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

GRAMG replaces a constitutional right with a capped dole. It seeks to shift costs to poorer states, punish those states where the BJP doesn't rule, centralise power in Delhi, and convert demand-driven
apicture Joseph Maliakan
22 Dec 2025
The Modi government, even in its 12th year, is on a name-changing spree, including that of MGNREGA, trying to erase the legacy of the Congress-era projects.
apicture Dr Suresh Mathew
22 Dec 2025
Gandhi is garlanded, branded and renamed into oblivion, while his ideas are quietly dismantled. Hindutva venerates his image abroad and empties his legacy at home. It is consistently replacing moral c
apicture A. J. Philip
22 Dec 2025
Christmas is celebrated everywhere, sold endlessly, and consumed noisily—yet its soul is simple: God in every human being. Beyond markets, rituals and identities, Christmas calls us to choose humanity
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
22 Dec 2025
When God, our Creator, created the world, the Holy Bible tells us he said, "Let there be Light... sky, water, earth, fish, animals..." He finally created man (Adam and Eve). Looking from above, he tel
apicture Cedric Prakash
22 Dec 2025
We are still taking censuses, still building walls, still deciding who belongs. And Christmas still comes every year, quietly asking if we have left any room, if we are willing to see God in unexpecte
apicture Dr John Singarayar
22 Dec 2025
Periyar, you preached reason and self-respect, You fought caste, oppression, and Brahminical dominance. You challenged the sacred scriptures, the rituals of the oppressors, You raised your voice fo
apicture Dr Suryaraju Mattimalla
22 Dec 2025
Hindon airport shows how no-frills regional hubs can democratise flying. As aviation booms, India must back low-cost airports and diversified infrastructure, not metro congestion and monopolies, if af
apicture Pachu Menon
22 Dec 2025
India bankrolls rivals through dependence, brandishes self-reliance as a slogan, humiliates neighbours and minorities alike, and mistakes bravado for strength. History warns that nations weakened by r
apicture Thomas Menamparampil
22 Dec 2025
Climate change is hitting India hardest—weakening agriculture, deepening poverty, worsening health risks, and driving unsafe urban migration. Building resilience, enforcing climate justice, and aligni
apicture Fr. John Felix Raj & Prabhat Kumar Datta
22 Dec 2025