THE PUSH

A man and his wife are awakened at 3 o’clock in the morning by a loud pounding on their door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger in the pouring rain is asking for a push.

"Not a chance!" says the husband. "It’s three o’clock in the morning!" He slams the door and returns to bed.

"Who was it?" asks his wife. "Just a drunken stranger asking for a push." he answers.

"Did you help him?" She asks.

"No, I didn’t. It’s three in the morning and it’s raining out."

"Well, you’ve got a short memory" says his wife. "Can’t you remember about three months ago when we broke down on vacation and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him."

The man does as he is told and gets dressed and goes out into the pouring rain and calls out into the dark. "Hello? Are you still there?"

"Yes," comes the answer.

"Do you still want a push?" calls out the husband.

"Yes, please!" comes the reply from the dark.

"Where are you, I can’t see you?" asks the husband.

"I’m over here...on the swing."

(From a sermon by Peter Loughman, "The Light And The Lie" 1/12/2009)