We Have A Pill For That! (A Fable)

A fable is a short, contrived story that used to be used to teach morals and character to children. Usually an older family member would tell it to a young child who was grasping for knowledge and attention. When the child would ask why? why? why? a fable would teach them to think about issues and values while it entertained their young minds.

Once upon a time - this happened:

"How do you feel Mr. Smith? I'm sure you must have a lot of questions since you've awakened out of your coma. Are you feeling, okay? Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Yes, well, you can tell me why everyone seems to be smiling around here all the time. I have never seen so much smiling and it unnerves me."

"I don't know what you mean. If people are smiling, isn't that a good thing? Don't you like smiling?"

"Of course I like smiling! I smile! but not at everything, as if my face knew no other way to look! What is it with everyone? I've seen no one angry or disappointed or in deep thought or anything normal."

"Now when you say "normal", you mean any discontent, right? Are you disappointed you have seen none of these other unpleasant emotions since you have been awake? Are you afraid you are not 'normal'?"

"Yes... uhh, no! I don't know! Everything seems fake and phony and plastic, like something's missing or something's added. I can't figure it out! What has changed since I have been knocked out?"

"Well, it has been fifteen years, Mr. Smith. We have had several medical breakthroughs in that time. There was the Jimmerson breakthrough. People have been extremely happy and contented since that, and then there was the second and third generation improvements, so maybe that would account for what seems so strange to you."

"What the devil are you talking about, doc? What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on sir, but I think I know what is different for you. Some 10 years ago when you were in your coma, Dr. John Jimmerson discovered a new element that is in everything and in everyone. He called it "binding agent." He found that people vary in amounts of this binding agent and the binding agent needs to be "in balance" in a person's body. He found that people rarely were in balance and found a way to synthesize it so people can be chemically balanced. Now an individual can reach a state of total relaxation and peace. There is no more out-breaking wars or fighting because everyone that is treated is happy."

"So, you are saying some quack invented a happy pill that makes everyone think there is nothing wrong in their lives- ever?"

"Oh no, binding agent has been proven to be 100% safe and the government adds it to the drinking water. People are mandated to have themselves checked for binding agent levels and those found needing a bit more, get it. The result is paradise, utopia."

"You mean it's the law? Have been pumping me full of some, some..."

"Binding agent- and no. The I.V.'s you've been on were special made. We are not a dictatorship sir. There is untreated water and food for people who refuse treatment. You have to sign an agreement to take the drug or that you understood what it is and refused it. If you don't sign this agreement, you will be put on a list of people that refuse and are watched closely. No one is made to do anything."

Bob looked the doctor in the eyes and saw that the man was sincere. He just sat there and politely waited, with a great big smile on his face.

"No, I don't understand it. I will not sign this or anything else, other than my release, until I see more, know more... more, uhh....something. I'll have to think about this for a while, okay doc?"

"Of course Mr. Smith...We tried to get a message to your wife that you woke up but so far she has not gotten in touch with us that she she knows. She does go out of town on business trips. She still resides at the same address. She has such a good attitude about all of this... and such a beautiful smile." Bob had a shiver go down his spine at that comment. The doctor continued, "I'm sure she will be in touch soon, but you are free to go if you want. Your things will be brought to your room. You have been checked out and you are medically healthy."

As they wheeled Bob to the door, he wondered what he would find at home. Would his wife greet him as everyone at the hospital did...with that frozen face and unnerving grin? Would he be married to a Stepford wife? or would she be having a horrible day as he hoped, so life could, once again, be normal? Dear Chrissy, she never would have given up hope. She had left a few things locked up at the hospital for him, so if he ever woke up he could get home as quickly as possible. A little money and keys to the house, she anticipated his every need. She was his dream girl and anyone that knew her would know why. He had just enough money in his pocket to catch the bus.

On the bus, people looked his way and gave him that "reassuring" smile that he had come to hate. He had no idea what kind of look was on his face at the moment, but it could not have been what he was seeing on theirs. He might have looked like a madman to them. But even if he was a madman, he didn't think that they would have been worried in the least because of that stupid drug in their systems.

Bob moved up the walk to his house and paused. Please God, don't have everyone be smiling! Please!

As he reached for the door knob, a deafening "SURPRISE!" as the door flung open and a sea of happy smiling faces met him, cheering and shouting. It was more than Bob could stand! He turned and walked away from the house, a terror striking his heart.

"Bob, honey, honey, are you alright?" It was Chrissy, his beloved wife following him out with a look of concern and anger on her face.

"I told them that all that shouting may be too much, but they insisted and convinced me I was wrong. I should have met you at the hospital but I just now got the message and you were already on the way. Honey, are you okay?"

Bob turned and saw her anxious, angry face and melted into her arms.

"I could have sworn all of you had that wacky, happy pill too! I thought for a second I had woken up only to find you gone!"

"No honey, none of us take binding agent. We are all happy for another reason."

She led him by the hand into the house, full of now very concerned faces and totally silent mouths to go with them. Bob looked at all of them. He was home. He saw the "Welcome Home" banner and all the decorations. He saw the cake and cases of bottled water. And he saw the Bible set in its prominent place where the last family member had been reading it. And for the first time, in a very long time, Bob smiled and knew why everyone else was smiling.

"Would it sound too much like Dorothy if I say, "There's no place like home?"

Dear Reader: In the story, Bob found that science had come up with a cure for the human condition, an artificial means to wipe away sin's discontent and create happiness and peace. This manufactured happiness was not real. It was simply an illusion. It didn't come from the inside of an individual, but was imposed upon him from the outside. God doesn't work that way. God wants to change the heart, the seat of man's reason and motivation. He reasons with an individual and allows him to make up his own mind. When God works that miracle, a person can experience joy "unspeakable and full of glory." But God will not impose this on anyone. God grants every person the dignity to choose for themselves, to exercise their own will. The happiness that God gives is not fake or phony but springs from a voluntary change from the inside that is genuine and true. God takes up residence in the individual but won't knock down the door of his heart to do it. A person must invite Him in because he realizes that he needs God.

Do you realize you have a need and can't put you finger on what it is? Do you try to do right and find yourself doing wrong? We all do that because we all are sinners. We have inherited sin from our fathers that go back to the first man, Adam. We stand before a holy God and we need Him to save us.

If you find yourself unhappy all the time and wishing for peace in your heart, pray this prayer with me and call out to God and He will grant you the peace you so earnestly desire.

Dear Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I need you to save me from my sin. I know you came to earth to bleed and die for all sins. I need you to take my sins from me because I don't want to die in my sins. I believe in You Lord and ask you to forgive me and save me right now. I turn from my way I have been living and turn to You as the only Way of salvation. Thank you for dying for me, and raising for me, and forgiving me, and saving me. Amen.