4/28/08 William F. Henness
To Tell a Story
William F. Henness
People are such strange creatures.
If you were to tell someone that yesterday an ax-head came off the handle and went into a pond, and the ax-head floated, no one would believe it. But they believe an ax-head floated some 3,000 years ago in another land.
Tell someone that a donkey spoke intelligently in English and it will not be believed, but tell them it happened some 3,000 years ago, and they will believe it.
Tell them you saw a preacher step out on Lake Michigan and walk on water and it will not be believed, but tell them a preacher walked on a lake some 2,000 years ago and it will be believed.
Tell someone that your niece is a virgin but she is pregnant and it will definitely not be believed, but tell them a young virgin was pregnant some 2,000 years ago and it definitely will be believed.
Tell to tell someone that you know of a man who had not learned German, but he spoke fluent German, and you won’t be believed, but tell them of someone who knew one language and they spoke in another language about 2,000 years ago and it will be believed.
Try this: tell someone that you heard of a woman who died and was buried and three days later she was alive, and they will laugh at you, but tell them of a man who died and was buried for three days and later was seen for some days after that by many people, and that story will be believed.
People are a strange lot. They are reluctant to believe current stories that are absurd, but they will readily believe it if it happened long ago.
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