| There once was a man named George Thomas, a pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage and set it by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak: |
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"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, "What have you got there, son?"
"Just some old birds," came the reply.
"What are you going to do with them?" I asked.
"Take them home and have fun with them," he answered. “I’m going to tease them and pull out their feathers to make them fight. I'm going to have a real good time."
"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?"
"Oh, I've got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take them to them."
The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?"
"Huh? Why, you don't want these birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing -- they aren't even pretty!"
"How much?" the pastor asked again.
The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said hesitantly, "$10?".
The pastor reached into his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.
The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door and by softly tapping the bars, persuaded the birds to come out, setting them free.
Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit.
Then the pastor began to tell this story:
One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden and he was gloating and boasting. “Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set a
trap, set bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got them all!"
"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.
Satan replied, "Oh, I’m going to have fun! I'm going to teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm going to teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really going to have fun!"
"And what will you do when you are finished with them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, I'll kill them," Satan glared proudly.
How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, you don't want those people. They're no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you!! You don't want those people!!"
"How much?" He asked again.
Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your tears and all your blood!!"
Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.
The pastor picked up the cage, opened the door and walked from the pulpit.
Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world is going to hell?
Or is it scary?
Isn't it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding religion, people think twice about sharing?
Isn't it funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace,
but the public discussion of God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha or whatever Force you believe in
is suppressed in the school and workplace?
Isn't it funny how someone can be so fired up for religion on Sunday or the Sabbath, but keep their beliefs invisible the rest of the week?
Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what
the Supreme Being
thinks of me?
Or is it scary . . . . . . ?
