A Parable......

The Great Chas(t)e

To what can we compare the liability of an uneasy or burdened conscience?

It is like the man who intended to take a simple Sunday drive to the downtown library but suddenly found himself in a considerable predicament. He had just turned onto Main Street, in the heart of the downtown, when he noticed a police cruiser pulling up rather rapidly behind him. He began to squirm uneasily as his white knuckled hands strangled the steering wheel and his eyes peered anxiously into the rear view mirror, waiting for the sirens of the cruiser to illumine. However, despite the fact that the police cruiser continued to follow him the lights never came on as he nervously turned off Main Street onto Broadway. Too preoccupied to concentrate, the man passed right by the library and continued onward with the cruiser still deliberately following him. After failing to shake his tormentor by making three more quick turns, the man’s paranoia became overwhelming and his state of mind desperate. “Why in the hell hasn’t this guy pulled me over by now,” he wondered angrily. “What have I done? Why is this guy following me?” he mused in exasperation. Finally, after making one more turn with the cruiser still looming menacingly in his rear view mirror, and unable to stop for fear of what might happen, the man determined that he could take no more. Seeing that the traffic light ahead was about to turn red and that the police cruiser had slowed slightly, the man mashed the accelerator of the car to the floor and raced through the light, hoping to escape. As he looked into his rear view mirror with harried hopefulness, he could see the lights on the now distant squad car illumine in a blaze of color as it moved cautiously through the intersection and then sped after him. Still paralyzed by fear of what might happen if he stopped, the man raced onward through the next light and within a few miles had four more police cruisers and a helicopter on his trail. At length, recognizing that his position was hopeless, the man pulled to the side of the road and wept pathetically as he was arrested. He was charged with speeding, running a red light, reckless driving, and fleeing and evading police.