And he spake unto them in parables on this wise,

Once upon a time, there were two children of a poor woodcutter and their names were Hansel and Gretel. And the woodcutter was such a poor father (in more ways than one) that he had to send his children away into the forest to find someplace else to live. So away Hansel and Gretel went into the dark forest. By and by, the sun began to set and they still had found no place to live. And Hansel and Gretel cried and cried, because they were cold and hungry and had no place to sleep, and they wished they were home, because at least then they would have a place to sleep, even if they were still cold and hungry. And then, just as the last rays of the sun were fading into dusk, they came into a little clearing in the forest, and there they saw it! It was a house made of gingerbread, and it had icing and sprinkles and all kinds of other goodies plastered all over it. And the children gave a cry of delight and began stuffing their mouths with the gingerbread and treats.

Just then, the door of the cottage swung open, and there stood a woman with a wrinkled face and gnarled hands. She was dressed like the Beachys that Hansel and Gretel had seen in town. She had a solid colored cape dress and a covering with strings. There was no question that she was a Beachy, and a conservative Beachy at that. “Come into my house children,” said the woman, “and I will give you a place to sleep, and good food to eat.” And the children looked at each other and whispered, “Should we go in?” For they remembered that they had once heard a story about two children being almost eaten by a witch in a gingerbread house. And Hansel looked at the woman’s conservative clothes and said, “It’s OK, look how she’s dressed. She must be a very good woman, just look at her clothes. She can’t be like the woman in the story we heard. “

So Hansel and Gretel went into the house, and the witch ate them for supper, which they deserved. Because anyone who thinks that just because someone is wearing the right clothes must be a righteous person is sure to regret their error.

And he spake another parable, saying,

Once upon a time, there lived three little pigs, all together in one big brick house, which their father had built years ago. And the three little pigs were very happy and had little to worry about.

One day a Big Bad Wolf knocked on the door of the big brick house. “Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in,” said the Big Bad Wolf. “Not by the hair of our chinny-chin-chins!” The three pigs replied.

Now, you might think that the Wolf huffed and puffed and tried to blow their house in, but he knew that wouldn’t work because his dad had tried it and it hadn’t worked for him. So the Big Bad Wolf smiled and said, “But little pigs, you don’t understand. I may look like a big, bad wolf, but I’m not really. I am Little Bo-Peep’s lost sheep, it’s just that I decided to dress up like this.” And the three little pigs opened the door, and the wolf gobbled them up, because while it is true that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing; there is no such thing as a sheep in wolves clothing.

Regards,

HBB