This joke just came in via email. Although it’s an old one, it seems a perfect parable for our time:

A few years ago the Pope visited New York and was shown the sights by Henry Kissinger. The two men visited the Bronx Zoo, where Kissinger showed the Pope to a lion’s cage. A young lamb was also in the cage, snuggled up against the lion.

The Pope was amazed. “For 2000 years, we’ve prayed for signs of the messianic era and the fulfillment of the prophecy that the lion will lie down next to the lamb. I see you must really be a man of peace. How did you do it?”

To which Kissinger replied, “All it takes is a new lamb every day!”

I especially like the type-casting of Henry Kissinger as the Impresario of New Lambs…