As he was walking alongside the river,
he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.
He turned to look.
He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path.
He looked over his shoulder & saw that
the bear was closing in on him.
He looked over his shoulder again,
& the bear was even closer.
He tripped & fell on the ground.
He rolled over to pick himself up
but saw that the bear was right on top of him,
reaching for him with his left paw &
raising his right paw to strike him.
At that instant the Atheist cried out,
'Oh my God!'
Time Stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man,
a voice came out of the sky.
'You deny my existence for all these years,
teach others I don't exist and even
credit creation to 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 you could make the BEAR a Christian'?
'Very well,' said the voice.
The light went out.
The sounds of the forest resumed.
And the bear brought both paws together,
bowed his head & spoke:
'Lord bless this food,
which I am about to
receive from thy bounty,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.'