100314- A joke

.....A religious conference was being conducted in the American South and delegates from all over the world were attending. A southern Baptist preacher went to an airport in D.C. to pick up two attendees that he offered to drive the rest of the way. He greeted the rabbi from Israel and the brahmin from India and once they reached the highway exit he told them, "Since we don't really need to register until tomorrow, I figured I'd treat you boys to the scenic route and get to know the real America. Y'all need a chance to see people who live Christianity every day, not just lecture about it." His two guests agreed this would be a good idea and as soon as they reached the Virginia border he chose an exit that would take them through farm country where they saw everything from Little League games to prisoner work details. They stopped at privately owned general stores and mini-strip malls, saw barbecue picnics and humble wooden churches.

.....In fact, they were enjoying themselves so much that they lost track of time. It was already pretty dark when they ran out of gas on a country road , and to make matters worse, it started raining heavily. Seeing a small farmhouse, they hurried to it and knocked on the door. Although it was late, the farmer answered warily and when the preacher explained the situation the farmer replied, "Well, come in out of he rain. You're certainly welcome to spend the night, but your real problem is they ain't no place to sleep. I only got one bed for me and the wife. The couch there is good for one more and I guess one of you could use my old army cot. But once you set that up there really isn't even any floor space. Tell you what though, that barn out back has gotta be dry as a bone. It don't look like much outside, but I make a point of keeping it water-proof. I can't afford any sick animals. But whoever sleeps out there would have to make do with a bale of hay."

....."This is not a problem," said the brahmin, "comfort is just a material concern. Many in my homeland survive with less. If I face a necessary hardship in this life it only means I will be that much closer to enlightenment in the next. I would be honored to sleep in the barn." With that settled, the farmer pointed out the path to the barn and the brahmin disappeared into the rain.

.....Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door. It was the brahmin. "I apologize. I cannot tell you how embarrassing this is, but whenever I lay down on the hay, the cow nearest me would get up and move. They apparently are not accustomed to sleeping near humans. I cannot bring myself to cause an innocent animal discomfort. It could come to bear very negatively in my next life!" "Don't worry about it," said the rabbi. "There's no real harm done. You can take my place and I'll sleep in the barn. Jews have faced persecution for thousands of years. If the worst I have to complain about is roughing it for a night, I should consider myself lucky." And so the rabbi disappeared into the rain.

.....Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door. "God strike me down for a fool! What was I thinking! Of course there are going to be pigs in the barn! As matter of fact, there were cloven hooves all over the place out there. I thought I could just ignore it, but... I can't sleep out there. It may be clean, but it isn't pure." "Oh, for cryin' out loud!" shouted the preacher. "I can't believe a bunch of grown men can't just make do! I never heard of such a ridiculous bunch of--" and continued blustering on his way out the door, "-- in all my days, so help me, Jesus, if I ever so much as--" and so on, his voice gradually fading as he made his way down the path, eventually lost in the sound of the rain.

.....Twnety minutes later there was a knock on the door. It was the pig and the cow.