the deeply depressing work.

One day there was great excitement – word had come from the river’s edge that a man had washed up on the bank who was still alive! Quickly, everyone hurried to the river banks to see this man. The village leader leaned in to talk to the man.

“What has happened?” he asked. “What caused the deaths of all these people? We have nearly everyone in our village working to deal with all the bodies. What can we do to help your people?”

The sick man began to form words with his mouth, but no sound issued from his lips. The village leader leaned in even closer, so as to hear what the man was trying to tell him.

“Go up the river,” said the man.

“But we can’t,” replied the village leader, “We’ve no one left! All of us are working to deal with all the bodies.”

With his last breath, the sick man said again, “Go up the river.”