Letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

We sometimes meet a stranger or an associate for a short time, but yet in that brief encounter, one feels the inception of a spirit. Be it a need or a need to fulfill a need. We are often touched by another’s feelings.

It reminds me of a the story of a little shoemaker. The shoemaker lived a mile or so out of town. Each morning he would rise before dawn and put a sandwich together for his lunch. On his way to work the little shoemaker wished that Jesus would come and pay him a visit.

When he reached his shop, he started the little stove and went to work. As he repaired a sole on one shoe and a heel on another, his mind kept saying, “I wish Jesus would stop in for a visit.”

It was nearly noon when a knock came at his door. When he opened it, there stood a tired looking wayfarer. He invited him in. The wayfarer asked the little shoemaker if he could repair the heels on his shoes, as he had been walking for many miles.

The little shoemaker asked him to sit down and then went to work on his shoes. As he handed them back, he noticed the clock pointed to noon time. The little shoemaker went to his desk and got the sandwich he had made for his lunch and asked the wayfarer to share it with him. “You have been travelling a long while, you must be hungry,” the shoemaker said.

So he shared the sandwich. As the wayfarer got up to leave he asked the shoemaker, how much do I owe you? The little shoemaker said, “There is no charge.” 

The wayfarer left. It was late in the afternoon when the Widow Brown came into his shop. He knew her well and that she had 10 children to care for. It was a day before Christmas and she asked him if he had some used shoes, as she wanted to give something to the children for Christmas.

He went to the back room to look. Sometime later he returned with a bundle of shoes. The widow Brown asked, how much do I owe?  The little shoemaker said, "There is no charge.”

At the end of the day, as the little shoemaker walked home in the dark he pondered, why Jesus hadn’t visited him today. The only ones that came to his shop were the wayfarer man and the widow Brown.

No one knows in what manner Jesus will appear. Perhaps he will appear as a wayfarer or as the widow Brown. I often think that Jesus would be pleased with the little shoemaker for his kindness.

Fred Collins

Windham Maine