Crippled No More

The First thing that I did after the morning was run to each of my friends' jobs. At first they didn't notice, because they thought it impossible that I had recovered so suddenly. But after they had seen my, they were amazed. After a while, I returned to the men who had healed me, this time with a crowd of following people. "These are the ones! These are the ones who saved me!" "Gods! the gods have returned to us!" shouted one man. Immediately, those around me started preparing sacrifices to them, but the two men shouted back at them saying, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you." This merely slowed the people down, but suddenly a group of men emerged from the crowd and started speaking vial things about the men. "No!" I tried to say, "These men are good people! They healed me, they saved me!" But no one would listen to me. The same people who were trying to sacrifice to these two men were now picking up stones and hurling them at them. One of the men was getting chased, so I quickly helped hide him in a building nearby. I spent the next couple of hours talking to the man, who I learned was named Barnabas, about a man named Jesus. I had thought I had heard of him, but I wasn't quite sure who he was. Well after spending some time talking about it, I made the decision to follow Christ. Once things had quieted down outside, Barnabas and I went outside and found Paul outside the city. Luckily, he was not fatally injured, but he and Barnabas knew it would be unsafe to remain in the city. Promising to return, the two left the city; Once I was home, I celebrated the miracle that had happened that day and spent the night talking to my friends about the mercy of God.

The gods' Return

I can't help but think that my friends are probably very annoyed at me right now. After the theft last week, I haven't gotten very much money, and they have had to pull a lot out of their own pockets for my sake. Well today I was begging near the gate, which meant that it would take even longer for me to be carried there, which only left me more time to think about what happened the other day. My friends said goodbye (a little less cheerfully than normal) and went to their individual jobs. I had only been begging for a few minutes when two men approached me. I was still thinking about how much I needed to help my friends when the one in front said, "Stand up on your feet!" Suddenly, my legs were alive with energy and I jumped up on my feet! "I can walk, no... I can run!" I was amazed; it was truly a miracle. 

Theft

This morning when my friends came to wake me up, I secretly promised myself that I would get enough money to not only take care of myself, but additionally be able to pay my friends back. The day started out going great, I had twice as much money as I normally get on a good day, and it was only noon! Things were looking great, until sometime towards the end of lunch. One of my friends had just come over to see how I was doing, ask if I needed anything, and bought me lunch. I paid him back immediately since I was doing so well, ate lunch and said goodbye. As I watched him leave, I heard something fall near me and saw to my horror that my jar had fallen over, and a man was running away with almost of the money I had earned that day! I yelled for someone to stop him, but he was long gone before anyone noticed. All of the money that I had earned today was gone...

An Especially Bad Day

Most days that I beg, there is enough for me to buy food for myself, but today, people just didn't seem to very much for an old cripple like me. Person after person walked past me without even giving me a second glance! The ones who did looked at me as if I was completely worthless, and they hurried to get past me. There were only a few who helped: an old woman past by and dropped a few coins in the jar, and a high ranking official. Everyone praised him for his deed, but when I looked at what he gave me, it wasn't enough to buy even bread! I am sure that man had more than enough money to help someone like me out, but he only did it to be praised by those around him! I was both shocked and angered, and I cannot understand what would make a man do something that cruel. Luckily for me, when my friends came back and saw how little I had, they pulled money from their own pockets. I desperately lied to myself that I would somehow pay them back, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to.

People see me throughout the day; Jew or Greek, they pass me as they walk or hear me as I cry out to them. To those people, I am nothing but a beggar, one of many nuisances that they must deal with daily. Those people do not see me as a man, but a Cripple, a person whose stature is lower than nearly all others. All my life, I have lived in this city: Lystra, where people hoard more money than they do gods! And yet, I have no chance to leave this city, for I could not make it on my own. Besides, where would I go? This place has always been my home, and although there are few who care for me here, I do have friends. They are the ones who carry me every day from my home to the synagogue or wherever I decide to beg that day, and it is those same people who bring me back as well. For now, I suppose, it would be better for me to stay here.