Story-Teller
Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2009
- Messages
- 2,406
Used Reference
“Don’t open them until I’m gone.” The stranger spoke those words as he handed a Bible to everyone in the church.
Angie looked down at the Bible the stranger had given her. Some of the Bibles looked almost new. Not hers. Angie held a Bible worn at the corners and cracked from many years of use. “Why didn’t I get an almost new one like everyone else? Look at the one Phyllis got. Why Phyllis’ Bible looks like it hasn’t even been opened. How come I didn’t get one like that?”
But then Angie looked at Willie. As the stranger looked over the congregation, he noticed Willie had no Bible, so he reached in his box and handed Willie a brand new one.
“Hmmm! Why can’t I have a new one like Willie?” Angie wondered.
But then Angie noticed the Bible the stranger gave the pastor. It looked like it had been taped and glued together more than once.
Well, at least her Bible looked better than one person’s Bible.
“Please bow your heads with me,” the stranger instructed everyone.
Angie bowed briefly, then opened her eyes to look at the stranger.
“Where is he? He’s gone. But he couldn’t have left. He didn’t have time to get out the door,” Angie thought to herself.
“Where did he go?” Angie asked out loud, forgetting for a moment that she was in church.
Everyone opened their eyes when they heard Angie exclaim. They began to look for the stranger, but he could not be found.
“Where did he go?” someone else repeated.
After a search proved futile, someone gasped, and then another person gasped.
Angie looked and saw that both of them had opened their Bible. Others opened their Bibles and gasped as well.
Angie opened her Bible and she gasped, too. The Bible contained her grandmother’s name and a date a long time ago. As Angie leafed through the Bible she noticed a lot of writing, all in her grandmother’s handwriting.
“But how did the stranger get hold of my grandmother’s Bible?”
Tears streamed down Angie’s face. No longer did she want to trade her Bible for any other. By the look on the faces of the others in her church, Angie assumed that they, too, had Bibles of loved ones, and none of them wanted to exchange their Bible for a new one, either.
Everyone held a Bible belonging to a loved one except Willie. Willie had a new Bible, but then Willie was an orphan, an eight-year-old orphan whose parents died the week he was born.
After everyone took a few moments to look through the Bibles the stranger had given them, they began to gather and talk.
“Who was this stranger?” they asked.
No one could agree what the stranger looked like.
“I think he’s a construction worker,” Willie said.
“Why would you say that, Willie?” Angie asked.
“Because his hands were all scarred.”
=====
Steve Demaree
1608 Summerhill Drive
Lexington, KY 40515
(606) 271-2416
[email protected]
Submitted by Richard
“Don’t open them until I’m gone.” The stranger spoke those words as he handed a Bible to everyone in the church.
Angie looked down at the Bible the stranger had given her. Some of the Bibles looked almost new. Not hers. Angie held a Bible worn at the corners and cracked from many years of use. “Why didn’t I get an almost new one like everyone else? Look at the one Phyllis got. Why Phyllis’ Bible looks like it hasn’t even been opened. How come I didn’t get one like that?”
But then Angie looked at Willie. As the stranger looked over the congregation, he noticed Willie had no Bible, so he reached in his box and handed Willie a brand new one.
“Hmmm! Why can’t I have a new one like Willie?” Angie wondered.
But then Angie noticed the Bible the stranger gave the pastor. It looked like it had been taped and glued together more than once.
Well, at least her Bible looked better than one person’s Bible.
“Please bow your heads with me,” the stranger instructed everyone.
Angie bowed briefly, then opened her eyes to look at the stranger.
“Where is he? He’s gone. But he couldn’t have left. He didn’t have time to get out the door,” Angie thought to herself.
“Where did he go?” Angie asked out loud, forgetting for a moment that she was in church.
Everyone opened their eyes when they heard Angie exclaim. They began to look for the stranger, but he could not be found.
“Where did he go?” someone else repeated.
After a search proved futile, someone gasped, and then another person gasped.
Angie looked and saw that both of them had opened their Bible. Others opened their Bibles and gasped as well.
Angie opened her Bible and she gasped, too. The Bible contained her grandmother’s name and a date a long time ago. As Angie leafed through the Bible she noticed a lot of writing, all in her grandmother’s handwriting.
“But how did the stranger get hold of my grandmother’s Bible?”
Tears streamed down Angie’s face. No longer did she want to trade her Bible for any other. By the look on the faces of the others in her church, Angie assumed that they, too, had Bibles of loved ones, and none of them wanted to exchange their Bible for a new one, either.
Everyone held a Bible belonging to a loved one except Willie. Willie had a new Bible, but then Willie was an orphan, an eight-year-old orphan whose parents died the week he was born.
After everyone took a few moments to look through the Bibles the stranger had given them, they began to gather and talk.
“Who was this stranger?” they asked.
No one could agree what the stranger looked like.
“I think he’s a construction worker,” Willie said.
“Why would you say that, Willie?” Angie asked.
“Because his hands were all scarred.”
=====
Steve Demaree
1608 Summerhill Drive
Lexington, KY 40515
(606) 271-2416
[email protected]
Submitted by Richard
