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 HEN THE LITTLE CHILD was out in the open with Cyrenius and the other eight children, He said to Cyrenius,
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'See that tree over there - how far do you suppose it is from here?'
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'I would say,' replied Cyrenius, 'that it should, by good measure, be about two hundred paces from here.'
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And the little Child said, 'Then let us race there and see which of us has the fastest feet!'
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Here Cyrenius smiled and observed, 'O Lord, with Your earthly strength You will no doubt be the last one to reach the tree!'
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But the little Child said, 'Only the result will show that, so let us make the attempt!'
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At this the racers ran with all their might, and the little Child was at the tree first.
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Upon arriving at the tree, Cyrenius, almost out of breath, asserted,
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'O Lord, I just knew that You would not run naturally and thus would reach the goal first!
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For you are carried by unseen powers, but I am carried only by my sluggish feet!'
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Here the little Child stated, 'Cyrenius, herein you have once more gone astray - for your feet are animated by unseen powers as well as Mine!
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But the difference consists in that I am a Master, but you are only a student of the powers.
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And when you really learn to exercise your powers, you will also be able to use them like the Master does!
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Now let us run back, and we will see who will reach the place in front of the house first this time.'
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Here Cyrenius quickly bent down to the earth, lifted up the little Child and ran back with Him - and was by far the first one at the goal.
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Arrived there, the little Child smiled and said, 'That was great fun!
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See, you have achieved mastery at once - you saw the Master, took Him up and therewith became a master yourself.
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Now mark the lesson therein: In the future no one will become a master by his own efforts anymore,
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but if he takes up the Master, he then will become a master through the Master whom he has taken up.
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'It matters little who is able to run the fastest - but for all that everyone should strive to reach the goal set by Me ahead of any other goal and ahead of anyone else!
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Whoever will undertake the path of life on his own power, he will be the last -
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but whoever will do as you just did during the second race, he will also find himself to be the first at the goal just like you!
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Now let us change over to another pastime and have some fun in a childlike way.'
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