INSPIRATIONAL: TO MEET SUCH A MAN

author: unknown
source: Phyllis Coats
"thank you helpmeet!"

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of aquaint restaurantjust off the corner of the town-square. The food andthe company wereboth especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, acrossthe street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to becarrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, awell-worn sign that read, "I will work for food." My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends andnoticed 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 haderrands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glancedtoward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for thestrange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again wouldcall 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 tome: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven oncemore 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 standingon the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled tospeak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space onthe corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. Ipulled 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 fromthe 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 somesurface 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 fromeach other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face wasweathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yetclear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that wasstartling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirtthat said, "Jesus is The Never EndingStory."

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seenrough times early in life.. He'd made some wrong choices andreaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpackingacross the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. Hetried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tentand some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concertbut revival services, and in those services he saw life moreclearly. He gave his life over to God
"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I feltthe Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 yearsnow."
"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.
"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the bestof me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That'swhat's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give themout 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 questionburned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"
"What?"
"To walk into a town carrying all your things onyour back and to show your sign?"
"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stareand make comments.Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread andmade a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. Butthen it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touchlives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."

My concept was changing, too. We finished ourdessert and gathered histhings. Just outside the door, he paused. He turnedto me and said,"Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit thekingdom I've prepared foryou. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when Iwas thirsty you gaveme drink, a stranger and you took me in."

I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you useanother Bible?" Iasked.He said he preferred a certain translation. Ittraveled well and was nottoo heavy. It was also his personal favorite.
"I'veread through it 14times," he said.
"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stopby our church andsee"

I was able to find my new friend a Bible thatwould do well, andhe seemed very grateful.
"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of thisamusement parkcoupon."
"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"
"No, I just figure I should go there. I figuresomeone under that starright there needs a Bible, so that's where I'mgoing next."

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated thesincerity of hismission. I drove him back to the town-square wherewe'd met two hoursearlier, and as we drove, it started raining. Weparked and unloadedhis things.

"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked "Ilike to keep messagesfrom folks I meet."

I wrote in his little book that his commitment tohis calling hadtouched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong.And I left him with averse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plansI have for you,declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not toharm you; Plans togive you a future and a hope."
"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met andwe're really juststrangers, but I love you."
"I know," I said, "I love you, too."
"The Lord isgood!"
"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someonehugged you?" I asked.
"A long time," he replied
And so on the busy street corner in the drizzlingrain, my new friendand I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I hadbeen changed He puthis things on his back, smiled his winning smile andsaid, "See you inthe New Jerusalem."
"I'll be there!" was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with hissign dangling fromhis bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turnedand said, "When yousee something that makes you think of me, will youpray 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 blewstrong. The coldfront had settled hard upon the town. I bundled upand hurried to mycar.

As I sat back and reached for the emergencybrake, I saw them... apair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid overthe length of thehandle. I picked them up and thought of my friendand wondered if hishands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: "If you see somethingthat makes you thinkof me, will you pray for me?"

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. Theyhelp me to see theworld and its people in a new way, and they help meremember those twohours with my unique friend and to pray for hisministry.
"See you inthe New Jerusalem," he said.
Yes, Daniel, I know Iwill...

If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!"
---
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"