A Time to Weep

What Is Best

What Is Best

“Brother,” asked Little Brother with thoughtful eyes. “Brother, what is Best?”

“Best?” asked Brother. “Oh, that’s easy;

“Best is what you say you’ve done when you failed, and have no excuse.

“It’s what everyone dreams of being, but few ever really try.

“Best is what most expect from you, though rarely are they able to give it themselves.

“It’s something you can try to give, something you can try to do,

“But most of all it’s something you can try to be.

“Best is why we struggle, but it is also why we succeed.

“It’s why there is a Hope and a Tomorrow, because they go hand in hand.

“Best cannot be measured, except by those trying to be it, and even then they may be wrong.

“It’s the reason we grow, and the reason we know that there is a More.

“Best has many faces, and it is the advocate of many things.

“It is what the world cries out for, because without it, there will never be a Better.

“And, though generations have Tried, none have truly become Best, nor done Best, and nor will Best ever describe us.”

“Oh, but Brother!” sobbed Little Brother, little lips trembling and the sorrow of a sin-filled race alight in his eyes. “Brother, that’s not easy at all! If there is a Hope and a Better, there must be someone who is Best, too!”

Brother smiled, his hand stroking childish curls. “Yes, Little Brother. There is Someone. And He is Hope and Better and Best. He alone is Best of All.”

Little Brother lifted wonder-filled eyes. “Who, Brother?” he breathed. “Who is Best of All?”

Brother answered. “It is the One who gave so much that He couldn’t have given more. It is the One who did so much that there was nothing more to do. It is the One who loved so much, that Best found a new meaning in its Maker.”

A rainbow was dawning on the light of the child’s face as he listened to an age-old story.

“Little Brother, Jesus is Best of All. Do not cry or worry about the world. Do not desire Best for yourself or to gain anything by it. Do not even desire it for the pleasure of others. Rather, desire it with all your heart to serve the Best Maker, the Best Lover, and the Best Father. And never despair. The world may demand great things from you, and you may never truly feel like enough. But through the Word of the Best One will you find your own Best, and then you will shine with it for His glory, like a light unto the world.”