There once was a man who, after being inspired by a speaker, decided to
become a missionary.  So he sold his belongings and traveled to a distant land
to spread his understanding of Christ.  He was young and energetic, and
everywhere he met with people who were eager to learn from him and grow.  He
traveled from village to village, teaching people of the gospel of love.
	He finally reached one village where, as he tried to speak, the people
began to ridicule and mock him.  He was very hurt by this, and tried to defend
his way of thinking, but the people mocked him all the more.  Finally, dejected
and confused, he fled the street corner where he'd been preaching and went hom.
	This continued to happen for about a month.  Every day, the young
missionary would go to the town square and speak to the people passing by.  And
every day, a group of young people would come by to heckle and harass him.  It
was plain to see that he was suffering, for he would always look at them with
hurt in his eyes.  One day, it became too much for him, and he raised his hand
to strike one of them.  The young village boy, being swift, hit him first and
knocked him into the dirt.  Shaking with anger and frustration, the missionary
picked himself up off the ground and went home amid the laughter and jeers of
the crowd.
	The next day he was out preaching again, but this time, when the boys
came by to heckle, he smiled at them with an open spirit.  A bystander, who had
witnessed his anger the day before, was confused by this change and asked him,
"Why do you continue to preach, when they don't hear you?"
	The missionary paused in his preaching and smiled at the bystander. 
"Let me tell you a story," he said.
	"When I first came here, I was on fire to teach people how to think the
way I did.  When I realized that not everyone wanted to think the way I did, I
was disillusioned, but I continued to preach out of the hope that someone would
change and realize the truth of my words.
	"I came to understand that my way of thinking wasn't for everyone.  I
continued to preach then because I didn't want to be like them
	"Yesterday, I lost control of my temper and almost struck the boy. 
God, however, was quicker and the boy hit me first.  I went home in a rage, but
on the way I realized what Christ meant when he said, Turn the other cheek.
	"All creation worships God in its very being.  There is no action that
does not proclaim the glory of God.  When I preach, I am worshipping God.  When
you listen and are touched, you worship God in yourself.
	"When those boys ridicule me, and laugh and shout and mock, they too
are worshipping God.  So I offer myself as an object of their ridicule, in
order that they may worship God in their own way.  The river bed does not make
a distinction between the raging flood and the gentle flow.  It's all part of
the river, and it's all part of the mystery of God.
	"When you shoot an arrow at a target, something has to be the target. 
I am offering myself as the target of God's love, which penetrates me in the
form of the mocking from these young boys."
	With that, he stood and continued speaking to the people passing by,
while the boys continued to mock him.  He glanced at one of the boys, saw the
belligerence and hostility in his eyes, and looked deeper, into his soul -- and
smiled, the clear, beautiful smile of one who understands, one who is perfectly
free.

						-James Rushing