A Parable - with you in the story.

A Parable - with you in the story.



Let me tell you a parable with you in the story.


You have built a wonderful modern house but it is located in a tough neighborhood. A very tough neighborhood.


You begin to be pestered by a crazy guy who accosts you every day. He claims that you owe him a million dollars.


He threatens you and your family. He resorts to violence. So you give him a thousand dollars, just to keep him happy.


"Aha!", he shouts. "I told you you owed me a million dollars. Why would you give me anything if I was wrong? Now give me the rest", he demands.


You don't know what to do. Even the authorities can't, or won't, help you.


He comes banging on your door every day. He hits your kids. He threatens your wife. He punches you in the face.


During one attack he claims that he is homeless so, in order to appease him, you let him sleep in the shed hoping that this will quieten him down.


But it doesn't. It only makes him madder.


He now claims that you are living in his house.

You had the deeds to your property but you never claimed those rights and anyway more recent bye-laws have made your claims less relevent today than they were when you began building your home.


So, from your shed, he is bringing in his friends and supporters to back up his demands that you vacate his home.

They bring his case to the authorities who give you an order to vacate part of your property for the sake of peace and quiet, and good neighborliness, you understand.


You refuse, at least until you get some guarantee that you will be left with part of your property, but nobody is going to guarantee that for you.


You insist that you are keeping what you own, but they tell you you are being unreasonable.


The neighborhood bully is going round all the other householders and signing them up on a petition to have him declared as the owner of part of the house.


With a few more signatures this is going to the superior court for rubber stamping some day soon.


The moral of the story is that you are Israel.

What would you do when you wake up from this nightmare and find that this is reality?