>компютри втора употреба??????t Sin if You Didn?t Know?

Value: Thou Shalt not Steal

Susan and Janie and Heather loved to go to the mall. If they had a little money to spend, that was extra fun but even if they didn?t they loved to just look at things and get treats at the food court and meet friends from school and church and just be kids for a while. Susan?s mother felt sure the mall was safe because the girls were together and had good common sense and several members of their church worked at the mall and the food court so they kept an eye on the girls, even though the girls didn?t know that.

This Saturday was like all the others as Susan waited for Janie and Heather to get to her house for mom to drive them to the mall. She fussed with her make up and hair trying different styles and thinking of how the kids in school would react to a different color. Finally, they got here and everybody in the house scattered as the girls had their reunion in the front all with all the necessary giggling and gossiping and telling each other how cute they looked in their outfits.

?Mom are you ready to go?? Susan called up the stairs. ?Janie and Heather are here.?

?Just a minute honey.? Susan?s mom yelled down and finally she came down all ready to go but she had Susan?s little brother Timmy tagging along with her. ?Susan, be a dear and let Timmy tag along with you girls. Mrs. Henderson next door is sick so he can?t go over there.?

At first, Susan pouted and made a fuss because she was afraid Timmy would be a bother. ?Susan let him come. We love Timmy. He is so funny and cute and we will help you watch him so he doesn?t wander off.? Janie whispered to her friend.

?Yes do Susan? Heather chimed in ?You know all the kids love Timmy when he comes and sits in on Sunday School when your dad teaches.?

So Susan agreed and they all had a big time tickling Timmy in the car and getting him to laugh and making him everybody?s cute little brother, not just Susan?s. At the mall, the four had a wonderful time together. Instead of being a bother, Timmy learned how to make his sister and her friends laugh with his silly faces or things he would say making fun of the clothes or the people at the mall walking around. ?He?s so funny Susan, we just love him.? Heather said once laughing at his antics so hard that she almost fell down. The afternoon passed quickly and before they knew it, mom had picked them up and they were on the way home for a sleepover.

The girls got busy getting Susan?s room ready for a night of watching chick flicks and doing all the fun things that a sleepover had to have. There was plenty of popcorn and ice cream and make up to do each other over with and they were talking and trying to decide what movies to watch. Suddenly the air was filled with loud sobs.

?Susan!? She heard her sweet little brother cry out from his room down the hall. All three girls ran in. There on his bed sat Timmy cross-legged. He had spread on his blanket some of the toys he had bought at the mall but he was holding a big candy bar and just sobbing. Susan loved Timmy tons and didn?t want him to cry so she sat on the bed and held him and Heather and Janie patted him and comforted him.

?What is it Timmy, did someone hurt you?? Susan gently asked him as he calmed down enough to talk.

?No, look!? and he opened his hand which was wrapped around a very large candy bar. ?I don?t think I paid for this Susan. I know I had it in my hand at that candy booth in the food court. But Heather called for me to come look at the movie posters and I just ran to her with it in my hand and put it in my bag without thinking. I stole it Susan.? He sobbed. ?God is going to hate me, won?t he? I did a terrible sin.?

?Susan, remember Pastor Smith?s sermon last week on ?Thou Shalt Not Steal?? Janie asked. ?I know all of us including Timmy went to the alter and promised God we never would steal. What?s going to happen Susan? Will Timmy go to hell for stealing now?? Janie asked her friend and she was near tears at the idea of Timmy being in so much trouble with God.?

?I don?t know? Susan exclaimed nearing tears herself holding Timmy tight.

All of the children were about to break down in tears when Heather finally said, ?Wait let?s ask your mom.? She ran to the door, out into the hall and called down to Susan?s mom. ?Mrs. Morris, please come help!? Her voice was so full of panic that Susan?s mom came rushing up the stairs expecting to find someone bleeding. She found the girls and Timmy sobbing in Timmy?s room.

?Timmy, Susan, what?s wrong? Are you sick?? Their mom said warmly but a little scared touching each of their heads for a temperature like all moms do.

?No its worse. I think Timmy is doomed.? Susan cried. ?See when we went to the mall?? and between all four of them Mrs. Morris figured out what the problem was. Suddenly just laughed out loud like she had heard the funniest joke ever.

?Why are you laughing mom? I don?t want Timmy to go to hell.? Susan objected.

?Kids listen to me. Timmy, did you intend to steal the candy?? She asked holding Timmy?s hand. Heather and Janie sat cross-legged on the floor listening.

?No Mommy, I didn?t even know I did it. Is that sin Mommy? Is it sin if you didn?t know?? He asked desperate to know if he was in bad trouble with God.

?Kids remember our Sunday School lesson about sin? Remember what sin is?? She asked.

?I remember Mrs. Morris.? Said Janie. ?Sin is anything that keeps us from loving God.?

?That?s right Janie. Timmy, sin is something that comes out of your heart when it wants to rebel against God. It is something you decide to do when you know you shouldn?t. If you had found the candy in your bag and not cried and not told anyone and kept it or ate it knowing you had not paid for it, then you would have stolen it and you would be in sin.

?Then I am not doomed, Mommy?? Timmy said trying to feel relieved.

?You are sensitive to what God wants, Timmy. Girls you are too, that?s why you cried so much. That?s good. It hurts your heart to think of someone you love going to hell. That?s how God feels and that is why Jesus came and died for our sins. Let?s pray that God take all of our sins out of our hearts.? And they all bowed their heads and prayed and when they looked up, instead of tears, there were pretty smiles on all their faces.

?But what about the candy bar, Mom?? Susan wanted to know.

?Tell you what, Timmy. Let?s let the girls get their sleepover going. You and I will run over to the mall, tell the man what happened and you can pay for the candy bar with your allowance money and everything will be right again.?

?Will it really Mommy?? Timmy said with excitement ?Will it make it like I never did the bad thing.?

?It will be better than that because the man will know you are an honest boy and he will trust you even more. Better than that, while we are there, let?s get candy bars for all of us and we can join the party, ok??

HOORAY! All the children leapt with glee and danced around hugging and kissing Mrs. Morris for being so wise.

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Discovering Heaven

Value: Heaven

The scientists at Exedor Laboratories got the strangest assignment they ever saw one day in October. The company specialized in using scientific research to find out the big mysteries of the universe and they had done very well in the last few years. The project they received that day though was the strangest of them all and the customer who ordered the research was very mysterious.

Hector, the lead scientist read the assignment to his research team. All of the scientists put down their microscopes and their special glasses for examining things that need to be examined and buttoned up their white coats to listen.

?This assignment will be the most difficult of all we have done, gentleman.? Hector said in a slight German accent. ?We are to research the existence of Heaven. We are to gather information from every source, every religion all around the world and prove scientifically that Heaven exists and then provide to our customers details of what it will be like and how to get there.?

Well, the staff was pretty confused by their assignment but they got right on it. Before long, they were fanning out into the libraries and around the world to find proof of the existence of Heaven. Georgiou found that the Heaven called Nirvana is not really a place at all but an afterlife where you stop existing and get absorbed into a ?great nothingness.?

?That won?t do Georgiou. We would have to prove that this ?Great Nothingness? exists and how to get there. Besides that sounds more like a recipe for chicken soup than heaven.? Hector responded sarcastically. The big religions all seemed to have similar results where the followers worked for all their lives really hard or over several lives only to get sucked up into some nothingness that had no location and no witness that this place really existed. Then came the silly ones.

?Here is one where after you die, you go to a large roller rink where you play roller dodge ball for eternity.? Philippe reported.

?Here is one where you get your own planet and you get to have hundreds of wives and you become a god yourself.? Sydney read from his clipboard. ?Hector I don?t know about this one. I can?t keep up with the wife I have, hundreds just seems silly.? He concluded and Hector agreed.

?Here is one where you where mouse ears and go on rides for eternity.? Reported Reginald.

?That?s not heaven, that?s Disneyland!? Hector objected. Gentlemen, these are all really dopey heavens. I want something we can verify, something that is worthy of a persons eternal soul. Something that doesn?t sound like a comic book. Find me a heaven that can be verified with witnesses.? And he sent his scientists out for another month of research. Finally, they gathered for their final reports and it didn?t go much better. Scientist after scientist presented their report but there was no proof.

?We have to have a witness, someone who has been to heaven and came back to give us the details. Does anybody have such a heaven??

?I do.? The shy voice from the back. It was Lucy, the daughter of Reginald who was only in the fifth grade. She wasn?t even a scientist but Hector was desperate.

?Then share your findings with the scientific community Lucy, come speak into the microphone.? The little girl walked to the front carrying a mysterious looking book in her hands. Then she spoke.

?It?s all in this book. It?s an ancient book of writings and listen to this. ?Nobody can tell you about heaven except someone who has been there and returned again to take you there.?

?EXACTLY!? Hector shouted with excitement. ?Read more little girl.?

?Ok? said Lucy and she read ?In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.? Lucy finished reading.

?Who said these words? This person is the witness of what Heaven is like that we need!.? Hector said frantically.

?It?s Jesus.? Lucy answered holding up the book. ?And the book is the Bible that everybody has in their houses. Jesus came down from heaven to take us there. He tells us all about it. Listen to how it will be:? she said and then she opened the book to read again.

?And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. And it had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written there. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.?

?This is the proof we all need.? Hector prepared. This little girl has brought the evidence that everyone needs to know that there is a heaven, what it looks like and that there is a witness and how to get there. Wait a minute, how do we get there Lucy?? Hector asked.

?You accept Jesus into your heart and you become a new creature and then when everybody is ready, Jesus will come back and take us all there himself and we will have new bodies and never get sick or die or be sad ever again, forever and ever and ever.? Lucy answered confidently.

?Hector, I vote that we all go to the lab and have Lucy show us how to get Jesus in our hearts so we can go to Heaven for more research.? Philippe moved and all the scientists cheered for joy at the suggestion.

And Lucy did just that. She took them to the chapel instead of the lab but one by one each scientist came to know Jesus and became a new creature and they prepared their report that pointed to the one place we all have but so many of us never look, the Bible with the roadmap and proof that there is a Heaven an that God has a plan for us to live there forever.

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Belinda and Tempest

Value: An allegory about temptation

Belinda was a good girl. She tried to keep the right kinds of friends and together they tried to stay away from things they knew their parents and teachers would not approve of. Most of her friends were from the church so they listened closely to the sermons, the Sunday school lessons and other instructions they got at church to make sure they knew what was right. Belinda also did as she was taught and read the bible and prayed even though she didn?t always understand what she prayed and if she prayed with her eyes closed, sometimes she went to sleep.

One day daddy brought home a new pet. His name was Pete the Parakeet. For several days, everybody had fun talking to Pete but he didn?t say much. But it was clear that Pete had come to the house to be Belinda?s friend. So he lived in her room.

?Wake up Belinda.? Pete suddenly said as she dozed off reading her Bible.

?Did you just talk to me?? she said to the little bird. She had a hard time believing that Pete the Parakeet would actually speak to her.

?Yes, it?s my job to talk to you. I have been sent here to do this. I am called to be by your side to help when you have trouble like sleeping when you should be reading your Bible.?

Well it was clear that God had sent Pete for a very special mission to help Belinda with her faith, in struggling against her weaknesses and to advise, comfort and teach her. That?s a pretty good parakeet.

One day, Belinda met Tempest. Tempest wasn?t like the other girls, she was new, exotic, kind of exciting. So Belinda wanted to know Tempest more because she felt that Tempest could teach her some of those grown up things that other people would tell her about because they always treated Belinda like a little kid.

Belinda starting finding times to be with Tempest when nobody knew about it. She found her best times with Tempest were always when nobody knew she was around and the thing she was telling Belinda were secrets. Secrets are fun.

?You know most of the things your parents and the church say are bad aren?t bad.? Tempest told her.

?Really? Why would they lie to me?? Belinda objected. ?I know they love me.?

?They do love you but they think you have to be protected because they don?t want you to have the fun things they have. God could let you have fun things like smoking and drinking and staying out all night but he knows the adults should keep things fun things all to themselves.? Tempest lied to Belinda. Sadly, Belinda started to believe her. It was so easy to want to be like Tempest and to try to please her.

As Belinda was walking home from spending time with Tempest, she was thinking about trying a few things she liked to do. After all, it was a secret so nobody would know. Plus she would still be a good girl to her friends and family and at church. Her fun times with Tempest would just be a little secret between the two of them. Suddenly Pete the Parakeet landed on her shoulder.

?How did you get out of your cage?? Belinda objected.

?You would like to box up the voice that reminds you of your moral duties but it doesn?t work like that,? the little bird said to her sternly. Belinda didn?t like be lectured, particularly by a bird but she knew he was right. ?Tempest is leading you astray from God.? Pete continued. ?God knows what is going on so your little secret isn?t a secret and if you develop sin habits with her, they wont be a secret long from your parents and friends either.? He said insistently.

Belinda felt so much guilt and conviction in her spirit because of what Pete was telling her. But she was confused because she wanted it both ways. She wanted to be good and have the respect of God and her mom and dad and the church but the fun things Tempests offered were so hard to resist. Finally, she did start to give in and met with Tempest to try some things.

Tempest laid all of the exciting forbidden things on the table in front of her at Tempests house when nobody was around. There it all was, the cigarettes, the alcohol, the bad magazines and tapes, a connection to the internet already on some naughty sites. All she had to do is reach out and take it and nobody was there to stop her.

Suddenly she looked out the window and saw Pete the Parakeet in the tree out side the window and his eyes were fixed on her. She thought she could hear his voice in her head. But this time he wasn?t lecturing her or making her feel bad.

?None of that will satisfy you Belinda.? The voice said. ?All of these things are Satan?s cheap substitute for the perfect joy and love that Jesus gives. Right now Jesus am inside you giving you the strength to get up and walk away from these sins. You can feel him can?t you?? The voice said.

?Yes, I can feel him.? Belinda said out loud.

?What?? Tempest responded. ?Who are you talking to??

?Don?t use your own strength to resist the sins Belinda.? The voice said to her. ?Use God?s strength inside you and get up and walk away and go home and have a Bible study with your pet bird.? It helped her.

And that is what she did. She stood up and just turned and walked away. God?s strength inside her even helped her resist arguing with Tempest but instead she just put Tempest behind her and treated her like she didn?t even exists. Belinda had learned an important lesson about resisting the devil and his desire to make you sin. You can too. You are the believer, like Belinda. And you will get temptations, like the ones Tempest brought. But the Holy Spirit?s job is to ?come along side and help? you resist temptation, just like Pete the parakeet did. If you look for your own Pete, you will hear his voice and he will help you feel God?s power to resists temptation in you too every day.

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The Window in Time

Value: Evangelism

Belinda liked doing chores with her mom during the summer. Because she was out of school, there was lots of time to learn to cook, clean, mend clothes, all the things she will need to know when she becomes an adult and has a family and house of her own. This week mommy announced there were going to go in the attic and see what was up there. As mommy unlocked the door and revealed the long staircase that went up to the attic, Belinda felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness because it seemed like a trip into the past.

They had great fun in the attic all day opening old boxes. They found a big box of Belinda?s old toys from when she was a baby and Belinda just giggled getting reacquainted with her old playthings. Mommy even said she could bring the box down to play with for a while and then maybe we would give the box to the church so the nursery could use some of the toys.

Belinda was trying on old hats from a truck from Grandma?s house when mommy suddenly found something. ?Oh my,? she exclaimed ?Belinda come look at this.?

When she got back, there she saw what mommy had found. It was a window right there in the wall of the attic. It had glass panes in it and a regular window latch so it could be opened for air. But it didn?t show the street outside which would be what you expect on that side of the house. It was showing something else.

?What is that mommy?? Belinda wanted to know. It was like a movie with people riding horses and wearing big cowboy hats riding around just on the other side of that window.

?I don?t know. It looks like a scene from the past, like the west because look, you can see the streets are all dusty and those people look like settlers who might have been alive back in the times of the west.? Mommy knocked on the window to see if it was real and to both of their shock, the people down in the western street looked up to see what that noise was.

?Mommy, it?s like they know we are here. It?s almost like this is a window in time, like a time machine.? Belinda said with excitement.

?I wonder if it will look back at other times. It sure would be fun to see David from the Bible fighting Goliath.? Mommy said and just like that, the window suddenly got very hazy. Then the fog seemed to lift and just like mommy said, they were looking out on a battlefield. They saw the young boy, not that much older than Belinda and he was facing a very tall man, much bigger than anybody they had seen.

?You did it mommy!? Belinda squealed. ?There is David and there is Goliath.? She pointed out and in doing that; she accidentally knocked on the window. Both David and Goliath turned and looked.

?Let me see something.? Mommy said and she undid the latch and pulled on the bottom of the window.? Slowly it rose up and finally she got it open and they were looking directly out onto the ground not far from where David was standing. Slowly, Belinda and her mom stepped out and when they stood up, they could see everything. To their left, up on a ridge was the huge army of the Israelites watching what was going to happen. On the other side, behind Goliath was the army of the Philistines.

Suddenly David turned to them and smiled like he wasn?t scared at all. They came closer but Belinda couldn?t help noticing that Goliath was snarling at her mommy and her and it was scary.

?Do not fear!? David said to her. ?Who is this Philistine to challenge the living God?? And then before they knew it, he swung his sling shot over his head and SWOOSH the stone let go and hit Goliath in the forehead.

?HE?S FALLING MOMMY!? Belinda screamed and she scampered back toward the window. Both Belinda and her mommy got back into the attic and closed the window as the huge giant crashed to the ground.

?Wow!? Mommy said. ?I can?t believe we were right there. We were with one of the greatest heroes of the bible.? She gasped getting her breath.

?Yes, it was so fun!? Belinda said excitedly. ?We could visit all the heroes of the Bible like Solomon, Steven, John the Baptist, even Saint Paul. I wish we could see what it was like for St. Paul.? Belinda said and just like that the fog rose up again and they were looking into a dingy prison cell. Sitting alone in that cell was a small thin figure.

?Belinda, do you know what you did? I think that is Saint Paul there.? Mommy said and she tapped on the window. Paul looked up and squinted at them and then he waved like they should come join him. Carefully mommy raised the window and when it was open, they stepped through and were right there with him.

?Welcome to my cell.? Saint Paul said. ?It isn?t much but I am glad for the visits.?

?Oh Saint Paul, you are the most wonderful evangelist of all time. Aren?t you scared being here in prison?? Belinda asked.

?Oh no.? he said. ?Oh sure, it?s dirty and not very good food and hard to sleep here. But this is what God wants me to do and when God wants you to share the gospel with someone, you don?t mind the bad things that might happen.?

?But aren?t the guards mean to you?? Mommy asked.

?Well they do beat me and torture me sometimes. But when God is inside you, the joy he gives is much bigger than any of that. They might even kill me one day. But Jesus was beaten and died for me and for all of us so it is an honor to go through those things for him.? Paul answered making Belinda and her mom feel so inspired.

?Saint Paul,? Belinda said. ?I am supposed to on a mission trip with my youth group but I am so scared.? she said.

The great evangelist took the little girl?s hand. ?You spend time in prayer and ask God to replace that fear with the excitement he feels for all you are going to do when you go. When you feel God?s excitement for reaching lost people and then you feel how happy he is with you for serving him well, that is a feeling that no fear or worry can ever match. God can give you the peace and confidence to do anything for him.?

Suddenly there was some clanking far away, like huge metal doors were being opened. ?Uh Oh,? Paul said. ?Looks like they are coming for me.? He looked at the big door to his cell and smiled as though he knew God would get him through everything as a victor, not as a victim.

?We better go Belinda.? Mommy said. Before they stepped through the window they waved at Saint Paul and blew him kisses which made him smile even bigger.

?Mommy, I want to read all about all of the adventures of Paul.? Belinda said as they walked down the steps of the attic to close it up for the day.

?Sure, we can read those tonight during our devotions.? Mommy said happily.

?And I have decided to go on that missions trip and find God?s excitement just like he taught us to do.? Belinda said.

?And you know what Belinda?? Mommy added. ?I am going to go as an adult sponsor. All of us can learn to be better witnesses for Jesus, even mommies.? They laughed as the attic door closed and locked once again.

Popularity: 65% [?]

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The Great Tiger

Value: Blessed are the Merciful

?What do you mean I do it wrong? All coyotes hunt.? Rodney defended himself when his best friend George Coyote accused him of being ?too cruel? when he hunted. Rodney was right about one thing. All coyotes and in fact, every living thing hunts for its food and that is the way God created the world to be for now. There is a whispered belief in the coyote community that a world will be one day where all creatures would be at peace together and God would provide all the food and nobody would have to hunt or be hunted but that?s not the way it is now so Rodney knew his instinct to hunt was not evil.

But Rodney had a love of the hunt that was far more intense than any other coyote he knew. He lived for the hunt. But it wasn?t just hunting that he loved. He loved to corner a rabbit or small animal and see how terrified it was and make it stay like that instead of using the methods his mother and uncles taught him to hunt quickly and efficiently. No, to Rodney, the stalking and ?playing with? his pray was exciting.

?That?s what I am talking about.? George said. It?s kind of gross Rodney so why don?t we hunt separately for a while.

George?s scolding and change so he couldn?t hunt with the pack upset Rodney but he considered them all to be just weak and not as good as hunting as he. So he hunted alone. ?I might as well hunt alone.? He said to himself since he was the only one still talking to him. ?I am the only real expert at it. Who needs the pack anyway when I WHOOP?????

Rodney felt himself falling and then there was a THUNK. The “Thunk” was Rodney hitting the bottom. Rodney had toppled down a steep incline that dropped off at the end about 20 feet from the bottom. He stood up and looked around. It wasn?t a pit like the hunters use to capture wild animals. It was a ravine that used to be a dead end canyon but it had been closed off after a rockslide. Three of the walls were sheer slick wall that went up 20 feet before there was a ledge which then sloped up to where Rodney had fallen from. The fourth wall was solid rock from the landslide and unclimbable.

Now Rodney knew what the pack was for. Suddenly he was terrified at being trapped at the bottom like this. Rodney was trapped. He paced from end to end of the tiny space he had to himself and tried his best to figure out how to escape but no good. He yelped for help but no good. He was starting to panic. He knew very well that he could starve to death in this pit without anyone even knowing he was here. ?This couldn?t get much worse.? Rodney said to himself pacing and trying to leap up the walls only to fall with a painful YELP!

Then it got worse. Night began to settle in. As Rodney strained his eyes to see if anyone was coming to help him, he saw a huge shadow pass over the ridge. Then that shadow moved down the embankment and settled in on a very wide flat bed of grass right above the 20 foot rock wall. Rodney froze in place but did not make a sound for fear of what it could be. He hunkered down in fear trembling and finally fell asleep.

Before Rodney opened his coyote eyes, he heard the rumble. It was like a loud roar of one of the human engines but different. It was an animal. And it was coming from where that dark shape was last night. It was almost like a purr but very very loud. Slowly he let one eye open and then he squeezed it shut in terror. It could not be. But he forced his eyes open and it was true. What sat on that ledge was as large as a small rhinoceros but it was covered in a smooth matt of stripped fur that could only belong to one being. They said it was a myth, something someone made up to scare little coyotes but there he was. It was Havohej, the Great Tiger. He stared directly at the tiny coyote with piercing eyes but he did not blink. And he was purring.

?Wake up little one.? The mighty tiger spoke. Rodney reluctantly opened his eyes and stood to face his doom.

?Are you Havohej, the Great Tiger?? He said with his voice quivering.

?Yes and I know you. You are Rodney, the cowardly coyote who makes his hunt a game of terror for those he finds, who finds cruelty to be fun and a way to take joy where there is none inside you.?

?Are you going to kill me?? Rodney said his voice seeming squeaky and small more like a mouse than a predatory coyote. Suddenly a mighty roar burst from the chest of the powerful cat. The roar was so startling and powerful it blew Rodney off his feet and he hit the wall opposite where Hovohej was laying.

?Truly you deserve to be killed and eaten. Justice would even call for terror to enter you before your doom. But redemption is a more powerful law than revenge.?

Then Havohej did something Rodney did not expect. He rose and walked with huge cat strides to the loose rock where the landslide had occurred. He looked at the stones piled there and then he crouched and released a massive roar 10 times more earth shattering than the first one. Rodney just put his head between his paws and whimpered at the cat?s terrible anger. But instead of leaping to the pit to destroy the tiny coyote, something else happened. A huge stone was loosened by the roar of the Great Tiger. It teetered in place and then suddenly, it toppled into the pit giving Rodney a perfect stepping stone to escape. Havohej returned to where he had been laying and turned his back on Rodney and laid his head down showing that he was not watching.

Quick as he could climb Rodney was up and out of the pit. He stood at the top of the incline looking down at the mysterious beast. He started to run away and join the hunt for he was very hungry but something stopped him and he went back. He began down the incline toward the huge cat and then he sat in front of Havohej straight up, ears perked at stared at the wide face of the sleeping Tiger. Finally one eye of the cat opened and he said ?What is it you want little coyote??

?Why?? Rodney asked. It was all that needed to be said. Hovohej raised his powerful regal head and looked into the eyes of the little beast and then he spoke.

?Hunting is noble and to be done with dignity and grace. You have heard the law of the jungle is survival of the fittest. That is incorrect. The law of the jungle is mercy. It is that way because the law of the creator of all life is mercy. He gives mercy to us, his creation and to his chief creation, mankind when he sent his son to redeem this fallen place. So too, I gave mercy to you and you give mercy to others. And every act of mercy you give will be as though you are the servant of the most high himself. Go little coyote and live in mercy, live in peace and live in the grace of your creator. Do this and you will never go hungry.?

With that, Havohej stood and leapt seemingly straight up and disappeared into the jungle. At that moment, he knew that the Great Tiger did not come to destroy Rodney. He came to teach him, about his creator and his son who died even for a lowly coyote. He came to teach him how to live in the image of that great creator. Instead of death, Havohej gave life and instead of becoming a meal, Rodney became a beloved member of the jungle society not because of his great skill at the hunt but because of his great mercy.

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