Wednesday, December 22, 2010

a Christmas parable.

            What is your favorite Christmas decoration in your home? (The Christmas tree doesn’t count!)
            I have many favorites, but I especially love our Advent ring.





            And Jesus said a certain man, while doing his Christmas shopping, fell among muggers, who stripped him of everything, beat him to within an inch of his life, and left him in an alley behind St. Luke’s Church.
            The minister came along on his way to a service, and, when he saw the man hurried into the church, afraid of becoming involved. And likewise an elder of the church came by and hurried past, as frightened as the minister. He even dropped the holly wreath he was carrying and didn’t return to pick it up.
            But the neighborhood agnostic, who didn’t even believe in exchanging Christmas presents, when he heard the poor man groaning, investigated and felt sorry for him.
            Bringing his car around, he helped the man into it, ignored the blood on his velvet-pile seats, and drove him to City Hospital.
            “Here,” he said to the receptionist, who presented him with a battery of forms. “This is my credit card, and he is my brother. Give him a private room and the very best of care, and, if it exceeds the limit of my charge account, I’ll borrow the money and pay you. What the heck, it’s Christmas Eve!”
            Which of these three men, do you think, was neighbor to the man who was mugged? And which one had a merry, merry Christmas?


-Parables for Christmas by John Killinger

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