Remarkable Faith by Shauna Letellier

Author:Shauna Letellier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion / Biblical Biography / New Testament, Religion / Biblical Studies / History & Culture, Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth
Publisher: FaithWords
Published: 2017-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

A howling jackal announced its dawn departure and woke the Samaritan leper from his recurring, real-life nightmare. He crawled out from the crag, and the early sun blinded him. He squinted toward the others. They never forbade him to join them, and they never invited either. The feelings were mutual, but loneliness was suffocating. One figure slumped toward the smoldering fire, blowing the ash and stirring the coals. On the road below he saw two men coming from the nearby village and a man with two pack mules coming from the other direction. Two of the lepers ambled down the slope just a bit toward the road and rasped together, “Unclean!” They were hardly noticed except for the mule, who slowed to see what creature made the indistinguishable noise. His master’s whip sped him up again.

Not many people passed by in a day. Nearly every other day someone—a daughter, a sister, sometimes a mother—would leave a bundle at the bottom of the hill. Those who walked best took turns. They’d wave an acknowledgment and start toward the road. Their news was hollered to one another from a distance.

In the months since he’d arrived, the Samaritan leper found his place among the rest. He needed food and they needed his function. With all ten fingers still intact, he could tie a strip of dirty linen around a bloodied leg. When the moist wind snuffed out the fire, he could still strike the flint to light the kindling. They paid him in stale bread left by the roadside. It was an arrangement by necessity, and they tolerated one another. Leprosy was, as the old priest had said, the great equalizer. Still, the handicapped men each felt their own race was superior.

The sun was high and shone into the caves just a few feet, blinding them all as they sat and stared down the road. Just as he’d reached them, one man pointed a crooked finger down the road. “What’s that?” he whispered.

Usually only a few villagers traveled to and from the village, and most often in small groups. Coming up the road toward the village was a group so large they filled the width of the road and spilled onto the roadsides. It was large enough to be the rebel zealots that gained momentum around the Jewish feasts. But the humming conversation lacked the angry shouts of disgruntled rebels. They were of all ages; women, men, and children talked, listened, and laughed. Someone would surely toss something their way. A loaf? A nearly empty sack of grain they were eager to lay down? They waited, watched, and wondered as the crowd came into view.

Then one leper stood abruptly and walked a few steps from the caves. “That’s him.” His tone alarmed them.

“Who?”

He pointed and whispered without turning back. “The teacher.” They each strained to see. Another stood, and the old man maneuvered himself around the others to see for himself. “That’s the man I saw breaking bread over and over.”

The Samaritan studied his face and could see he was not joking.

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