Watered Down Duck Soup

Okay, so here’s the worst joke in the world, until the next worst joke comes along. Most people know who Ludwig Van Beethoven is. When he passed away he was buried in a churchyard, and a couple of days later the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard a strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the preacher to come and listen to it. The preacher bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming up from the ground. Frightened, the preacher ran and got the town magistrate. When the magistrate arrived he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment and said, “Ah, yes. That’s Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, being played backwards.” He listened for a while longer, then said, “There’s the Eighth Symphony, and it’s backwards also! Most puzzling.” So the magistrate kept listening; “There’s the Seventh; the Sixth; the Fifth” Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate. He stood up and announced to the crowd that had assembled at the cemetery, “My fellow citizens, there’s nothing to worry about here. It’s just Beethoven, decomposing.

The story is told of a young man who came to the door of a monastery with a large duck in his arms. His uncle, who happened to be one of the monks, answered the knock. “Here, uncle, this is a gift for you and the others. Eat it in good health.” The uncle was very grateful, and that night, with the duck dressed and stuffed, he and the others enjoyed a generous meal. A few days later another knock came on the door. “I am a friend of the nephew who brought you the duck. I’ve been down on my luck lately and I wondered if I could impose on you for a bite to eat and a place to sleep for the night?” “Of course, my son, you are most welcome.” That night he joined the monks for some warm duck soup. A few days later another knock on the door. “Hi, I am a friend of the friend of the nephew who brought the duck. Could I impose on you for a bit of hospitality?” He too was welcomed… more duck soup. A few more days went by, then came another knock. “Hello, I am a friend of the friend of the friend of the boy who brought the duck.” That night at dinner he was presented with a steaming bowl of hot water. He tasted it, looked up and asked, “What is this?” The uncle monk replied, “This is the soup of the soup of the soup of the duck my nephew brought.”

[1 Timothy 4: 1-8] Charles H. Spurgeon has been described by one historian as one who stood firm against what he called “the ‘down grade’ in religion.” “Were Spurgeon on the scene today, he no doubt would be appalled at the superficiality of much that is professed to be Christianity.” As a little side note, I would inject that the founding fathers of this once God-fearing nation would also be appalled at the down grading of the Constitution of these United States of America and the superficiality of much that is professed as rights under said constitution. We Christians and faithful citizens have allowed ourselves to be gradually desensitized by religious and secular pluralism, postmodernism, and political correctness of our day, to the point that both our religion and government are nothing but a “watered-down” version of the potent Christianity described in the New Testament which made us a God-fearing people grateful to God for our religious and personal freedoms in a land He so graciously gave us. If you’re tired of “watered-down” duck soup, get back to the Bible and the voting booth; today!