A farmer was being questioned by a lawyer during a trial concerning an accident on a highway. The lawyer asked the farmer, "Is it true, Mr. Jones, that when the highway patrol officer came over to you after the accident, you said, 'I feel fine'?"

Farmer Jones began to answer by saying, "Well, now, me and my cow Bessie were driving down the highway in my pickup truck when..." At this point the attorney interrupted, saying, "Please just answer my question with a yes or a no; did you say to the officer, 'I feel fine'?" Farmer Jones then tried to answer the question again. He said, "Well, now, me and my cow Bessie were driving down the highway in my pickup truck when..." The attorney stopped him again and this time asked the judge to intervene. He said, "Your honor, would you please instruct the witness to simply answer my question with a yes or a no." The judge said, "Why don't we just let him tell his story?"

So, Farmer Jones told his story. "Me and my cow Bessie were driving down the highway in my pickup truck. Bessie, of course, was in the bed of the truck. I heard a loud bang and knew that I had blown out a tire. The truck went flying off the road and landed in a ditch. I went flying out of the truck on one side of the highway and Bessie landed on the other side. When I woke up, the highway patrol officer came over to me and said that Bessie was in awful shape. He then went back over to Bessie, pulled out his gun and shot her dead. Then he came over to me and asked me how I felt and I said, " 'I feel fine, just fine.' "

Fear causes us to do things and say things that we might not do otherwise. Fear can be a powerful motivator in our lives. Too often fear is a destructive force with little redeeming value. In this scripture reading, the Apostle Paul encourages us to "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...." He even goes on to say that we have been called to this experience of peace in Jesus Christ. We were built and designed by God to be a people of faith, not fear. Faith in the one who redeems us will lead to peace.

Source: Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1991. Used by permission.