ONCE upon a time, there was a King. He worked very hard at kingdom building. He was well thought of by all. He busied himself every day in building his kingdom for he had a good heart. He was under the rule of the emperor of that region known as: the Emperor Over All. The king did his best to follow the emperor’s proclamations and directives.

    One day some shysters came to the king’s palace. They had tried their multi-level pyramid businesses on the people of the kingdom, but they were running out of "friends" to approach. So they came up with another money making scheme. The shysters pretended to be tailors. They arranged a meeting with the queen. The king did not know of this meeting, for the queen did not tell him and he was much too busy with caring for the needs of his kingdom. The shysters told the queen they had lovely clothes made of the finest foreign materials. They said everyone was wearing them in all the lands surrounding the kingdom. The clothes all had a tag on them that read: "Dimwitted." This was how everyone would know if a person actually had on authentic Dimwitted clothing. This appealed to the queen’s lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and prideful vanity.

    The king and queen had two teenage princesses. They entered the room and soon were entranced by the infomercial that was being presented to their mother. As the shysters continued with the spiel, they told the queen how everyone would adore her in her new fine clothes. The queen thought of her younger days, before she was married to the king. She recollected what a cute figure she had. Young men adored her and she was quite popular. "Ah, those were the days," she thought. Maybe she could regain that youthful feeling once more. The princesses interrupted the presentation by begging their mother to have these clothes made for them as well. "Think of how popular we will be!" they pleaded.

    The queen thought, "It is so important for teenage girls to be popular." She decided it was a good goal to work toward. The shysters grinned a devilish grin, for they knew they had hooked the gullible lasses with their lustful bait. The queen told the shysters that she would like to see some of these Dimwitted clothes. "Yes indeed," said one. "But first I must tell you of its magical secret. You see, only someone truly worthy of wearing Dimwitted clothing may do so. For the magical threads which the fabric is made of can only be seen by a person who truly is worthy." Then he pulled out a large garment bag and gently unzipped it. He appeared to be carefully taking something out. But to the queen’s surprise, the only thing she could see was the hanger. The princesses saw the same thing. But none of them wanted to appear that they were not worthy of Dimwitted clothing. So they all went along with it and spoke of how lovely the garment was.

    The queen placed a large order for her daughters, but only a few things for herself. She thought that would be more discreet... and since she herself could not see the fabric, she might feel a bit self-conscious. But the princesses didn’t feel that way at all. They were excited and proud to know that they would soon be wearing the Dimwitted label. The shysters made big bucks on this deal, and told the princesses to make sure they told all their friends in the kingdom where they could purchase Dimwitted clothing.

    As soon as the shysters delivered the queen’s order to the palace, the princesses quickly took their garment bags and ran to their rooms with glee to put their new Dimwitted clothes on. They soon came out of their rooms wearing only their undergarments, but pretending as if they had on beautiful clothing. The queen pretended to put on her Dimwitted outfit. When she reemerged from her room, she was wearing her slip.

    The girls went to the dinning room for the lunchtime meal. To their surprise the king was there that day. "Daddy, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be out building the kingdom," said the oldest princess. The king was so taken aback with what his daughters and wife were wearing that all he could say was, "What on earth are you wearing?" The queen and princesses quickly gave the king the spiel that the shysters had given them. They did their best to sell him on the idea. The king did not like it. He could not see the fabric and he was concerned that others would not be able to. But he didn’t want to hurt his daughter’s feelings. They were so excited about it. He didn’t want to appear bossy to his wife and thought a good husband should just trust his wife’s judgment on such matters ... so he reluctantly went along with it.

    Soon all the young maidens in the kingdom were running around in Dimwitted clothing, which of course no one could see, yet no one would speak of it. Many of the men were uncomfortable with it and would just try to look the other way when their daughters and their friends were near. Other men rather enjoyed the free-spirited and modern look. Plus it was nicer to look at them, than their aging wives.

    One day, a traveler from a nearby village came to the palace. He was a prince and had been sent from his father to be trained by the king in the ways of kingdom building. When he arrived, he was shocked to see the entire village filled with teenage girls, and many of their mothers, all wearing nothing but their undergarments. He covered his eyes and approached the palace. He remembered a proclamation that the Emperor Over All had made many years ago, stating that females should cover their bodies appropriately and modestly.

    The king greeted him warmly and invited him in. The king told the prince he had received a letter from the prince’s father, explaining that the prince needed some guidance and wisdom in learning how to build a kingdom. The king was very kind to the prince and invited him to join his family for the dinner meal. The prince was taken to his room by one of the servants of the palace. He unpacked his belongings and soon it was time to join the king and his family for the dinner meal.

    As the prince entered the dinning hall, the king was already seated at the table. He invited the prince to sit down. "My father tells me that you have written many books on kingdom building and are an authority on the subject," said the prince. "Your father is very kind," replied the king. "It has taken us many years and hard work to get the kingdom to its current magnificence. " 

    Just then, in walked the king’s wife and daughters. The king and prince stood -- as gentlemen do when ladies enter a room. But to the prince’s great surprise, the ladies were clothed in nothing but their undergarments. The prince without thinking blurted out, "They aren’t wearing any clothes!"

............

    The next day the king summoned the prince to his library. "My boy," said the King ... "Let us just forget what happened last night and start over again. You are young and have much to learn. There are far greater concerns in building a kingdom then that of what people are wearing." "But if I may say sire, didn’t the Emperor Over All make a proclamation that instructed females to dress modestly and appropriately? And aren’t we instructed to bring him obedience and glory in all areas?" "Well yes, of course he did --and yes we are. But that proclamation was written many years ago. Who is really to say what is or isn’t appropriate and what is or isn’t modest? I think you should extend your stay with us. After a while, you won’t even notice the Dimwitted clothing. You just need to get used to it."

    The prince ended up staying for 6 months. The king was correct. After a while, the prince didn’t think much about the issue of clothing. He thought he must have been very silly or legalistic to think that there should be some sort of standard set. He realized that his thought life was not what it used to be in regard to purity, but it seemed to be the accepted way of the kingdom.

    He returned to his own home and soon after was named king there. His kingdom was just like that of the one he had been taught at. All the women and girls wore Dimwitted clothing. No one ever mentioned again that the females were not really wearing clothes ... they all just continued in building the kingdom --- but only in the areas that really mattered. This continued to a thousand generations within this kingdom. 

The End.

    The queen, embarrassed and angered, looked at the king. "Who is this rude young man?" she asked. The king was struck back to his senses. He looked at his wife, then he looked at his daughters ... the prince was right. They were unclothed, immodest and very inappropriately dressed in nothing but their undergarments. The king turned to the prince, "Please excuse us for a few moments." He then asked his wife and daughters to accompany him to the other room.

    The king sent a servant to tell the prince to eat his meal without them due to the circumstances. The women went and clothed themselves in feminine, modest clothing, fitting for royal family members. The king traveled quickly to the Emperor Over All. When the king arrived home, he reminded the kingdom of the proclamation that the Emperor Over All had made regarding modesty and appropriate clothing. He declared that never again in his kingdom would Dimwitted clothing be worn (...or not worn as it were). He gathered all the men of the kingdom and told them of the wrong he had done in not leading them in this area. They all forgave him and all vowed to keep each other in check in regard to this area -- since it had been a weakness in the past.

    The prince learned a valuable lesson. He returned to his home and soon was declared king. He ruled well for many years and guided his people according to the proclamations of the Emperor Over All. He kept the men of his kingdom accountable, even on issues that were difficult.

    Fortunately, Dimwitted clothing was never an issue in his kingdom. Oh, from time to time someone would come from another kingdom dressed in something that looked Dimwitted, but the older women had been trained and taught by their husbands well. With gentle love they would instruct the outsider in the proclamations of the Emperor Over All and .... since it was not normative to dress in such a manner, the outsider would eventually change or move along, looking for a kingdom where the Dimwitted look was "in." These practices continued in that kingdom to a thousand generations.

- - -

    Now you may be wondering why the title of the story is The King’s New Clothes. The reason is that the king was the person in authority. The Emperor Over All gave him authority over his family and kingdom. So the things that were purchased and worn in his household, and in his kingdom, were his responsibility. 

-- The End

solus Christus! sola scriptura ! sola gratia ! sola fide ! soli Deo gloria !
Christ alone ! scripture alone ! grace alone ! faith alone ! to God alone be glory!

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