The Stranger at the Gate

This stranger sat on the ground at the gate entrance of our small town, huddled close to the wall and gazing at the people as they went to and fro. He was a raggedly dressed, with unkempt hair and dirty clothes. He looked as if he had been without a home for some time. He acknowledged an occasional passerby with a nod of his head and a friendly smile, but no one stopped to talk to the stranger.

One of the little children happened to have been chasing a ball toward the gate and the child stopped when the ball rolled over near the stranger. The stranger smiled and patted the child on the head as he returned the ball. As the child took the ball from the stranger and turned to go, the stranger noticed that the child had a severe limp.

By this time, the child's mother noticed her child's absence and frantically began to look for him, calling his name. When she saw her child with the stranger, he heart raced. She ran to get her child, literally screaming by this time, in a fit of fear. By now, other people had stopped what they were doing to watch what was going on. As the mother got closer to her child with the stranger, she noticed that the stranger was looking straight at her with a smile, but never said a word.

When she reached her child, she picked him up in her arms and asked if he was all right. The child pointed to the stranger and said, "I made a new friend, mommy."

The mother said a hesitant "thank you" to the stranger and put her child back down on the ground instructing him to go to the house.

As the child walked toward his home, the mother noticed that his limp was completely gone. She was puzzled. Other people also noticed that the child was walking without a limp. By now the mother was both astonished and hysterical. She began to cry wildly, watching her child walk without a limp, as if he never had a limp. She suddenly turned to look at the stranger, but he was gone.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

email this message to a friend   |   DW Home

Contributed by LADEANE IRVAN-SIMMONS
Comments/Feedback are welcome.