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The Story Of The Geese
There was once a man who didn't believe in the incarnation of Christ or
the spiritual meaning of Christmas, and was skeptical about God. He and
his family lived in a farm community. His wife was a devout believer and
diligently raised her children in her faith. He sometimes gave her a hard
time about her faith and mocked her religious observance of Christmas.
"It's all nonsense - why would God lower himself and become a human like
us? It's such a ridiculous story!" he said.
One snowy day, she and
the children left for church while he stayed home. After they had left,
the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blinding snowstorm. He
sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.
Then he heard a
loud thump, something hitting against the window. And another thump. He
looked outside but couldn't see. So he ventured outside to see. In the
field near his house he saw, of all the strangest things, a flock of
geese! They were apparently flying to look for a warmer area down south,
but had been caught in the snow storm. The storm had become too blinding
and violent for the geese to fly or see their way. They were stranded on
his farm, with no food or shelter, unable to do more than flutter their
wings and fly in aimless circles.
He had compassion for them and
wanted to help them. He thought to himself, "The barn would be a great
place for them to stay! It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the
night and wait out the storm." So he opened the barn doors for them. He
waited, watching them, hoping they would notice the open barn and go
inside. But they didn't notice the barn or realize what it could mean
for them. He moved closer toward them to get their attention, but they
just moved away from him out of fear. He went into the house and came back
out with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread trail to the barn. They
still didn't catch on. Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried
to shoo them toward the barn. They panicked and scattered into every
direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into
the barn where there was warmth, safety and shelter.
Feeling
totally frustrated, he exclaimed, "Why don't they follow me? Can't they
see this is the only place where they can survive the storm? How can I
possibly get them into the one place to save them?" He thought for a
moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human.
He said
to himself, "How can I possibly save them? The only way would be for me to
become like those geese. If only I could become like one of them! Then I
could save them! They would follow me and I would lead them to
safety."
At that moment, he stopped and considered what he had
said. The words reverberated in his mind: "If only I could become like one
of them- then I could save them." And then, at last, he understood God's
heart towards mankind, and he fell on his knees. -- Author Unknown
Inspirational
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