Where There Is Love, There Is God

In a certain town, there lived a cobbler named Martin. He could recognize the people by their boots. His only son died young and Martin didn’t wish to live anymore. One day a nobleman reasoned with Martin. He told him that they could not judge God’s ways. God gives him life and he must live for him. One night, in his sleep, Martin heard a voice. “Martin! Look out into the street tomorrow, for I shall come.” The next morning, he saw an old man standing near his window. He was shivering in the cold. “Come in and warm yourself a bit.” He asked him to sit down and have some tea. While the old man drank his tea, Martin kept looking out into the street. He said that he was expecting the Lord Himself.

The old man thanked Martin for his hospitality and went away. No one came. When Martin was anxious, he saw a poor woman standing near the window with a crying baby in her arms. “Why do you stand out there with the baby in the cold?”

Martin led her to the bed near the stove. The woman was hungry. He gave some bread and cabbage soup to her. She had no warm clothing as she had pawned her last shawl for sixpence yesterday. Martin gave her sixpence to get her shawl out of pawn.

After the woman had gone, his eyes were still fixed at the window. Suddenly a voice whispered in his ear. “Martin, Martin, don’t you know me?” Martin looked around in surprise, and out of the dark comer stopped the old man, “It is I.” Then the figure disappeared. “It is I,” said the voice once more, and now the woman with the baby laughed and they too vanished.

Martin crossed himself. He understood that his dream had come true. And the Lord had really come to him that day, and he had welcomed him.