An atheist was taking a walk through the woods.
"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers!
What beautiful animals!", he said to himself.
As he continued walking alongside the river he heard a
rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a 7
foot grizzly charging towards him. He ran as fast as
he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he
saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was
pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster.
He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to
pick himself up, but saw the bear raising his paw to
take a swipe at him. At that instant the atheist cried
out: "Oh my God!..."
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
It was then that a bright light shone upon the man
and a voice came out of the sky saying, "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, could you make the
BEAR a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice.
The light went out.
And the sounds of the forest resumed.
And then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and
spoke, "Lord, bless this food which I am about to
receive and for which I am truly thankful."
This story has a great deal to say. I worked in hospitals for many years. It is common knowledge when some one is near death they will generally call out to God, atheists or not, or even someone is in between. The mind becomes quiet and the soul takes over. I believe the soul always knows!
Suzanne