Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Elephant







In  1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating  from Northwestern University .

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing
with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully

He got down on  one knee, inspected the elephants foot, 
and found a large  piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his  knife,
after which the elephant gingerly put down its  foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a  rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several  tense moments.

Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.

Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo 
with his teenage son.

As they approached the elephant  enclosure, one of the creatures turned and
walked over to  near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing.

The  large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, 
then put it down.

The elephant did that  several times then trumpeted loudly,
 all the while staring at  the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, 
Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant.

Peter  summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, 
and made  his way into the enclosure.

He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs

and slammed him against the railing, killing him  instantly.


Probably wasn't the  same elephant.


16 comments:

Unknown said...

The Prophet Thiel responds...
It doesnt matter what happened to Peter, as there is a resurrection someday and all will be well.

Dave Pack Responds...
It served him right. Elephants are unclean animals, Peter was not in the only true church, and he was not tithing to the Restored Church of God. Disobedience comes with penalties.

Gerald Flurry Responds...
If Peter was one of your relatives, you are not allowed to attend his funeral as Peter was not part of the Philadelphia era.

RCM Responds...
Why didnt Peter call for a fast for the Elephant first instead of relying on carnal human means first?

I Respond...
What the heck does this story have to do with anything?? I suspect it is a set up pitch for another post!

Luv,
Joe Moeller
Cody, WY
Cody, WY

Anonymous said...

Good job Joe!!

Ted Johnston of CGI and the Surprising God Blog would call that Elephoresis ! dd

Anonymous said...

Elephants in the room?!..
Cool story bro!

Corky said...

Hey, maybe the elephant forgot? Or, maybe the elephant started trusting humans because of Peter and ended up in a zoo - that would piss me off.

Anonymous said...

An older version of the same joke:

A man was lost in the jungle. He heard a noise and he saw an elephant with a thorn in his foot. So the man took it out. Then the elephant said, "Can I do anything for you?" The man said, "Yes, take me to the end of the jungle." So the elephant did.

Many years went by. One day the man was at a circus and all the elephants came in. One elephant looked at the man and went to him. The man thought that it must be the elephant he had helped many years ago. He picked the man up and smashed him on the ground. It was the wrong elephant.

Unknown said...

UCG responds...
We don't know if it was the same Elephant. We had better take a vote to decide. We'll call for a meeting of the Council of Elders before we can make a decision on this matter. Peter probably should have sought our wise counsel, but we can't be sure. We'll have to have a number of meetings before we can make a judgment in this difficult matter. Maybe we better vote in another president, or wait until next year, or the year after. In the meantime, we're all in agreement and everything is fine here...really.I think.

Byker Bob said...

Animals and their interaction with mankind can be fascinating. It would have been nicer had it been the same elephant, but, I guess nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least Peter's heart was in the right place when he saw what he thought was an old friend.

Seriously though, I've been amazed by real life animal stories over the years. Most people don't realize it, but according to several bear hunters, a bear, when fatally wounded will bawl like a baby. It's been described as being just heart-breaking to observe.

Also, apparently, there is a certain species of shrew that will, when backed into a corner, will make a fist and wave it at it's comparatively huge pursuer.

Ain't it just fascinatin'?

BB

Leonardo said...

Animals are fascinating - here's an example of a little dog helping out another one with vision problems by serving as his seeing eye dog!

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/video/us/2013/03/22/nat-pkg-dog-with-seeing-eye-dog.cnn

Leonardo said...

Anon 5:52, why exactly? Give me some compelling reasons to do so. Convince me. Exercise your brain for a change - reason things out rather than just lazily grunting out inane two-word statements that for all practical purposes mean nothing.

Head Usher said...

Once when I was out for an evening walk, I stumbled upon what I think was a mole who must have tumbled from the lawn down into the gutter against a rather high curb. Defenseless, all he could do was run from me, but he wasn't very fast. Eventually he turned around to face me and stood his ground knowing full well that he was no match for me. I had no desire to kill the little guy (probably because he wasn't anywhere near my property) but he had no way of knowing that. What a courageous little guy! I was so impressed. I could only hope to be as courageous in a life and death situation. I learned more from that little mole than I ever learned from any preacher.

Unknown said...

Once, when my cat had died across the street at a neighbor's house, I went over with a shovel to pick him up, As I was crossing the street, a rat was running in the middle of the street. He stopped, looked up at me with his nose wiggling. I broght the shovel down on his head, killing him instantly. It was a bullseye! I learned a lot from that little rat. To hell with being courageous. Just run like hell!

Velvet said...

"I broght the shovel down on his head, killing him instantly."

Our resident "New Covenant believer," ladies and gentlemen. Charming.

I spent a goodly portion of my formative years roaming 150 acres of mostly unspoiled woodland. Not that I roamed ALL 150 acres, mind you; but we've always lived in rural areas, close to nature.

My thing is bugs, though, I've always been fascinated by them. We also raised cockatiels, but didn't have a clue what we were doing. If I lived in a temperate enough zone to have a proper aviary, I would do so again...but I don't, so I am left to admire the hardy blue and grey jays that pop up on my deck...they're ticked off at me because I had a neighbour cut down "their" trees...which would have taken out half of the house, in the last hurricane.

As for the moral of Gary's little allegory, I'm not sure what it is he's trying to imply, or set up. There's an elephant in the room we're all not talking about, but it's the wrong elephant? I dunno. I got nothing. Gary?

Unknown said...

Velvet said...
"I broght the shovel down on his head, killing him instantly."

Our resident "New Covenant believer," ladies and gentlemen. Charming.

MY COMMENT: No, Velvet. That happened when I was in the Old Covenant, like you. :-)

Anonymous said...

Here's another ending-

A group of UCG people cried, "HEY! That's MY elephant!"
Another group of UCG people cried, "No, that's MY elephant!"

And lo and behold... thus were the makings of yet another splinter group from the trunk of armstrongism.

Velvet said...

"when I was in the Old Covenant, like you"

So riddle me this, Steve; if I accept that salvation is the free unearned gift of the grace of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, how am I "in the Old Covenant"?

Because my statement is exactly what the Church used to teach. (Pages 7-8, from the last paragraph on page 7, through the first few paragraphs on page 8, in that file.)

Not that I need to justify myself to you, at all; there is only One judge of all of us. And I apologize for misreading your comment; you did not make it plain enough that you were that bloodthirsty before the changes. So, tell me, with your "New Covenant understanding" would you still kill the rat?

Anonymous said...

Is the rat Herbert Armstrong?