The Cobbler

… inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

— Matthew 25:40

God exists in everything.

— The Science of Mind, page 77

The Cobbler

Martin, a poor cobbler, was hunched over his bench early one morning when he heard a voice saying, “Martin! Martin! Come out in the street and you will see me today!”

Martin went out eagerly, before dawn. It was snowing and he saw no one but an old man who had fainted in the snow. He picked the man up and carried him into his meager shop. Gently he laid him upon a straw pallet and fed him. The man fell into a deep sleep.

Martin then returned to the street. No one was in sight but two children fighting over an apple. He approached them kindly. “Here, let me help you.” They looked at him suspiciously as he took out his pocketknife and cut the fruit into two equal parts. The children began to smile and walked off arm in arm.

Martin waited hours and hours and no one appeared. The sun set, and the snowfall became a blizzard. Martin was about to go inside when he saw a young woman and her baby, huddled against the building, blue from the cold. He fed them and they, too, fell asleep. Martin sat down at his bench and put his head in his hands, bitterly disappointed.

“Martin! Martin! Did you see me?” asked the voice. “I went out all day and you never came,” answered Martin.

“When you helped the old man, you helped me,” said the voice. “When you appeased the children, you appeased me, and when you fed the young mother, you were feeding me. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, Martin, ye have done it unto me.”

Today I see God in everything and everyone.

When I smile at someone, I am smiling at God.

When I help someone, I helping God.

And when I love someone, I am loving God!