hidden image

Bob’s Banter by Robert Clements ‘No Room!’ Shout Mobs and Lawmakers, but..!

Robert Clements Robert Clements
03 Jan 2022

“No room!’ shout mobs as they rampage churches, burn Bibles!”
“No room,” growl same mobs throwing stones on cross, on pulpit!”
“No room for you here,” they whisper as in the silence of night they set a priest afire.
“No room! No room! No room in this nation!” chant mobs in town and village.
But hush, who is this that runs frantically in front of same mobs, “Don’t!” he shouts, “Don’t say there is ‘no room’!”
The mobs they stop and listen. For in his eyes they see sadness, and in his body, fear, “What is it stranger, that you come running to tell us?” they ask, “That makes you unafraid of mob anger and wrath?
“Save your anger and wrath!” whispers the stranger and as the mob gets closer they look at each other and whisper, “What strange clothes he wears! This is not one from our country where kurta and dhoti are our attire! Who is this?”
“Go back!” says the man in strange attire, “Go back and leave these people who follow the Baby born today alone!”
“How dare you say that?” the mobs roar, “We have no room for them in this country! No room!”
“Ssshh!” says the man in strange attire, and in his eyes they see a pleading, “Sssshh!” he whispers, and the mobs become quiet, “I said the same! They came to me, and I told them, ‘no room in my inn’! Oh I wish I hadn’t, I wish I hadn’t! Now for all eternity I am remembered as the one who said, ‘no room!”
The mob was hushed for in his eyes, they saw a pleading!
“Like you I had no room for them! Like you I thought I’d only room for those like me! And I thought that that man and that pregnant woman, ‘Mary, he called her’ was not my type, and I muttered to myself, ‘Outsiders!”
“Yes!” shout the mob, “Outsiders!”
“Oh the mistake I made!” cries the man in strange clothing. “I threw them out but I couldn’t stop Him from coming in!”
“Who?” asks the mob.
“The very God whose words you burn in the Bibles they read, whose churches you stone, whose priests you attack, He walked into this world, even when I shouted ‘no room!’ He did not need my permission!”
“And you want us to put down these stones, put out our fires, and keep away our choppers? You want us to stop passing laws that will keep Him out?’ roar the mob, “Why have you come out today?”
“Because it’s Christmas!” whispers the man in Bethlehem clothes, “And two thousand years ago when I said the same words, you mobsters and your lawmakers shout, He still strode into the world! He changed it! So don’t waste your time screaming, ’No Room! Don’t make laws saying, ‘No Room! Because…..” And the mob stood still as the innkeeper sang,
‘Oh, God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way you’ll see
He will make a way..!

bobsbanter@gmail.com

Recent Posts

The government's bid to link women's reservation with delimitation masked political engineering. Framed as empowerment, it risked skewing federal balance and electoral power. Its defeat exposed a stra
apicture Oliver D'Souza
27 Apr 2026
You did not mention this rare parliamentary achievement in your address to the nation because it would have demolished your theory that the Congress and other parties you mentioned were against women'
apicture A. J. Philip
27 Apr 2026
A Bhopal seminar marked Swami Sadanand's legacy of interfaith harmony and reconciliation, highlighting his transformative compassion, grassroots impact, and enduring relevance in a conflict-ridden wor
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
27 Apr 2026
A proposed national Christian federation faces deep structural, theological, and political tensions, as diversity, institutional rivalry, and waning urgency over FCRA reforms expose the limits of unit
apicture John Dayal
27 Apr 2026
A wave of labour unrest since April 2026, sparked in Manesar, has spread across industrial hubs, driven by low wages, harsh conditions, and insecurity. Expanding participation reflects deeper structur
apicture Jose Vattakuzhy
27 Apr 2026
Fr Dr Antony Plackal, VC's "The Kingdom Inherited: A Christian Enthusiasm from The Last Judgment Scene" is a profound theological and spiritual exploration that draws readers into the heart of Christ'
apicture Fr Dr Antony Vadakkekara, VC
27 Apr 2026
What we are watching in the 2026 Tamil Nadu election is not a campaign. It is a production. A carefully managed, expensively funded content operation built to shape how people feel about a candidate b
apicture Dr. John Singarayar
27 Apr 2026
Pondicherry dust knows my black footsteps, how far they walked to see your brown face. Pondy flowers know how many roses my black hand carried to give to your brown hands.
apicture Dr Suryaraju Mattimalla
27 Apr 2026
Schoolchildren's disappointment and protest following a visit to a dazzling hybrid garden, lacking bees or butterflies, expose a deeper truth: beauty without life is hollow, and nature, stripped of ec
apicture P. A. Chacko
27 Apr 2026
The Mumbai police have decided to issue maroon T-shirts and shorts to male suspects lodged in central lockups. "It's an ingenious idea," said a police commissioner from another state in northern India
apicture Robert Clements
27 Apr 2026