The Atheist Bear
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all
that the accident
of evolution had created.
"What majestic
trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!"
he said to
himself.
As he was walking
alongside the river he heard a rustling in
the bushes behind
him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly
charge toward
him.
He ran as fast as
he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder
And saw that the
bear was closing. He ran even faster, so scared
that tears were
coming to his eyes. He looked over his shoulder
again, and the
bear was even closer. His heart was pumping frantically
and he tried to
run even faster. He tripped and fell to the ground.
He rolled over to
pick himself up but saw the bear, right on top of
him: reaching for
him with his left paw and raising his right paw to
strike him.
At that instant
the atheist cried out "Oh my God!...."
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was
silent.
Even the river
stopped moving.
As a bright light
shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky:
"You deny my
existence for all of these years; teach others I don't
exist; and, even
credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect
me to help you
out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a
believer?"
The atheist
looked directly into the light: "It would be hypocritical
of me to suddenly
ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps
you could make
the bear a Christian?"
"Very well," the
voice said.
The light went
out.
The river ran
again.
And the sounds of
the forest resumed.
And then the bear
dropped its right paw, brought both paws
together, bowed
its head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am
about to receive,
I am truly thankful."