(Pastor Andrew Gardner told this story at the thanksgiving service for Daniel Scholes)

This is the story of Prince Eliand, a little boy who jumped out of a murky pit into a beautiful Kingdom.

Let me tell you about a boy called Prince Eliand who lives in a land full of puddles. Everyone in this land jumps from one puddle to another and they love it because every puddle is a different colour and every puddle is filled with light. It is so exciting, because in every puddle there is something new to enjoy. There are lions and tigers and bears – and butterflies, birds and rabbits and hamsters! In some puddles there are cats and dogs (well it does rain cats and dogs you know!) In some puddles there are dolphins and whales. In others, people find mountains for climbing and snow for sledging. Other people like finding tiny creatures such as ladybirds or wriggly worms. Everyone has so much fun discovering the puddles that the King makes for them and everyone is brilliant at puddle-jumping.

But the best puddle-jumper of them all is Prince Eliand! When Prince Eliand jumps into a puddle, the light splashes everywhere! Sometimes he sees the sunshine, and sometimes the stars and the moon. Once Eliand jumped into a puddle and actually made it snow on CHRISTMAS day! Another day, he finds chocolate cakes to share with his friends. He often jumps into the puddle full of story-books which he reads over and over again.

The puddle world is a wonderful place, but it isn’t perfect. Sometimes, bad things happen and sometimes sad things happen in the land. Close to some of the puddles are some dark, scary places called pits. No one should go to the bad pits because the King has warned everyone to be careful. “Don’t go there,” he says, “because I don’t want you to get hurt or to be sad. But some people say, “We don’t care what the King says. Let’s stop jumping in these puddles of light and see if we can have even more fun in those dark places!” Some people, but not Prince Eliand, some people, jump out of the puddles of light and deliberately go into the dark pits. There, they hide from the light and they learn bad things, such as lying, and hitting and hating and cheating and jealousy and oh I am sorry, I have to tell you; death is there.

All this time, Prince Eliand and his friends and his brothers and his sister, jump happily in the puddles of light, until one day, while Prince Eliand is leaping and dancing, he accidentally jumps into, not a puddle, but a pit which is muddy and murky. It is a very scary place. Eliand struggles to climb out of it all by himself. He feels hurt and confused and angry. “What shall I do?” he shouts. “Someone help me please!” Immediately, all the people who love Eliand, (and of course, everyone loves Eliand), all these people stop what they are doing and stand around the edge of the murky pit. They reach out their hands to try to pull him out of the pit. They can’t get into the murky pit with him, so they do everything they can to pull him out but they just can’t do it. “Quick, bring more light!” they cry and rush to bring buckets full of light from nearby puddles and they pour it in, to add light into the dark place. They are desperate, because they don’t understand what is happening to Prince Eliand. Then someone has a brilliant idea! “Let’s ask the King to help us!” They stand close to where Prince Eliand is and, even though they cannot see the King of Light, they call out to him.

Meanwhile, Eliand is using the light inside himself to fight his way out of the pit, but he cannot do it. Try as he might, brave Eliand cannot escape this terrible thing all by himself.

Now, remind me, who are the people crying out to? (Yes, the King) The land of the puddles of light is fun, but the King lives in an even better place – He lives in the biggest, most magnificent, most incredible, most shining, most massivest puddle of light ever. In this huge puddle is every colour of the rainbow and every colour that is not in a rainbow – can you think of some colours? {Yes, red, yellow, green, blue – but what about…) gold and sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, carnelian, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst? Wow and double wow! Everywhere the King moves, his light shines and splashes and there are no dark places, no pain, no tears – and lots of lovely, kind, people live in the King’s land – because it is the best place of all.

Suddenly, the King hears voices calling to him from the land of puddles. He stops and listens. What does he hear? All the people who love Prince Eliand are calling, “O mighty King, save Prince Eliand!” The King’s heart melts. He loves Eliand so much and he has often watched Eliand enjoying all the good things in the puddles. “I will help Eliand win his fight!” says the King, very loudly, and as he speaks, he steps out of his wonderful kingdom and into the land of puddles, where the dark pits are.

The King is so full of brightness that it shines out of him, brighter even than the sun. He says, “I will travel deep into the dark pit to find Prince Eliand and rescue him. On the way, the King sees a man with a very bad illness. The King feels his pain like it is his own pain. He gives the man some light and heals the man. Later, the King sees a woman who is very sad. She is so sad, that the King cries with her. “I can stop those tears,” he says, and he gives the woman joy. There are so many people that need the King’s light and he gives it generously to everyone who asks for it. But some people don’t want saving from the bad places. They hate the King for coming to save them. They fight him using all their dark powers and they are so horrible to him that, they drag the wonderful loving King of light into one of their deepest pits. The bright light of the king goes out. It is such a terrible thing that even the sun stops shining and the sky turns black. The King of light is dead. (Silence)

But hey, don’t forget who we are talking about! He is the King of puddle-jumping and the darkness cannot hold him down – Why not? Because his light is too strong! Suddenly, there is a massive burst of light and the King jumps up! High, high, high he jumps, and then down he comes, back into the world of puddles with a mighty splash. He smashes darkness and death forever.

Then, all the people who want to; jump into the King’s light and no one is scared, because the King is alive again.

But wait, where is the King now? He is jumping through the puddles looking for the dark pit where little Prince Eliand is fighting for his life. When the King finds Eliand, he sees that Eliand is very tired. He fought a very good fight, but now his light is fading and quietly he closes his eyes. Silence)

But hey! Don’t forget that the King of puddle-jumping is alive and he has smashed the power of death. No one should be scared any more. The King is here! All the good people were unable to reach Eliand in the murky pit, but no place is too dark for the King, not even the darkest pit. The King reaches down and his light fills Eliand, who lies so quietly. Immediately, Eliand sits up and smiles. He does not wait. Eliand jumps up with the biggest, easiest, most wonderful jump of all, and he is hand-in-hand with the King of Light himself. Higher and higher Eliand jumps, but when he lands, he is gasps in wonder. He looks around and there is not a single, scary, murky pit to be seen. Eliand is totally safe in the King’s special and beautiful land.

But what about the people who had cried out for help? The King loves them all, just as much as he loves Prince Eliand. He lets them to stay for a little longer in the wonderful land of puddles, to share the good news of his love and light with everyone else and to enjoy all the good things he has given them. Yes, there are dark places, murky pits and sad times too, but the King has left enough light for everyone…until the time comes, when they too, jump into the best Kingdom of all.