A Letter and a Gentle Tug
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
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Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She
picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked
at the envelope again.
There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She
read the letter:
Dear Ruth:
I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd
like to stop by for a visit.
Love Always,
Jesus
Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the
table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me?
I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer."
With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen
cabinets. "Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to
offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for
dinner." She reached for her purse and counted out its
contents. Five dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some
bread and cold cuts, at least."
She threw on her coat and hurried out the door.
A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a
carton of milk...leaving Ruth with grand total twelve cents to
last her until Monday.
Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager
offerings tucked under her arm.
"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?" Ruth had been so absorbed in
her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in
the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little
more than rags
"Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have
been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting
cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help
us. Lady, we'd really appreciate it."
Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and
frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if
they really wanted to.
"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I
have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an
important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving
that to Him."
"Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway." The man
put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned and headed back
into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar
twinge in her heart.
"Sir, wait!" The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the
alley after them. "Look, why don't you take this food. I'll
figure out something else to serve my guest."
She handed the man her grocery bag. "Thank you lady. Thank you
very much!" "Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth
could see now that she was shivering. "You know, I've got another
coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned
her jacket and slipped it over the woman's shoulders. Then
smiling, she turned and walked back to the street...without her
coat and with nothing to serve her guest.
"Thank you lady! Thank you very much!"
Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and
worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have
anything to offer Him.
She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did,
she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. "That's odd. The
mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day." She took the
envelope out of the box and opened it. Dear Ruth: It was so good
to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you,
too, for the beautiful coat.
Love Always
Jesus
The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer
noticed.
I was given this message by one of my aunts, who lives far away,
but close to the area in which I grew up. The message ended with
a request to send this out to ten people, keep the "mantra"
going, and that kind of stuff. Well, I don't care about that
kind of thing. I did think this message had a good enough
message to share it with you. What you choose to do with it is
up to you.
Your Brother in Christ,
Brian
=====
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Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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