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A FAIRY TALE OF GLIBNESS OF PAP
by James Fletcher Baxter
c 1997 All Rights Reserved
In the fullness of time, John the Baptist was invited to the palace of
Herod the Tetrarch. Upon receiving the invitation, John cancelled his
weekly Jordan River obligation and purposed to go to the palace with a big
smile on his face and a great big positive thought in his head.
"I won't mention any negativity of Herod's, such as his glands and his
brother's wife," John thought. "After all, there are no crocodiles here.
They are all in the great River Nile. Yeah! That's it! They're all in the
great River Nile. Cool!"
"Anyway," thought John, "I want him to think I'm a great guy in case he
might want my advice in the future, and then I will have a positive
influence on his choices."
So, along with several other community leaders, John went to the palace
with great hopes of ingratiating himself to the ruler.
* * *
After breaking the fast with dainty finger sandwiches, kiwi fruit in oil
of banana, and tasty Girl Scout Cookies, the occasion turned to the light
banter of good fellowship among like-minded men of the royal kingdom.
After a pause, Herod burped, looked at John, and said, "What think ye,
John? What might you tell me to aid in my rule of this country? You have
three minutes. GO!"
John gulped, and with a quick plunge into a sea of words, he blurted,
"There are no crocodiles here! Gulp! I just wanted you to know." The other
leaders looked at each other.
"Yeah," chirped Herod, "I know what you mean. I had a lot of crocs back
home. Heh-heh. You still have two minutes."
"Well," piped John, "I have great respect for the Office of Tetrarch, and
gulp...."
"And,....?" smirked the Tetrarch.
"And, well, gulp, Tet Herod, I really feel you are 'Mr. Cuteness,' in all
your ways, and...."
"And,....?" yawned Herod.
"Gulp, well, I don't think you could have ascended to this throne unless
you were a really smart feller and had many skills, known and unknown, and
we are like-spirited brothers!"
"TIMES UP," shrilled the Tetrarch. NEXT!"
And, so they went, from the first to the last, proclaiming Herod's virtues
of royal cuteness and cool brilliance. John was correct. There was not one
'crocodile' in the whole bunch!
Finally, Herod the Tetrarch yawned, fluttered his eye-lids, mewed, and
waved them all away from his presence and out of his throne room - every
one except one of the group who was invited to stay overnight.
* * *
John was never again invited to the palace. To his last day he mused about
what he might have said to make a better impression in order to have a
lasting influence on Herod and his future choices. He never understood
why....
"Oh, well," thought John. "I never really wanted the reputation that goes
with 'kissing it up' to celebrities. At least, I still have my glibness of
repetition and detailed attention to pap. Anyway, if I made any errors,
who is great enough or worthy to correct me? Hmmph!"
John never was corrected and, to this day, no one has ever heard of John.
But, after all, this is a REAL Fairy Tale!
* * *
NOTE: The true story of manly John the Baptist and his
leadership can be found in the Gospel of Matthew,
including, the following tribute from Jesus:
"Verily, I say unto you, Among them that are
born of women there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist..."
Matthew 11:11 KJV
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