The Cave

I am trapped. I am trapped cold, alone, naked, and sick in a cave. There is only one entrance to the cave five feet above me, and by its lowly light I can see my surroundings. On all sides, slippery smooth granite walls, wet from an eternal rain shower, whose water does not fill the cave but simply goes down cracks in the floor. I stretch out my arms reaching for the light, and my hands slip and slide off the walls. I jump, hit, run, and reach and am no closer to the top, still always a finite distance away, which might as well be infinite for I will never reach the top.
I shiver in the cold, and cough up blood; I will die in here. There is no hope of escape, no chance of reaching out. I am here cold, alone, and naked, all my flaws wide visible, no spot in the cave to hide, no chance to escape my shame. And so I lay upon the ground, my head upon the hard rock, and submit to my deadly fate.
As the world around begins to dim, and my death is assured, the light above slowly fades, to reappear….here! Within the cave! Upon the cold ground of the cave is the sum of all light, full of grace and love. My eyes burn in pain, and I weep that I should be found this way, I pray for a quick death to not suffer anymore, when the coldness passes away, my sickness drains, and a garment falls upon my skin.
I look down upon myself and see I wear a robe of purest white. Warmth fills my body, and I feel the sickness pass away, and I turn to see behind me another man has entered within. He now kneels naked, shivering cold, and shaking with illness. He looks directly at my eyes, his eternal grey, and stands. A smile so sorrowful and yet so loving fills his face and he speaks with words soft as whispers, “Give me your foot and let me lift you up and out of this cave.”
I know not why, but I am brought to call him Lord and say, “No lord, no I will not leave you here. Here have this robe of mine!”
“You do not know what you say,” the Lord speaks, “that robe is mine, and I have given it to you, and thus I am naked. I healed you, and so I am sick. I warmed you, and so I am cold, and now I will lift you that I may die.”
“No Lord!” I sob and cry, my face buries in his naked chest, “I cannot let you Lord! You do not deserve this, you have done nothing deserving, and I have done everything!”
He looks at me and sighs. Without asking again he lifts me up and out of the cave. And as I turn to look back within, I see him fall upon the ground and he breathes his last. My Lord has died that I might live. My God traded spaces that I would not be away from him. Praise be to God. Amen