JOE AND THE GENIE

Let's call our character Joe. Yes, Joe, a simple, short, and ordinary name. Joe was a young business man aspiring to greatness. Maybe someday he would be one of the executives in the building where he worked. With a harder than normal work load, it was busy, busy, busy. It all made Joe tired. At the end of the day he straightened up his desk. Throwing unwanted notes in the wastebaskets, washing out his coffee cup, putting on his coat, and turning off the computer (we have to turn off the computer), he made his way to the elevator punched 'Garage Level 1'. Out of the elevator, to his car, and he's on his way home from that hectic day at the office.

As he started home he decided to take the road that goes along the beach, for Joe lived near the ocean. Instead of taking the freeway he chose the ocean road where there's very few cars. He stopped on his way at one of those quick stop places and bought a soda drink ( I don't know what kind - just a soda drink).

He decided to stop off at the beach to unwind. Out of his car and down to the beach. After walking a short distance, he came to a medium rock (guess you could call it a small boulder) not far from the other larger boulders that were put there for a break-water effect, in case large waves were swept ashore. He sat down on the rock, sipped his soda, and watched the waves come in off the ocean. After sitting there a spell, he noticed a shiny object a few yards away. The object had been washed on to the beach by one of the waves. Out of curiosity Joe went to fetch the object. He goes back and sits on the boulder.

The object was a lamp of some sort. Yeah, that was what it was. A lamp. But not an ordinary lamp. Joe had found an Aladdin type lamp. He looks at it closely and says to himself -"It couldn't be, it just couldn't be, or could it" So Joe, in his fantasy of see Genies pop out of lamps in the movies, decided to see what would happen if he rubbed the lamp. As he began to rub the lamp, it started to shake in his hands. Joe dropped the lamp on the sand and watched as it still moving on its own.

All of a sudden, a dark smoke began to come out of the lamp. "Naw - it couldn't be" mused Joe. But it did happen. The smoke rose a few feet in the air - and Whooph, Whooph (I guess that is how one would describe the sound). To the amazement of Joe, the smoke actually did turn in to the likeness of a figure. The figure was tall and wore a long cloak type of robe with a hood on it. Joe was even more curious now. He asked, "Are you a real Genie?" The answer was "YES-I am a real Genie." All that Joe could recall about Genies were that some were midgets, some were big and fat, and some were beautiful women. But this one was wholly different from those. Joe asks the Genie "Do I get three wishes and do you grant them." He didn't expect the routine answer. But, Joe was surprised. The Genie sad "Yes - but I need to warn you - that what you wish for, may not happen just like you wish it. But you can go ahead and ask."

By this time Joe was in the height of his fantasy. He thought, and thought, and thought - "What can I wish for first." Finally he asked for his first wish. "I wish for a place in the lovely country-side, where there are flowers all around, and where there is peace and quiet, and, where I can get real rest." About that time there was a loud bumping sound - no two of them - and Joe was hoping that his wish was coming true. But unknowing to Joe one of the larger boulders (piled up behind him) had been dislodged and came tumbling down and landed squarely on Joe.

Joe's wish was coming true. There was the lovely place in the country-side, with flowers all around, and where there was peace and quiet - and yes, where Joe could rest. Joe was buried in the place of his first wish.

The moral of this story - A word to the wise, you may not get what you wish for - or you may get more than you bargain for.

By Eldon Scott (my Uncle/cs) Feb 2001

Return to the Non-bible Articles page

Home / Bible studies / Bible Survey / Special Studies / General Articles / Non-Bible Articles / Sermons / Sermon Outlines / Links / Questions and Answers / What Saith The Scriptures /Daily Devotional / Correspondence Courses / What is the Church of Christ / Book: Christian Growth / Website Policy / E-mail / About Me /