IF ONLY I WERE A GOOSE
IF ONLY I WERE A GOOSE From: Petrus Aug 17, 2003
There was once a man who didn't believe in God, his wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left while he stayed home.
A while later, the wind grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump but he could not see more than a few feet outside. When the snow let up a little, he saw a flock of wild Geese in the field near his house, apparently they had been flying south & got caught in the snowstorm.They were lost and stranded with no shelter, flew around the field in low circles blindly and a couple of them flown into his window it seemed.
The man felt sorry for the geese and tried to lure them into the barn. He opened the barn door and hoped they would notice the open door and went inside but they didn't. He tried to get their attention, but that seemed to scare them away further.
He went into the house and got some bread crumb & used them to make a trail to the barn. It didn't work. He got frustrated, went behind them & shoo them towards the barn, instead they scattered. Nothing he did could get them into the barn. "Why don't they follow me ? Can't they see this is the only place where they could survive the storm?"
He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a Goose, then I could save them" he said out loud. Then he had an idea, went into the barn, got one of his own Geese & carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock. He then released it.
His Goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn, and one by one, the wild geese followed. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind : "If only I were a Goose, then I could save them!"
Then he thought that was what God has done. We were like the wild geese, blind & lost. God had his Son become like us so that He could show us the way & save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. He understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come.
Years of doubt & disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees & prayed his first prayer : "Thank you God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"
There was once a man who didn't believe in God, his wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left while he stayed home.
A while later, the wind grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump but he could not see more than a few feet outside. When the snow let up a little, he saw a flock of wild Geese in the field near his house, apparently they had been flying south & got caught in the snowstorm.They were lost and stranded with no shelter, flew around the field in low circles blindly and a couple of them flown into his window it seemed.
The man felt sorry for the geese and tried to lure them into the barn. He opened the barn door and hoped they would notice the open door and went inside but they didn't. He tried to get their attention, but that seemed to scare them away further.
He went into the house and got some bread crumb & used them to make a trail to the barn. It didn't work. He got frustrated, went behind them & shoo them towards the barn, instead they scattered. Nothing he did could get them into the barn. "Why don't they follow me ? Can't they see this is the only place where they could survive the storm?"
He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a Goose, then I could save them" he said out loud. Then he had an idea, went into the barn, got one of his own Geese & carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock. He then released it.
His Goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn, and one by one, the wild geese followed. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind : "If only I were a Goose, then I could save them!"
Then he thought that was what God has done. We were like the wild geese, blind & lost. God had his Son become like us so that He could show us the way & save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. He understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come.
Years of doubt & disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees & prayed his first prayer : "Thank you God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"
posted by Net Preneur @ 7:49 PM
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