www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Nice little story

Yes, I got this as part of a chain e-letter, but the story itself is worth repeating :p

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.

Great story. They should have put it in the scriptures.

In Christ,
Andrew.

I like that story a lot.

But I've always wondered, how do we reconcile Christ's commands to give up our possessions for the poor and downtrodden and the story about the woman perfuming Christ's feet. His disciples objected, arguing that she could have sold this and given the money to the poor, but Christ approved of her actions, saying that is was right for her to worship Him.

How do these two fit in together?

Logos Teen

I think the answer is called "grace".

We can try to adhere to rules and laws to govern our behavior; but as oftentimes is the case, our hearts tell us to do something else to serve the Lord and our neighbors. Thus, Mary of Magdala intuited that she should do this anointing action -- little knowing that it was a precursor to the Lord's murder.

Blessings!