A Catholic Priest, a Hindu Guru, and a Muslim Mullah all served as religious advisers to the theological students at Harvard University.

They would get together two or three times a week for tea for discussions and strategies.

One day, they agreed that preaching to people was not really all that hard.

A real challenge would be to preach to animals, like a bear.

One thing led to another and they decided to do an experiment.

They would all go out into the jungles of the world, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it.

A month later they all met to discuss their experience in the jungle.

The Catholic Priest had his arm in a sling, was on crutches, and had various bandages on his body and limbs, spoke first:

“Well,” he says, “I went into the jungle to find a bear. When I found one I began to read to him from the Holy Book. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began growl and slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, holy Mary Mother of Christ, he became as gentle as a lamb. The Pope is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.”

The Hindu Guru spoke next. He was in a wheelchair, with an IV drip in his arm, and both legs in casts. In his best fire and brimstone oratory he exclaimed:

“Vell, brothers, I vent out the jungle of India. As you know vee don’t sprinkle vater. I vent out and I found a bear. And then I began to read to the bear from our Hindu Holy Book. But that bear vanted nothing to do vith me. So I took hold of him and vee began to wrestle. Vee wrestled down one hill, up another and down another until vee came to the River Ganges. So I quickly dunked him and his hairy soul in the vater. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. Vee spent the rest of the day praising Lord Shiva.”

The Priest and the Guru both looked down at the Muslim Mullah, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with monitors and IV’s running in and out of him. He was in really bad shape. The Mullah looked up and said:

“Looking back on it, I don’t think it was a very good idea to start by first circumcising the bear ….”