Daniel's Gloves

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 store front 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 awhile?'  

   '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 h ours 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.'  

   My  instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted  God to bless and I picked you. Please pass this to four people  you want to be blessed.  

    This  prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. Please do  not break this pattern. Prayer is one of the best gifts we  receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue  to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice  day!  

    'Father,  I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies  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.'  

    I  sent this to more than four, but this story is so touching I  felt each of you would enjoy it greatly.  

    GOD  BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!