What Goliath Saw

Let me tell you a story…..

The first thing Goliath noticed was the pleasant sound of a bird singing. Warm sunshine touched his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes and was surprised by a sense of ease and comfort he had never known. He was lying on his back on a soft bed of green grass. There was a faint but pleasant wind against his face. Goliath took a deep breath, felt his limbs, and slowly sat up. He was surrounded by rolling hills, tall mountains, trees, and flowers of every color. Goliath felt wonderful. To his right, a beautiful stream of pristine, clean water rolled toward a distant hill. This treasured moment of peace, this contentment, snapped away in an instant. He was out of place. He remembered...

In shock, he quickly reached up to his forehead and tapped it with his hands. He brought them down to eye level to see if they were covered in blood; they were not, in fact, they were completely clean and soft. He stood up frantically and ran towards the stream and knelt down to see his reflection in the water. He was uninjured and remarkably clean. He no longer had bags under his eyes, his long hair was clean and unmatted, and his beard was well-groomed. His clothes were comfortable, but odd in the fact that he had spent all of his adult years wearing a heavy coat of armour. He parted some of his hair that had fallen over his forehead again to examine it in disbelief. Was he dreaming or waking up from a nightmare?

The last thing he remembered was the sight of an Israelite boy whirling a slingshot and the awful sound of a cracking skull. He believed the sound of that skull was his, and then the next thing he knew, he found himself lying on the ground in the grass. How did he get here? What happened to his weapons and armour? After checking his forehead again for injury and confirming he was fine, Goliath stood to his feet and scanned his surroundings. There were no armies, and as far as he could tell, he was alone.

He moved his hands over his clothing. They were odd. His knowledge, too, felt strange. Somehow, he knew more. He had never seen these kinds of garments. Still, he sensed that they were worn by others from a different time and place. In this strange time, people might call them white sweat pants and a grey kangaroo hood. They fit him perfectly. That feeling, too, was foreign to him. Never in his entire life had Goliath worn garments that fit so perfectly and comfortably. He was a giant. For as long as he could remember, even as a child, he had never felt at ease in the clothes he was handed.

He looked forward and in the distance he could see someone approaching. A middle-aged woman was walking towards him. Her clothing was also different, but he took it to be a business suit. She also wore glasses on her face, devices he had never seen before. When she was close enough, she said, “Hello, Goliath, it’s so good to see you,” and she reached out her hand to shake his; a practice he had not done before, but he took her hand naturally as if he had done it a thousand times. Moments ago, had he reached out like this to another human, his hand would have been four times greater, and the act would have appeared foolish. Only this time, the hand of his woman miraculously matched his, and yet nothing about her proportions, or his for that matter, felt out of place.

“Hello,” he replied, “Where are we? How did I get here?” Goliath had another surprise; his voice was different. While it still remained unique to him, it sounded somehow pure and stress-free.

The woman smiled and said, “I’m here to help, and I will help you with your questions, but let me first ask you, what do you remember last?”

“I-I-remember. The Valley of Elah.” Goliath stammered as he tried to piece together a patchwork of memories.  “I remember the Philistine armies and the army of Israel. W-we were there to conquer. I had been taunting the Israelites and using my carefully prepared insults...I actually thought I was pretty funny and then...this kid comes out...”

“Yes,” said the woman with a warm, understanding smile as she adjusted her glasses on her nose. In the blink of an eye, a table stand stood between them, and Goliath recognised a small television set on top of it. Though he had never seen this kind of sorcery before, unbelievably, he knew what it was. The woman reached for the TV and turned a small knob on the front, and the screen came to life. What played before Goliath was familiar and personal. He saw himself standing on the field of battle, and a young Israelite boy running at him, whirling a slingshot. His memory and this scene coincided.

“I’m sorry for what you’re about to see here, but we want you to be working with current and accurate information.” And sure enough, Goliath saw what he had feared, the boy let the sling go, and a rock flew at his head with lightning speed. The Rock struck him on the forehead, killing him. When he saw the scene, he let out a defeated sigh. Goliath was dead.

“Seriously, I can’t believe he killed me!” He was a trained soldier, and he went into every battle emotionally prepared to meet the end of his life, but he had imagined something a bit more exciting than a young shepherd throwing a rock at him. He bent forward, moved closer to this incredible box that revealed his death, and put his hands on either side of it, and brought his face forward to watch the scene closely. He could see that the rock had killed him almost instantly where he stood, because he did not remember anything that followed. His massive body collapsed forward. At first, he landed on his knees, and then gravity pulled him over onto his side.

“I can’t believe it. This is so disappointing,” he said in disbelief.

“You may not want to watch the next part, Goliath,” said the woman who was now standing beside him. Her tone was grim, but her voice was also mixed with sadness.

“What’s going on? What’s that punk doing? He’s walking towards my dead body, ok that makes sense, he’s probably making sure I’m dead...” Goliah said as he cautiously narrated what he was seeing. “Hey kid, that’s my sword, leave that alone!” He began to shout in annoyance, hoping the young Shepherd boy could somehow hear him. He could see the Israelite pull out Goliath’s sword from his scabbard, and then he realized what he was about to see. “Hey! like whathahell?! Put that sword down, you little punk! I’m already dead!” he shouted in anger as the boy he now knew as David raised up his own sword and brought it down over his neck. Goliath cursed as his head was severed and held aloft by his opponent. “You see that?! That’s so unnecessary and unprofessional…” he shrugged. The boy on the screen then dropped his head, punted it like a football, raised his fist, and began dancing around, waving his hips and doing a weird hand gesture. “What’s with the jazz hands?” Goliath didn’t even fully know what jazz was, but he asked it anyway.

“I’m sorry, Goliath, I really am,” said the woman who now placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. When he had shaken her hand before, he noted that it did not feel odd; nor did it feel out of place to have her hand on his shoulder; while they were different in stature, they weren’t separated by their differences. It was as if he were her height, or perhaps she was equal to him. Goliath was suddenly moved, and he lowered his head. For the first time in a long time, he felt a wave of grief wash over him. He had just watched the end of his story. He had hoped for so much more. His eyes began to well up with tears, and his voice cracked as he said, “It was supposed to be like this...They promised me I’d be okay and that we'd win. I trusted them.” The woman breathed in deeply and replied,

“This wasn’t what was written for you either. If it’s ok with you, I’d like to talk with you for a moment. I want you to understand as best as you can so that you’re prepared for what can happen next.” Her tone was now inviting, and he straightened up and looked around at his beautiful surroundings. He stepped back and then looked over at the stranger and asked,

“Where am I? And who are you?” asked the giant.

“Goliath, let’s go for a walk.”

To be continued....