text: &#x200B; **There was once a man who wanted to build a castle with no machinery, only his hands.** **People laughed at his dream because of the absurdity and his physicality.** **He was short and scrawny, and he could easily hire a construction crew with bulldozers, cranes and cement mixers to build it for him.** **The world didn’t understand why he wanted to build the castle with his bare hands.** **He knew not the entire reason why, but he knew it would be fully known once he embraced the task.** &#x200B; **The stones from the quarry came to the plot of land where the scrawny man eagerly waited.** **A crowd gathered on the hill to watch, the delivery men from the quarry stayed to watch the joke of a man.** **The scrawny man with great enthusiasm went to lift the first heavy stone, the cornerstone.** **He heaved with all his might but only lifted it two feet before the dropped it.** **The crowd laughed and mocked at his first stumble.** **They called him silly and foolish and laughed harder as they watched him pick up the stone again and drop it a few feet later.** **This went on until the crowd became hungry for supper and decided to continue the mockery at their dining tables.** **He set the cornerstone at dusk; nearly a full days work for one stone.** **One stone down.** &#x200B; **The next day some of the neighbors stop by before work and saw the scrawny man on his land again, this time working on the second stone.** **They stopped and watched for a few minutes, mocked him and then went to their lonely cubicles.** **They drove by after work to see the infeasible progress.** **This time they saw a second stone set with the cornerstone with the third being carried slowly by the scrawny man.** **They mocked him for his slow progress and then went home to watch reality tv idly.** **The neighbors quickly lost interest and went along their dull lives.** **Work, T.V., Eat, Drink and Sleep.** **A safe life.** **Except for the scrawny man.** **He was on a mission.** &#x200B; **Each passing day he became stronger from every stone he set.** **His sinewy arms became muscular, and his chicken-like legs became massive.** **Every day he was able to move one more stone then the previous.** **Within a few weeks, he had the foundation set, and he began work on the walls.** **A few months went by, and he had the first story completed.** **Some of his neighbors looked at him now with amazement as he was actually doing it.** **Some felt ashamed of the mockery.** **But a few felt anger and jealousy.** **Their small minds saw the man’s daring task as an insult to them.** **Who was this man to define his fate? The scrawny man needs to be normal like them.** **Like cancer with a ledger, the company they proudly worked for was slowly killing them by removing their humanity; but the few masked it with denial by calling it hard work, job security, and loyalty.** **The few plotted and decided this man shouldn’t be able to build his castle.** &#x200B; **One night, the now short but muscular man went home and went into a deep slumber.** **The few, drunk off of beer and jealousy, went to his impressively partially constructed castle and began tearing it down with sledgehammers, crowbars, and hate.** **The walls fell, and the foundation was broken beyond repair.** **The few watched from the hill that following morning as the man ran to his fallen castle, cursed and cried in defeat.** **The few laughed and felt like they taught him a lesson on being an individual.** **They laughed as they went to their cubicles and were reminded of their misery.** **They gleefully went to get another hit from the man’s misery after work but were surprised at what they saw.** **The man had begun rebuilding his castle.** &#x200B; **Word spread across the country of the cruel act and the man’s defiant response.** **The word fell on the right ears, and it was interpreted as a call to action.** **The first that came to the short-muscular-defiant man was a mason.** **The mason understood what the man was doing and why even though they could not articulate the reason.** **The mason had extensive knowledge and experience of stonework and knew how to make the castle stronger.** **The short-muscular-defiant-man accepted the mason’s help on the condition that the castle will only be built by hand.** **The mason smiled and began his craft.** &#x200B; **A glass blower from California came to the partially built castle and offered his help.** **Towed by his truck were a portable kiln and his equipment.** **The glass blower, a talented and renowned artist, said that the man’s castle would need exquisite stain glass windows.** **He will make glass so remarkable that people will come all over the world to admire the windows.** **The short-muscular-defiant-man gladly accepted, and the glass blower began making the windows in his makeshift workshop.** **A lovely, complementary couple followed the glass blower.** **The husband a blacksmith and the wife a carpenter.** **They heard his story and understood why he was building the castle, and they offered their services to his dream.** **Both together would create doors, furniture, cabinetry, even the smallest detail of the nails will be envied by royalty.** **The short-muscular-defiant-grateful-man gladly accepted.** &#x200B; **Steadily people from around the world heard the call, even though they could not explain it, and came to offer their services to the monumental task.** **Plumbers came and teamed up with the blacksmith to make the pipes for one of a kind plumbing system.** **Electricians, roofers, and engineers offered their services and began using their hands and expertise to construct the castle in a way that will demand the best of their respective arts.** **Artists, spinsters and world-renowned gardeners offered their crafts to bring beauty to the castle.** **The honest rich who earned their keep understood what the man was doing, and they donated money and resources; for they too have built castles.** **The neighbors who once mocked him left work to help the short-muscular-defiant-grateful-man in any way they can.** **Some moved stones, some cooked and did laundry for the crew, but most assisted and became apprentices to the masters of the world.** &#x200B; **The company lost employees, and the jealous few who attempted to defeat the man found themselves bitter and lonely in their office.** **The few were given promotions but only because there was less competition.** **But, with the promotions and raise came the extra work and longer hours in the office.** **Too afraid to quit and seduced by their new cash, they accepted their prison.** **Denial was the castle they built for themselves.** &#x200B; **Ten years later the castle was built, and the world had a new wonder.** **Gothic in essence.** **Modern in look.** **Built not for a King, nor a God, but for an idea which cannot be spoken but only understood.** **An idea which lives in all of us.** **The short-muscular-defiant-grateful-accomplished man was no longer the same man from the beginning.** **He went on the hill and watched the sunset behind his castle and began to cry in ecstasy.** **He finally fully understood why the castle was built.** **Everyone had a place, a room and their crafts had found a home.** **They felt a deep sadness though.** **What’s next?** **The man felt the same.** **What was next after this great feat?** **Nobody was the same, and they wished to keep going.** &#x200B; **The man smiled and said, “Go into the world and practice your love. Share your talent, your art, yourself. My castle, your home, will always be here for you.”** **Some stayed, lived in and maintained the castle.** **Most left to share their gifts with the world.** **To inspire others with their craft.** **The short-muscular-defiant-grateful-accomplished-wise-man finally rested and admired the castle.** **For it was not only a symbol of not one man’s daring feat but a culmination of the best of humanity.** **A paradise on Earth.