Php 70.00 Vol. 44 No. 1 • JANUARY 2010 - IMPACT Magazine Online!

FROM THE
INBOX
From the e-mail messages of lanbergado@cbcpworld.net
The bear and the two travelers
Two men were traveling together,
when a bear suddenly met them on
their path. One of them climbed up
quickly into a tree and concealed himself
in the branches. The other, seeing that he
must be attacked, fell flat on the ground,
and when the bear came up and felt him
with his snout, and smelt him all over,
he held his breath, and feigned the appearance
of death as much as he could.
The bear soon left him, for it is said he
will not touch a dead body.
When he was quite gone, the other
traveler descended from the tree, and
jocularly inquired of his friend what it
was the bear had whispered in his ear.
“He gave me this advice,” his companion
replied. “Never travel with a
friend who deserts you at the approach
of danger.”
The bishop’s gift
Once, a church had fallen
upon hard times. Only five
members were left: the pastor
and four others, all over 60
years old.
In the mountains near the
church there lived a retired
bishop. It occurred to
the pastor to ask the
bishop if he could
offer any advice
that might save
the church. The
pastor and the
bishop spoke
at length, but
when asked
for adv
i c e ,
the bishop simply
responded by saying, “I have
no advice to give. The only thing I
can tell you is that the Messiah is
one of you.”
The pastor, returning to the
church, told the church members
what the Bishop had said. In the
months that followed, the old church
members pondered the words of the
bishop. “The Messiah is one of us?”
they each asked themselves. As they
thought about this possibility, they
all began to treat each other with extraordinary
respect on the off chance
that that one among them might be
the Messiah. And on the
off, off chance
t h a t
each
member
himself might
be the Messiah,
they also began
to treat
themselves
with extraordinary
care.
As time went
by, people visiting the
c h u r c h noticed the aura of
respect and gentle kindness
that surrounded the five old members
of the small church. Hardly
knowing why, more people began
to come back to the church. They
began to bring their friends, and
their friends brought more friends.
Within a few years, the small
church had once again become
a thriving church, thanks to the
bishop's gift.
© etc.usf.edu
Real friend
Horror gripped the heart of the World
War I soldier, as he saw his life-long
friend fall in battle. Caught in a trench
with continuous gunfire whizzing over his
head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he
might go out into the “No Man's Land”
between the trenches to bring his fallen
comrade back.
“You can go,” said the lieutenant, “but
I don't think it will be worth it. Your friend
is probably dead and you may throw your
own life away.”
The lieutenant's words didn't matter, and
the soldier went anyway. Miraculously he
managed to reach his friend, hoist him onto
his shoulder, and bring him back to their
company's trench. As the two of them tumbled
in together to the bottom of the trench, the
officer checked the wounded soldier, then
looked kindly at his friend.
“I told you it wouldn't be worth it,”
he said. “Your friend is dead, and you are
mortally wounded.”
“It was worth it, though, sir,” the soldier
said.
“How do you mean, 'worth it'?” responded
the lieutenant. “Your friend is dead!”
“Yes sir,” the private answered. “But,
it was worth it because when I got to him,
he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction
of hearing him say, ‘Jim, I knew you'd
come.’”
© www.andeanbear.org
28
IMPACT • January 2010