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Author Reading: parables entitled "The Kingdom of Heaven is Like This", insights on Egyptian ritual
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Kevin Johnson is a counselor, philosopher, poet, and author living and working in Jamaica Plain. Kevin discovered his calling to work with gifted children while attending the annual conference of the Hollingworth Center for Highly Gifted Children. Since that time he has devoted himself to the service of this population. Kevin received his Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University in 1998. His background in philosophy, literature, and psychology are all of assistance to him in understanding the complex, intense, and profound inner life of gifted children. He is currently applying himself to an in-depth study of the works of Kazimierz Dabrowski, one of the great theorists of gifted psychology. For full information on Kevin's publications and practice, visit his website at http://www.giftedunlimited.com
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| Artist Preview | email: kjohnson@giftedunlimited.com
images and text copyright Kevin Johnson |
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 "The goal of my collection of parables is to explore the powerful influence of the life and work of Jesus on my own life and work. I hope to distill from my religious training those aspects of Jesus' teachings that have furthered my spiritual development, and by doing so, I hope to make this available to other people. I use many of the same techniques Jesus used in these parables: creating timely, timeless, and often humorous images that distill spiritual learning. As Jesus did, I hope to dispel religious tabboos that limit our vision of the spiritual, and many of the parables are designed with this in mind. As I write more parables, my vision of what can be seen as parable expands, and ultimately comes to include everyday life and work. I try to invite the reader into perceiving life and life circumstances as reflecting spiritual truths."
- Kevin Johnson
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The Green-thumbed Man
The kingdom of heaven is like this: A man with a green thumb grew a tree in his backyard. He didn’t fuss over it too much, because he trusted it would find its own way to thrive. Sometimes, if it got very dry, he would water it.
Then one day the tree got a pretty bad disease. The green-thumbed man inspected the tree carefully, and decided that surgery was necessary. So he went back to the shed for some tools and chemicals, and set in.
The tree didn’t like the surgery. It was violent and painful, and the tree didn’t know what was happening or why. The tree started to form a rather grim picture of the outside world, and felt abandoned, tortured, and desolate.
There wasn’t anything to be done about it. The green-thumbed man wasn’t aware that the tree was having such a pessimistic reaction. Even if he knew, though, there wouldn’t be any way he could explain to the tree about what was happening or why. It was just lucky that the tree couldn’t do anything to stop the green-thumbed man from going about his business.
Soon the surgery was over, and the tree was on the mend. The tree grew back more robust than ever. It forgot all about its ancient woes, and lived vibrantly and fruitfully all the rest of its days, the very picture of health.
The tree never knew anything about its benefactor, his generosity and skill. But that hardly mattered to the green-thumbed man. Just watching the tree heal and grow was thanks enough for him.
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