Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a young boy was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.
"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."
The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish ... " he hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that, but what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.
"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"
"Oh yes, I'd love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. Paul was wrong again.
"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him, pointed to the car and said, "There she is, buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent, and some day I'm gonna give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said - "It is more blessed to give than to receive".
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
A Parable of the Cross
All the people who had ever lived were assembled before the throne of God. They were a sullen lot. They all had complaints, and they began to murmur among themselves. Who does God think He is, anyway?
One of the groups was composed of Jews who had suffered persecution. Some had died in gas chambers and concentration camps - and they grumbled; how could God know of the suffering they had been through?
Another group was slaves - black men and women with brands on their brows, great hosts of them, who had suffered indignities at the hands of those who called themselves "God's people" - What could God know about their plight?
There were long lines of refugees driven from their lands - homeless people, who had never on this earth been able to make ends meet.
There were sick ones and sufferers of all kinds, hundreds of groups, each with a complaint against God. What could He know of what human beings were forced to endure?
From each group a leader was chosen and a commission appointed to draw up the case against the Almighty Himself. Instead of God judging them, they began judging Him. And the verdict was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a human being with no safeguards to protect His Divinity. And here was a bill of particulars:
Let Him be born a Jew. Let Him be born poor. Let even the legitimacy of His birth be suspect. Give Him hard work to do and poverty that He might know the pinch. Let Him be rejected by His people. Give Him for friends only those who are held in contempt. Let Him be betrayed by one of His friends. Let Him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, convicted by a cowardly judge. Let Him be abandoned by His friends and see what it is to be terribly alone. Let Him be tortured, and then let Him die at the hands of His enemies.
As each group announced its sentence on God, roars of approval went up from the throng. When the last had finished, the raucous noise had become almost deafening ... and then everyone turned toward the throne. And suddenly heaven was filled with shocked penitent silence. For where there had been a throne, now could be seen a Cross.
- Andrew Armstrong
From Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR book "Arise from Darkness" - (ISBN - 0898705258).
Father Groeschel notes - "I have been unable to discover any information about the author [Andrew Armstrong], but surely a Christian capable of writing this will rejoice to have it shared. - BJG."
One of the groups was composed of Jews who had suffered persecution. Some had died in gas chambers and concentration camps - and they grumbled; how could God know of the suffering they had been through?
Another group was slaves - black men and women with brands on their brows, great hosts of them, who had suffered indignities at the hands of those who called themselves "God's people" - What could God know about their plight?
There were long lines of refugees driven from their lands - homeless people, who had never on this earth been able to make ends meet.
There were sick ones and sufferers of all kinds, hundreds of groups, each with a complaint against God. What could He know of what human beings were forced to endure?
From each group a leader was chosen and a commission appointed to draw up the case against the Almighty Himself. Instead of God judging them, they began judging Him. And the verdict was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a human being with no safeguards to protect His Divinity. And here was a bill of particulars:
Let Him be born a Jew. Let Him be born poor. Let even the legitimacy of His birth be suspect. Give Him hard work to do and poverty that He might know the pinch. Let Him be rejected by His people. Give Him for friends only those who are held in contempt. Let Him be betrayed by one of His friends. Let Him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, convicted by a cowardly judge. Let Him be abandoned by His friends and see what it is to be terribly alone. Let Him be tortured, and then let Him die at the hands of His enemies.
As each group announced its sentence on God, roars of approval went up from the throng. When the last had finished, the raucous noise had become almost deafening ... and then everyone turned toward the throne. And suddenly heaven was filled with shocked penitent silence. For where there had been a throne, now could be seen a Cross.
- Andrew Armstrong
From Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR book "Arise from Darkness" - (ISBN - 0898705258).
Father Groeschel notes - "I have been unable to discover any information about the author [Andrew Armstrong], but surely a Christian capable of writing this will rejoice to have it shared. - BJG."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
