The People of the King—A KINDLE Tale
[The following is a guest post by Kelly Bailey McCray, originally written in September, 2008. Kelly is the author of Journey to the Cross: An Easter Learning Experience CD, published through Concordia Publishing House.]
There once was a Kingdom of Islands. There were many islands scattered throughout the wide sea and there were many people on the islands, but there was only one king.
The king lived on a particularly beautiful island, an island that was a delight to the people who lived there. In the middle of the island there were tall mountains with trickling streams, groves of tall, cool trees, rushing waterfalls, and birds and creatures in abundance. Below the mountains were broad rivers, tilled fields, and ancient orchards all bursting with the gifts of the land. And beyond the fields were wide and peaceful bays, white sand beaches, and gentle ocean breezes.
Now, not everything on this main island was idyllic. There were sometimes storms and shoals and struggles and work, but the people knew that the beauty and bounty of their island flowed from the presence of the king. So they were content.
In fact, the people loved their king. He was good and gracious and he lived and moved among them. The king also loved his people and worked hard to ensure that the island was a place of plenty that nourished their hearts. The people, in turn, praised the king for his great goodness, singing songs for him, writing poems and stories in his honor, holding parades and parties in his name, and acknowledging him with gifts of thanks whenever they saw him. They even named themselves The People of the King.
Although the king was touched and honored by the love of his people, he was still greatly troubled. For this was only one island in the Kingdom of Islands, and on many of the far flung islands in the ocean reaches, the people did not remember the king. The king felt immense sorrow for the people of the far islands who struggled through life without the bounty and gifts his kingship could provide. And so the king determined that he must reach the people of the far islands.

