‘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  and saw that the bear was closing in on  him.

He looked over his shoulder  again, and the bear was even  closer.

He tripped and fell to 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.’