An atheist was walking through the woods.

"What majestic trees"!

"What powerful rivers"!

"What beautiful animals"!

He said to himself.

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 dropped his

right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:

"Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty, through

Christ our Lord, Amen."