F O O D F O R T H O U G H T
Jul 30, 2002
--Author Unknown
It was an unusually cold day for the month of May. Spring had arrived
and everything was alive with color. But a cold front from the North
had brought winter's chill back to Indiana. I sat, with two friends,
in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of
the towns-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. And so, 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 storefront 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 you headed from
here? Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement
park coupon. Are you hoping to
