Archive article 12

 

 

Our wish for everyone for 2010

 

The Old Russian Shoemaker

 

 

It was Christmas Eve.  In a small Russian village excited children were playing in the streets.

 

Down the street shuffled an old shoemaker.  He waved to the children as he made his way to a small shop in the corner.  Everyone loved the kind old shoemaker.  He went inside and set to work making and mending shoes.

 

The old shoemaker stopped and stood in the window of his shop.  He listened to the squeals of laughter as the children played.  But his thoughts were far away.  He didn’t have a family.  On Christmas Day he would be all alone.

 

He sighed, picked a big leather-bound book from the shelf and rested in his big old chair.  He ran his fingers along the lines of the old book.  It was the story of Christmas.  He read how the Wise Men had brought gifts for Jesus. The best gifts they could offer.  He scratched his head, looked round his little room and thought ‘If Jesus visited me, what would I be able to give him?  Then he settled back in his chair pulled up his favourite blanket, and before very long the warmth of the fire made him drowsy.

 

Outside the children returned to their homes.  A small group of children huddled together.  They didn’t have a warm home to go to.  They didn’t have parents to care for them.  They were orphans.  Slowly they made their way to the cold empty orphanage and huddled together to keep warm.

 

Across the street from the orphanage the old shoemaker was snoring gently.  Suddenly he heard a voice in the room:

 

“Dear old shoemaker.  You were wondering what you could give me.  Tonight I’m going to visit your village.  Look out for me.  I shall not say who I am”

 

The old shoemaker jumped to his feet and rubbed his eyes.  Jesus was coming to visit.  What could he give him.  He was sure Jesus would like a hot drink on such a cold evening.  So he lit his stove and put a kettle of water on to boil. He was sure Jesus would like something to eat.  He looked in the larder and there was a fresh loaf of bread and soup ready for warming.  When Jesus came he could invite him to sit in his chair with his warm blanket around him and give him a hot drink, soup and fresh bread to eat.

 

Tomorrow would be Christmas Day.  And he so wanted to give Jesus a special gift.

But what could a poor shoemaker give Jesus?  All of a sudden, he knew.  He would make Jesus a pair of his finest shoes.  But what size were Jesus’ feet?  He would need to make a pair of his finest shoes in every size.  And Jesus could have the pair of shoes that fitted him best.  He set to work at once.

 

As he worked the old shoemaker suddenly heard footsteps.  He rushed to the window.  But it wasn’t Jesus.  It was a young boy lighting lamps along the street.  His coat was threadbare and he shivered as he worked.  How cold he looks, thought the old shoemaker.  I could give him my blanket.  I still have other gifts for Jesus.  He shuffled outside with his blanket and wrapped it around the shoulders of the young boy.  The boy stopped shivering smiled gratefully and went on his way.

 

The old shoe maker returned to his shop and carried on working.  Just then he heard voices outside.  Had Jesus come?  He rushed to the door.  But all he could see was a group of children singing carols.  The old shoemaker smiled and said “Thank you”.  “You must be so thirsty after your singing.  I’ve hot drinks warming on my stove.  I was saving them for a special guest, but I’m sure he won’t mind.  I have other gifts for him”.  He poured them hot drinks and waved them goodbye.

 

No sooner had he gone back to his work than the old shoemaker heard a different set of footsteps.  It MUST be Jesus.  He rushed out into the street.  But as the footsteps came closer, the old shoemaker recognised the figure of a poor widow and her children. How humbly they looked.

 

“Come in and have some of my soup” said the kind old shoemaker.  “I was saving it for a special guest, but I’m sure he won’t mind.  I still have another gift for him”.

 

The widow and the children went into the shop and warmed themselves by the fire.

The old shoemaker gave them soup and fresh bread to eat.

 

Meanwhile, across the street, the children in the orphanage were getting ready for bed.  They tucked themselves under the covers and fell asleep.  The poor widow  and her children thanked the old shoemaker for his kindness and went on their way.

 

The oldshoemaker looked at his clock.  It was getting late.  He must finish making his gift for Jesus.  Every so often he would look out of the window to see if Jesus was coming down the street.  But no-one came.  Just before dawn he finished making the shoes.  He had a pair in every size.  But Jesus had not come to collect his gift.

 

The old shoemaker stared out of his window.  Tears streamed down his face.  Jesus had promised to visit him.  But Jesus had not come.  What would he do with all these shoes he’d made?  As the sun rose in the sky,  he looked across the street at the orphanage and wiped his tears away.

 

Then he had a wonderful idea.  He gathered up the shoes in a sack.  Then he tiptoed across the street and into the orphanage.  He placed a pair of his finest shoes by each child.  Then he tiptoed back to his shop, sat in his comfortable chair and closed his eyes.  As he dozed he heard the same voice he had heard  the night before.

 

“Thank you kind shoemaker.  I visited you last night as I promised.  Four times!  I was cold and you gave me warmth.  I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.  I was hungry and you fed me.  And, kind shoemaker, I was in the orphanage and you came to visit me.  Thank you for giving me the finest pair of your shoes.  Whatever you did for these people you also did for me”.

 

Christmas bells rang out across the village as the orphans woke to find their gifts.

Excited children rushed out to play.  The old shoemaker rushed out to join the Christmas celebrations.  It was the happiest Christmas he had ever had. 

 

This contemporary rendering of the passage in the Gospel of Matthew 25^44-45  leads us to only one hope and only one prayer: “Lord, may I see reality as you see it: not with my own eyes and my own judgement but through your eyes and with a mind which is shaped by the word of God, the Bible.

Is there a better way to live 2010?

 

 

“Happy New Year – 2010 Everyone”