Subject: The atheist and the bear


An atheist was walking through the woods one
day in Alaska, admiring all that evolution had created.
"What majestic trees! What a powerful river!
What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he
heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.
Turning to look, he saw a 13 foot Kodiak brown bear
beginning to charge towards him.

He ran as fast as he could down the path. He
looked over his shoulder and saw that the
bear was rapidly closing on him. Somehow, he
ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his
eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer.
His heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run
faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the
ground.

As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear
was right over him. It reached for him with its
left paw and raising its right paw to strike him.

The man screamed, "OH MY GOD! ...."

The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
Even the river stopped moving
. Time stopped.

A brilliant light shone upon the man, and a
thunderous voice came from all around.

"YOU DENY MY EXISTENCE FOR ALL THESE
YEARS. YOU TEACH OTHERS THAT I DON'T EXIST.
YOU CREDIT CREATION TO SOME
COSMIC ACCIDENT. DO YOU EXPECT ME
TO HELP YOU OUT OF YOUR FEARS NOW?
AM I TO NOW COUNT YOU AS A BELIEVER?"

Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into
the light and said, "It would be hypocritical to ask
to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps
you could make the bear a Christian?"

"VERY WELL." said the voice.

The light went out.
The river ran.
The sounds of the forest resumed.

And the bear dropped down on her knees, and
brought both paws together. And with bowed head
said: "Lord, thank you for this food which
I am about to receive."