1.28.2014

Cinderella

Once upon a time, there lived a young girl who should have been very unhappy. Unhappy she should have been, for her mother was dead, her father had married another woman, a widow with two daughters, and her stepmother didn’t like her one little bit. All the nice things, kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. And not just the kind thoughts and love went to her daughters, but also dresses, shoes, shawls, delicious food, comfy beds, as well as every home comfort. But for the poor girl, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters’ hand-me-downs. No lovely dishes: nothing but scraps. No nice rests and comfort. For she had to work hard all day, and only when evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. That is how she got her nickname, for everybody called her Cinderella. But God kept her far from unhappy; indeed, she was usually cheerful and content!

One day, beautiful new dresses arrived at the house. A ball was to be held at Court, and the stepsisters were getting ready to go to it. Cinderella didn’t even dare ask “What about me?” for she knew very well what the answer to that would be.

“You? My dear girl, you’re staying at home to wash the dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your stepsisters. They will come home tired and very sleepy.” Cinderella sighed at the cat. It was impossible for her to go to the ball.

But God caused something amazing happened. In the kitchen, where Cinderella was sitting all by herself, there came a light tap on the door, and a small woman with curly grey hair slipped in--a dear old friend of Cinderella's mother!

"My dear!" She exclaimed after fifteen minutes of delightful talking. "Have you heard of the ball! Such an affair!"

"Ah yes," sighed Cinderella. "I won't go, I don't think."

"Well of course you shall!"

“How can I, dressed in rags?” Cinderella replied. “The servants will turn me away!” 

 
The woman smiled and disappeared from the kitchen for a few minutes. When she reappeared, she was bearing the most beautiful dress, the loveliest ever seen in the realm. “Now that we have settled the matter of the dress,” said the friend, “we’ll need to get you a coach and six white horses and a coachman. A real lady would never go to a ball on foot! But mind! You must leave the ball at midnight and come home--this coach is only borrowed and must go back to it's rightful owner by then.”

Cinderella was without words in her astonishment, but her eyes shone with unshed tears. How this woman could make such an evening possible for her, she would never know. 

When Cinderella entered the ballroom at the palace, a hush fell. Everyone stopped in mid-sentence to admire her elegance, her beauty and grace. “Who can that be?” people asked each other. The two stepsisters also wondered who the newcomer was, for never in a month of Sundays, would they ever have guessed that the beautiful girl was really poor Cinderella who talked to the cat! When the prince set eyes on Cinderella, he was struck by her beauty. Walking over to her, he bowed deeply and asked her to dance. And to the great disappointment of all the young ladies, he danced with Cinderella all evening.

“Who are you, fair maiden?” the Prince kept asking her.

But Cinderella only replied: “What does it matter who I am! You will never see me again anyway.”

“Oh, but I shall, I’m quite certain!” he replied.

Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball, but, all of a sudden, she heard the sound of a clock: the first stroke of midnight! She remembered what the friend had said, and without a word of goodbye she slipped from the Prince’s arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound… oh, what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into the night.

Cinderella was forever lost to the Prince, who was madly in love with her. But God caused the Prince to spy Cinderella's dainty slipper and say to his ministers, “Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this slipper fits. I will never be content until I find her!” So the ministers traveled far and wide to try the slipper on the foot of all the girls…and on Cinderella’s foot, the slipper fit perfectly.

“That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the ball,” snapped the stepmother. “Tell the Prince he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can’t you see how ugly Cinderella is! Can’t you see?”

But the ministers paid her no heed. “Come with us, fair maiden! The Prince awaits to present you with his engagement ring!” So Cinderella joyfully went with them, and because she had been happy in the worst of circumstances, learning to trust in the power of her God to work the impossible, she was also happy in the best of circumstances, and she lived happily ever after with her Prince.

Our elder preached a fantastic sermon on Sunday titled "But God," which testified of some of the many times in Scripture and in our lives that all is dark and impossible, but for God. I like to think that "Cinderella," and most beloved fairy tales started as a series of "but God" moments and morphed into what we know them to be today. I took the tale from here and modified it to reflect that thought.



Photo Credit: scentzilla
Photo Credit: scentzilla

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