I wrote this parable during my short time assembling wood stoves in line formation.

The Wise Old Barn

By

Chad Smalt

Every morning 3 wise men, or wise guys as it goes, walked to work together. On their way they passed an old barn that was in a state of decay and ruin. The barn seemed to have been long abandoned and whoever was now in possession of it was neglectful in the extreme. Years must have passed since it was even considered by its owner. The barn was tall and cube shaped, an imposing design, probably quite spectacular in its youth; but now its outer boards were of a dark weathered brown having lost its paint, the roof was bowing at the center, its windows were all broken and its front doors were hanging loosely, obviously about to give up and leave a gaping hole direct and center to the barns inner workings. Inside the barn was very dark, only vague shapes of support beams and what might have been rotted bails of hay could be seen. The ever slowly opening entrance was frightening to the 3 wise guys, and every day when they passed by they sped up just slightly to move past its wound just that much quicker.

It was not so much the darkness that was so fearful, as was the neglect that was so painfully displayed; certainly even more so inside then out. The Cynic pointed this out often: “That barn hasn't been in use for years, it serves no purpose.”

“It does have a frightening quality about it,” stated the Middle man.

“Old buildings have character,” countered the Optimist. “I prefer to look at it as having experience.”

“Experience in being an eye sore with no function maybe,” snapped the Cynic, “whoever owns this thing should tear it down and be done with it. I'm getting tired of looking at it every day.”

“It does need some help either up or down,” said the Middle considering the possibilities.

“I think its fine, and it should even be preserved as an artifact to be appreciated, maybe it is being neglected but it is an interesting sight still,” the Optimist said.

The Barn was now falling into the distance as the 3 neared their work place, and nothing else was said. The short discussion of the barn always seemed to dissipate as they got closer to work, although the debate seemed to hang in the air long after nothing else was said, and seemed to be waiting for them when they approached in the morning.

The morning sun found the 3 of them, again, walking along their path that led them past the old barn to work. The three long shadows that trailed behind them made as much noise as they, save the low crunching of their feet in the gravel. They seemed to be saving themselves for the period when the barn was visible and the debate would certainly be on, once again.

As the came close to the barn, the 3 of them, in unison, slowly turned their heads to face the sight of the barn adjusting continuously so that their focus was always squarely on the barn and nothing else. But no one said anything. They continued walking and straining the muscles in their necks to view the barn as they walked forward on to work.

Finally, just as they were about parallel with the barn the Optimist stopped and halted the other 2 with both arms. “Well aren't you going to say anything!?” he shouted glancing first at the Cynic and then to the Middle and back, and forth. They each looked at each other and then all at the barn; all 3 men, nearly the same height, all with a metal lunch pail in their right hand, facing the barn in a straight line. Their combined shadow now covered a single line pointing back, towards home.

The Cynic stepped forward first: “Nobody need say anything about this structure, its failure is self evident and that is obvious to anyone with adequate eye sight. Pointing out its decrepit nature is a redundant waste of my time.”

The Optimist was waiting for this and turned to face the Cynic: “You're right, the state of this barn is obvious, and that's all you can do; point out the obvious! What your egocentric view fails to see is the beauty of this experienced building and what it still has to offer.”

“Oh is that so? And tell us what does this building have to offer us?” asked the Cynic quizzically.

“I for one think it has a certain beauty about it…and well,” the Optimist scrambled, “school children could learn about older building techniques from it!”

“HA! So you want to teach school children how to build barns that fall down eh?” The Cynic was working up a head of steam, “Pfff can you imagine a school bus trip to this dump? All the kids would end up in the hospital with cuts from the broken windows, slivers from the old wood and one of the stupid kids would probably eat some of the rotten hay and DIE!”

“No ones that stupid,” said the Middle man calmly.

“Kids are dumb.”

“NO they are not; my 6 year old cousin is a genius!”

“Your 6 year old cousin thinks Santa Clause rides reindeer through the air.”

The Middle man stepped in here: “Look that all might be true, and the barn is falling down, but its foundation is concrete, just like your cousins,” the Middle man patted the Optimists back and pulled on the Cynics arm. “We are going to be late if we don't get past this barn. Work is waiting.” And the Middle man flanked by the Cynic and Optimist moved past the barn with low growls and scowls.

A new day found the same 3 moving in the same direction once again. Barely able to wait until the barn was in sight before starting his case the Optimist said: “Ahhh isn't the barn pretty today? The sunlight brightening its silhouette against the morning sky, isn't it interesting how the 2 small windows near the top of the west end are at different heights?”

“Sure it's interesting, interesting how some idiot could have measured so terribly,” barked the Cynic.

“Oh I suppose you would want to see a Barn with perfectly straight angles and flawless red paint, perfectly straight windows and no dirt or grime anywhere to be seen!”

“No, I don't care about what a barn looks like, it doesn't have to be perfect but this thing is pointless, it's a disgrace. In fact I bet if we could find whoever built this abomination they would be ashamed of its state and want it obliterated!”

“I don't believe that for a second! I'm sure whoever built this barn loved it and would be proud that it is still hanging on after all these years!”

“Uh huh and you probably think this thing should be air lifted into some museum so school kids could “appreciate” it and learn from its rich heritage.”

“…And why not? You probably just think it's a dangerous fire hazard that will randomly start ablaze and burn the whole town down!”

“Like it or not its going to come down; someone will tear it down before it catches fire.”

“It will not, and it will stand until the very end!”

Finally the Middle man jumped in, hopping mad at both of them: “You're BOTH WRONG! Its not going to catch fire, its not going to be air lifted into a museum, its not going to stand forever and its not going to be obliterated!” Panting with his hands on his knees in between the two of them the Middle man caught his breath before continuing: “Before any of that could happen someone will come along and see the barn for what it is. It is falling down and not of much use but it does have a decent foundation and someone will pull down what is lost and use what they can to build it up again.”

“No one cares about this barn, that much is obvious, and certainly not enough to do anything with it,” said the Cynic dismissively.

“I think I have to agree with that, and it should be preserved if anything happens at all; there is nothing wrong with it,” said the Optimist.

“Is that so?” asked the Middle man as he walked away to work leaving the two of them standing in front of the old barn. “We shall see what tomorrow brings my friends.” The Middle man had a sly grin on his face as he looked over his shoulder at the puzzled pair.

The next morning found the three wise guys walking to work like always. The Cynic and the Optimist surreptitiously kicking pebbles at each other as they walked, pretending it was all an accident and apologizing to each other whenever a pebble should find its mark. Nearing the barn they noticed something different about its shape and the way the sun reflected off the roof. Puzzled and speechless they walked faster towards the barn site, while the Middle trailed slightly behind.

The old barn was gone. A brand new barn was now in its place. The old foundation was still there and some pieces of the old barn had been reused but what occupied the space now was not what they had come to expect. The Cynic and the Optimist busied themselves inspecting this new barn, as the Middle man stood off proudly taking in the full figure of this new structure.

“But who…” started the Optimist.

“But who would care about this old place?” finished the Cynic.

“I bought it,” stated the Middle man flatly, “and I had it fixed up this last weekend.”

“But why?” they both asked.

“I did it to shut you two up! So I could walk to work in peace!”

The two of them stood still, staring down at the pebbles beneath their feet.

“Well the new barn sure is shiny and nice,” smiled the Optimist, “and no way can kids get hurt if they want to play around it either.”

“Yeah for now, but it will still fall down one day,” judged the Cynic.

“I have to say it's not as aesthetically pleasing as the old barn,” sighed the Optimist.

“No the old barn was more natural somehow,” the Cynic almost agreed.

“…and more beautiful in its refusal to fall,” mused the Middle man.

“As I said it will fall one day,” stated the Cynic.

“Yes but not all at once,” offered the Optimist.

“…and it will look like the old barn one day,” finished the Middle man.

“I suppose that's something to look forward to,” mused the Cynic.

“No doubt about that.”