Old But Gold
The Pope decided that all the Pakistanis had to
leave Italy. Naturally
there was a big uproar from the Pakistani community.
So the Pope made a
deal. He would have a debate with a member of the
Pakistani community.
If the Pakistani won, the Pakistanis could stay. If
the Pope won, the Pakistanis would leave.
The Pakistanis realized that they had no choice. So
they picked a middle-aged man named Bala to represent them. Bala
asked for one addition to the debate. To make it more interesting,
neither side would be allowed to talk. The Pope agreed.
The day of the great debate came. Bala and the Pope
sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his
hand and showed three fingers. Bala looked back at him and raised one
finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his
head. Bala pointed to the ground where he sat.
The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Bala pulled out an
apple.
The Pope stood up and said, “I give up. This man is
too good. The Pakistanis can stay.”
An hour later, the cardinals were all around the
Pope asking him what had happened. The Pope said, "First I held up
three
fingers to
represent the trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind
me
that there was still one God common to all religions.
Then I waved my finger around me to show him that
God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and
showing
that God was also right here with us.
I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God
absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of
original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"
Meanwhile, the Pakistani community had crowded
around Bala. “What happened?” they asked. “Well” said Bala, “First he
said
to me that the
Pakistanis had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one
of
us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared
of
Pakistanis. I let him know that we were staying right here.”
“Yes, yes,.. and then???” asked the crowd. “I don’t know”, said Bala,
“He
took out his lunch,
and I took out mine!”
