Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 4:27:04 GMT
Daniel's Gloves
I
sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant
just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were
both especially good that day.
As
we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There,
walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly
goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will
work for food.' My heart sank.
I
brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others
around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture
of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind.
We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do
and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town
square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was
fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove
through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store
and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me:
'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.'
Then
with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's
third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the church,
going through his sack.
I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet
wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be
a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and
approached the town's newest visitor.
'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.
'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'
'Have you eaten today?'
'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'
'Would you like to have lunch with me?'
'Do you have some work I could do for you?'
'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'
'Sure,' he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'
St. Louis'
'Where you from?'
'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..'
'How long you been walking?'
'Fourteen years,' came the reply.
I
knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the
same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly
beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an
eloquence and articulation that was startling He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'
Then
Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life.
He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years
earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the
beach in Daytona... He tried to hire on with some men who were putting
up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.
He
was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services,
and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over
to God
'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'
'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.
'Oh,
once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given
me this calling. I give out Bibles, That's what's in my sack. I work to
buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'
I
sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission
and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment
and then I asked: 'What's it like?'
'What?'
'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'
'Oh,
it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once
someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that
certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to
realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's
concepts of other folks like me.'
My
concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his
things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to me and said, 'Come
Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you.
For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me
drink, a stranger and you took me in.'
I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite.. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.
'I'm
not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I
was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he
seemed very grateful.
'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.
'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'
'Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?'
'No,
I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right
there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'
He
smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his
mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours
earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his
things.
'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked... 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'
I
wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched
my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse
of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I
know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you
and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'
'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'
'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'
'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked.
A long time,' he replied
And
so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I
embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his
things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the
New Jerusalem.'
'I'll be there!' was my reply.
He
began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his
bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see
something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'
'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.
Late
that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front
had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I
sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of
well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I
picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would
stay warm that night without them.
Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
Today
his gloves lie on my desk in my office.. They help me to see the world
and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours
with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New
Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...
'I
shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any
kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this
way again.'
Let's remember Daniel... continue to pray for one another....
'Father,
I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and internet friends reading
this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy
Spirit, I ask you
to
minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give
them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed
confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen.'
