GC the Pig

There was once a piglet named GC. He was a very fat little piglet who loved to travel around the countryside, visiting churches along the way. One day he paused outside a tidy little white-painted timber church. The sign outside the building read “God’s Church.”

A stately giraffe was mowing the lawn. Catching sight of the piglet, she switched off the mower and came to the fence.

“Good morning, Mr Pig.” said the giraffe. “What a lovely day it is today. Are you just passing through our town?”

“Well, I thought I might stay here for a while” replied GC. “I like visiting different churches, you see. My name’s GC.”

“Goodness me” said the giraffe. “So’s mine! What does your GC stand for?”

“Gossip and Criticism” said the piglet. “I love it. I can’t get enough of it. Especially in churches.”

“Oh dear,” said the giraffe, “that really won’t do at all. We don’t want gossip and criticism in God’s church”

“Well what does your name stand for then?” asked Gossip Criticism.

“I’m Grace Charity” replied the giraffe.

“I prefer Gossip and Criticism myself. The more you have of it the bigger and fatter it gets.”

“I don’t doubt it.” replied Grace Charity. “Look, I’m sorry, but we can’t let you in here.”

“I know” said Gossip Criticism “What if I had a name change? Something else starting with GC perhaps? What about Good Christian?”

“Just about everyone in our congregation is a good Christian” said Grace Charity.

“Greed and Corruption?”

“Definitely not!”

“I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss” said the pig. “At the last town they had no problem with Gossip and Criticism. They fed me every Sunday, most of the days in between and especially after church board meetings.”

“I’ve thought about it” said Grace Charity. “How would you feel about becoming Gentle Compassion?”

“Does that grow every time you feed it?”

“I think that if you make it a permanent change, you will find it will grow within you, especially in your heart.” said Grace Charity.

“You know what” said the piglet “I think I’d like to be Gentle Compassion. I think I’d like to be one of the Good Christians and stay here in God’s Church. And maybe if I give up Gossip and Criticism I can be a Good Companion too. Do you think so Grace?”

“I think you’ve made a good decision. I think in your heart you always wanted to be Gentle Compassion” said Grace Charity the giraffe. “Come on inside now and let’s have a cup of tea.”