The Rule

Once, God’s people had been away from their homes for a very long time. They were in Exile in a far country. But God brought them back home! You can read a part of that homecoming in Nehemiah 8:1-3 and 9-12, when they made a very important discovery about God’s rules for life.

One day, as the legend goes, Little Barty Badger and Miss Felicity Fox were off on an adventure on the Island Where Nobody Helps. Except that Felicity and Barty were adventurers, and adventurers always help. So they did! They discovered that they were on that island on purpose; the wind that blew them out of Old Raven’s Forest and across the ocean meant for them to be there. They didn’t know why, though.

Well, their helping was causing quite the ruckus. One animal came up and said, “You can’t help other animals! It’s against the rule!” Another animal ran up in a panic and said, “I don’t care about the rule, I need your help getting my pants out of that tree!” All kinds of island animals argued back and forth until the otter, the one they had helped escape from drowning, came up to Barty and Felicity, and asked, “Can you teach me to be a helping adventurer?”

All the animals got real quiet. Someone gasped. “But, the rule!”

Felicity crossed her arms. “What rule? How did you get this rule?”

The old, wise puffin was suddenly behind them. The crowd of animals parted, and the bird said, “The rule is written on a stone at the very center of the island. It’s clear. It says ‘NO HELP.’”

Felicity said, “Huh. I want to see that rock. Let’s go, Barty.” The two trundled off into the forest, followed closely by the otter and a few other animals, too.

Pretty soon they came up to a river flowing out toward the sea. “How are we going to cross this?” Said Barty. “We’re going to need help.” 

The Otter (the same one they rescued from the beach) jumped up, “I can help!” He dove into the water and showed them where to step, and they crossed safely. 

Also crossing was a small deer who whispered to the otter, “You helped…” 

The otter seemed a little stunned. “I did!” he whispered back. “It felt wonderful.”

Right after the river, they had to climb a steep hill. There used to be steps carved into the rocks, but over the years the rocks had split and fallen away so it was a tricky climb. Felicity said, “We’re going to need help getting up this!”

The deer that had been following gasped to herself. “What if I helped? Could I? Would that be ok?” 

Felicity smiled. “We’d love your help.”

So, the deer, with her nimble little hooves, tried out each step and each stone, picking out the safe path up the hill. Barty, Felicity, the little otter, and now other animals from the island followed the path the deer showed.

At the top was the stone with the rule, the One Rule of the island. It was carved into a rock at the top of the hill, and it looked like it read NO HELP. Felicity said, “Hmmmmm…,” and bent down closer. Something seemed off. That first letter, “N”, was broken and missing some parts. Felicity looked on the ground and found a chunk that fit right onto the rock, right on the N. “It’s not an N!” exclaimed Barty. “It’s a G.”

“That means,” the Old Puffin said as he fluttered down excitedly, “That the rule isn’t ‘NO HELP,’ but ‘GO HELP!’”

All the island animals gasped. They had misunderstood the one rule! All this time and they were supposed to be helpers! The deer, who had been so quiet, jumped up and yelled, “Yay! I love helping!”

Well, that’s what the legend says, but I know one thing is true: it’s really helpful to understand what rules mean.