A Parable

      Once upon a time (2009 to be exact) a man, whose name I don't know, was walking down the street one perfectly sunny evening. He was humming a tuneless song under his breath and thinking of ways to con his parents into giving him some money for the classic Firebird he wanted. It was a gorgeous red 1969 Firebird Trans am, and the old bird selling it only wanted a grand for it!! Psh, crazy old woman, a body could get a heck of a lot more than that for it. (This was the man's normal train of thought, by the way)
      Anyway, he was walking down the street when suddenly, giant hamburgers started falling from the sky! At first he was very excited, hamburgers falling from the sky! It was some sort of miracle! Then he realized that they weren't just any hamburgers, they were rock hard! Crashing to the ground and shattering asphalt all around him!
      The man fell to his knees and coved his head, crying out “God! If you're up there somewhere, have mercy on me! I will shout your praise from the highest mountains and repent of all my sins! (yes, thats exactly what he said) So God had mercy and reached his hand down to cover the man. When the storm stopped, the man stood up and thanked God profusely. But he did not shout His praise or repent. God was disappointed, but knew that the man would have other chances to change his ways.
      A few weeks later, the man was walking down the same street, (I know I would never come near that street again!) when suddenly a cloud covered the sun and bowling balls started falling from it! (What I want to know is, where the heck does this guy lives that this stuff happens on a regular basis??) Again the man cried out to God to save him, and made the same promises he made the last time. God again had mercy and covered the man with his hand. When the storm had passed, the man again thanked God, but did not fulfill his promises. Again (I know, I keep using that word!) God was very sad. This happened a few more times, each time God grew more sad and distressed at what the man was doing. (And the fact that he kept walking down the same street!)
      The next time it happened, God reached down and covered the man, but this time knew (For God knows everything) that the man would, again, reject him. So when the time came and the man merely walked away, God started crying. His heart broke (as it does most days) for this child that didn't want His free gift. When the angels saw God crying, they too broke into sobs.
      Down on earth, the weight of all those tears falling broke through the clouds, and it started to rain. When the man realized he would have to walk nearly a mile in the rain to get home, he started cursing God for his bad luck. This made God sob even harder, which made the angels sob harder, which made it rain harder. The harder God cried for his lost child, the more the man cursed God. Then, through His tears, God looked down at his child and whispered “My child, I still love you, and all your sins are forgiven.” God's words caused a giant rainbow, the likes of which have not been seen since the flood, to appear across the whole of the sky.
      But the man never noticed. Never once looked up to see God's love for him. Never realized he was breaking God's giant heart of love.


AT THE SAME TIME.....


      Once upon a time (2009 to be exact) a woman, whose name I don't know, was walking down the street one perfectly sunny evening. She was humming a tuneless song under her breath and thinking of ways to con her boyfriend out of some money for new shoes. She had seen a pair in JC Penny that she had to have. They were red, and would go great with her new little black dress!
      Suddenly, giant cellos started falling from the sky!! (weird, huh?) They were hitting the ground and shattering, covering everything nearby with splinters of wood that could pierce a lung or a persons heart.
      The woman fell to her knees and covered her head, crying out “God! If you're up there somewhere, have mercy on me! I will shout your praise from the highest mountains and repent of all my sins! (weird, isn't it, that they both said exactly the same thing??) So God had mercy and reached his hand down to cover the woman. When the storm stopped, the woman stood up and thanked God profusely. She shouted his praise to all who were near, for people had started coming out of buildings when the storm stopped. They marveled that anyone could survive that freak storm. All the people of the town, not just the woman, came to know God that day.
      God was so happy that so many of his children had come to him, he started crying. (These were tears of happiness though) The angels saw how happy he was, and they started crying also. The weight of all those tears broke through the clouds and it started raining. “My children,” he said, “I love each and every one of you, and you are all forgiven!” God's words caused a giant rainbow, the likes of which have not been seen since the flood, to appear across the whole of the sky.
      Every person in that town looked up and saw God's love for them. Saw that they had mended a small part of the break in God's giant heart of love.