Dante
I have always been here
- Banned
- #1
The Beggars' Christmas - one blind and one crippled A blind beggar and a crippled beggar are mocking the spirit A 66-page book with Great illustrations by John Aurelio and Stan Skardinski about two beggars, one blind and one crippled, who search for the meaning of Christmas
This story is set in the year 1230 - plus a few rather earlier times. The bishop of Soissons has decided to copy St Francis of Assisi by having a living nativity scene in his monastery church. All goes well in preparation for this except that there is no convenient newborn baby for manger scene...
Meanwhile in a beggars' camp outside the village, a blind beggar and a crippled beggar with a severely damaged leg are mocking the spirit of Christmas and the fact that the bishop's new manger scene lacks a baby Jesus...Suddenly an angel appears.. He says their judgment is at hand, but they will first be allowed to try to recapture the truth of Christmas, offering them the opportunity to search for the meaning of Christmas, wherever and whenever they might wish to look. Through the angel's powers they are transported through time to their youth where one goes to the cripple's father's bakery, and relives the trauma of his crippling injury and loss of his betrothed, while the other experiences again the frustration of futile attempts to cure his blindness.
Returning to the angel, they ask to go to Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, only find an empty manger there as well. Facing their handicaps directly, they ask the angel to cure them and instantly find themselves on a hillside outside of Gallilee full of people where a prophet is preaching. He touches them, cures both of their afflictions and they find they are not only instantly cured but are celebrities whom people are willing to shower with money for retelling the story of their miracle healing - being cured only if they stay there. But soon the popularity and wealth wane, and the angel tells them if they choose to return home they will again be lame and blind. So they keep their health and go back first to begging, then to outright stealing. But they are inept thieves and are quickly caught and sentenced to crucifixion -- next to a man being taunted by the mob, a man whom they recognize as the prophet who had healed them, Jesus.
They scream for their angel to rescue them and are whisked back to the beggars' camp where it all started, once more blind and crippled. Greatly puzzled, they eventually reason that if the touch of the adult Jesus had healed them on the hillside, then they might find Christmas by touching the child Jesus in the manger. They finally end up Bursting into the church during Mass which is still awaiting the arrival of Jesus. At the bishop's nativity, they stumble up to the manger and thrust their hands in, thinking they are touching Jesus. It is only each other's hands they find, but in that touch they find a commitment to friendship and each other . . . and they find Christmas.
"You wanted Christmas. You wanted your youth. They are here, all around you. They are in the air you breathe."
This story is set in the year 1230 - plus a few rather earlier times. The bishop of Soissons has decided to copy St Francis of Assisi by having a living nativity scene in his monastery church. All goes well in preparation for this except that there is no convenient newborn baby for manger scene...
Meanwhile in a beggars' camp outside the village, a blind beggar and a crippled beggar with a severely damaged leg are mocking the spirit of Christmas and the fact that the bishop's new manger scene lacks a baby Jesus...Suddenly an angel appears.. He says their judgment is at hand, but they will first be allowed to try to recapture the truth of Christmas, offering them the opportunity to search for the meaning of Christmas, wherever and whenever they might wish to look. Through the angel's powers they are transported through time to their youth where one goes to the cripple's father's bakery, and relives the trauma of his crippling injury and loss of his betrothed, while the other experiences again the frustration of futile attempts to cure his blindness.
Returning to the angel, they ask to go to Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, only find an empty manger there as well. Facing their handicaps directly, they ask the angel to cure them and instantly find themselves on a hillside outside of Gallilee full of people where a prophet is preaching. He touches them, cures both of their afflictions and they find they are not only instantly cured but are celebrities whom people are willing to shower with money for retelling the story of their miracle healing - being cured only if they stay there. But soon the popularity and wealth wane, and the angel tells them if they choose to return home they will again be lame and blind. So they keep their health and go back first to begging, then to outright stealing. But they are inept thieves and are quickly caught and sentenced to crucifixion -- next to a man being taunted by the mob, a man whom they recognize as the prophet who had healed them, Jesus.
They scream for their angel to rescue them and are whisked back to the beggars' camp where it all started, once more blind and crippled. Greatly puzzled, they eventually reason that if the touch of the adult Jesus had healed them on the hillside, then they might find Christmas by touching the child Jesus in the manger. They finally end up Bursting into the church during Mass which is still awaiting the arrival of Jesus. At the bishop's nativity, they stumble up to the manger and thrust their hands in, thinking they are touching Jesus. It is only each other's hands they find, but in that touch they find a commitment to friendship and each other . . . and they find Christmas.
"You wanted Christmas. You wanted your youth. They are here, all around you. They are in the air you breathe."
