House Church Talk - the injured bride

Mike Sangrey msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Fri Aug 20 01:50:27 EDT 2004


Why!!!!!  David!!!!!  You forgot the last line!!!!

See below.

On Thu, 2004-08-19 at 20:40, David Anderson wrote:
>       Hi all, 
> 
> I have enjoyed the stories, analogies, and parables lately.     
> 
>      David Anderson
> 
> 
> Here's another to encourage us not to be combative with others:
> 
> The wedding guests have gathered in great anticipation; the ceremony to 
> be performed today has long been awaited. The orchestra begins to play an 
> anthem, and the choir rises in proper precision. The bridegroom and his 
> attendants gather in front of the chapel. One little saint, her flowered 
> hat bobbing, leans to her companion and whispers, "Isn't he handsome?" 
> The response is agreement, "My, yes. The handsomest" 
> 
> The sound of the organ rises, a joyous announcement that the bride is 
> coming. Everyone stands and strains to get a proper glimpse of the 
> beauty. Then a horrible gasp explodes from the congregation. This is a 
> bride like no other. In she stumbles. Something terrible has happened! 
> One leg is twisted; she limps pronouncedly. The wedding garment is 
> tattered and muddy; great rents in her dress leave her scarcely modest. 
> Black bruises can be seen welting her bare arms; the bride¹s nose is 
> bloody. An eye is swollen, yellow and purple in its discoloration. 
> Patches of hair look as if they had actually been pulled from her scalp. 
> 
> Fumbling over the keys, the organist begins again after his shocked 
> pause. The attendants cast their eyes down. The congregation mourns 
> silently. Surely the bridegroom deserved better than this! That handsome 
> prince who has kept himself faithful to his love should find consummation 
> with the most beautiful of women not this. 
> 
> His bride, the church, has been fighting again.   
> 

And then the groom was heard to whsiper...but just loud enough for the
bride to hear...

Isn't she the most beautiful bride you've ever seen?

-----

Ironic, isn't it?  The two faces of the Church.

<smile>

-- 
Mike Sangrey
msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Landisburg, Pa.
                        "The first one last wins."
            "A net of highly cohesive details reveals the truth."


House Church Talk is sponsored by the House Church Network.

House Church Talk has been renamed. These discussions, via the web, now occur at the Radically Christian Cafe.