Nirmal Merchant

At the end of a really long day as I felt sapped out of energy.. this joke made me laugh aloud.. Big thanks to my dear friend and colleague Vishnu Srinivasan for forwarding me this cute and witty joke..

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 and he saw a 7 foot Grizzly charge towards him.
He looked again, and the bear was even closer.
He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that moment the Atheist cried out

"Oh myGod!..............."

Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came outof the sky,"You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit the creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of the predicament?"."Am I to count on you as a believer?".

The atheist looked directly into the light, "It wouldbe hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat meas a Christian now, but could you perhaps make the BEAR a Christian?".

"Very Well", said the voice.
The light went out.
The sounds of the forest resumed.
The bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke,

"Lord bless this food, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen"